Victor Rosevale's Arc

Chapter 16 of 18

Two weeks passed the way Seraphina said they would. Victor kept his one shift at the castle kitchens and came home while the sun was still up. Sable moved slower now. She rested in the afternoons with her hand on her belly. Victor watched her sleep and counted the days. On the morning of the fourteenth day, someone knocked. Victor opened the door. Seraphina stood there with her satchel and a second bag he had not seen before. Her silver hair was pulled back. Her green eyes went past him to Sable at the table. "Sit," Seraphina said to Sable. "On the bed. I want to feel her again before I say anything." Sable went to the bed without a word. Victor stayed by the door. He gripped the frame. Seraphina set her hands on Sable's stomach and pressed slow around the sides. She moved her palms lower. She closed her eyes. Victor watched her face. He had learned to read it. When the baby was turned wrong she frowned at the corner of her mouth. She was not frowning now. Seraphina opened her eyes. She pressed once more, low and firm. Then she looked up. "She turned," Seraphina said. Victor did not move. "Say that again." "The baby is head down. She turned in the last few days." Seraphina lifted her hands and wiped them on a cloth from her satchel. "You can birth her here." Sable put both hands over her belly and smiled big. Victor crossed the room and sat down on the bed beside Sable. He put his hand on top of hers. He could not speak for a moment. Then he looked at Seraphina. "What do you need from us." "Clean water. Clean cloth. Someone to fetch me the moment her pains start." Seraphina looked at him hard. "That someone is you. Do not go far from this house. Not for coin. Not for anything." "I will not." He said firmly. Seraphina nodded. She picked up her satchel. At the door she stopped. "One more thing. If a stranger comes asking after you, do not open the door. Sable cannot travel now." Victor's hand tightened on Sable's. "Who is asking." "I heard a name at the gate this morning. Yours. A man in castle colors was asking after a blonde soldier who left his post." She met his eyes. "He was told nothing. But he will ask again." She left. Victor sat with Sable's hand under his. The baby was right. The birth was days away. And a soldier was in Mosswood asking for Victor, but he wouldn’t dare leave his wife’s side.