A thin fog had settled over the territory of the Dragon with the coming of the morning, the temperature outside already hot and muggy. Gyda had not slept well, the babes were restless, kicking herself and no doubt each other all night. “I know you are anxious to see the world,” Gyda spoke to them in a hushed tone, affectionate despite that she was tired (and potentially highly cranky, eep). She supposed sleepless nights was something that she was going to have to adjust to for she feared there would be many until they were old enough to learn the difference of time and when they should be awake and when they should sleep. She felt as big as the mountain itself, and her back began to ache accordingly. Every so often a cramp would hit her — small and not enough to fear that she'd gone into labor ...but she was close, she could tell. She had perhaps a week or so left. Truly, the time had went by so fast. She was joyful and also, though she deigned to tell no one or let it show, she was scared.

et, Gyda faith in Frigga and Freyja and their promise to help, a sign she had taken as the famine's end was strong. Her goddesses would not let her down, they would see that the birth went smoothly and that fortunate smiled upon the newest Dragons. Her birthing den was cool but Gyda did not enjoy spending so much time in it, knowing that soon she would be spending more or less all of her time in it until they were old enough to eat regurgitated meat. Her movements were restricted now and her rests were more frequent. She emerged from her den and squinted until her eyes adjusted to the early morning sun — somehow made more bright by the thin fog. She let out a yawn and stretched as pathetically as she could, visibly wincing when her back ached again.

Gyda had not been aware of Wildfire's presence — a slip in her attentiveness if there ever was one — until the flame kissed Sjötta spoke to her as the back ache ravaged it's way along the length of her spine. Heat flooded her cheeks, embarrassed that she had let her guard down so thoroughly. Gyda had been doing her best to hide the worst part of her pregnancy: the cramps and the aches and the fear that something might go terribly wrong. As chance would have it she had been unable to hide her wince of pain from Wildfire and so had no choice but to face it. “I'm fine,” Gyda attempted to brush it off, offering Wildfire a breezy and warm smile. It touched her eyes because, in truth, she was happy except for the dark moments of anxiety and the stabs of pain felt in different regions of her body.

“It's just...it's normal,” Gyda wanted to reassure Wildfire — not that Sleeping Dragon had a medic that she could call to check on Gyda. Gyda was all that Gyda had currently, and she trusted her body to know what it was doing. “I've been having a lot of back aches lately.” She admitted, her teeth grazing her bottom lip as she was loathe to admit that she had probably been pushing herself in ways she shouldn't have. But Gyda was a woman of action — a shield-maiden, a queen. Her duties did not stop just because she was expecting within the week...perhaps, she thought, any day now. She had already confined herself to stray not too far from the birthing den she had prepared and taken residence in. “I am very close. They will come soon.” Evidenced by the swell of her flanks and the secretions of mother's milk that had begun a week or so prior.