Neverwinter Forest lxxiii. when my working day is over

same! lmk <3

kukutux was close. she had brought a skin of herbs and one of things to give the newborn children.

this was a woman's time. she would not move to chase away the sons that she and the cloudberry sister shared, but her magicks must be for those who brought life.

lótë was filled with trepidation. kukutux walked alongside as the secondwife breathed and moved. she chanted a low song.

anaa, anaa,

the birthing pains are harsh

i see your agony

i see your heart

anaa, anaa, look up,

see the wise face of toteega

she has come to guide her granddaughter

anaa, anaa, know that sedna listens

we will keep the green sea spirit away

we will keep the green sea spirit away

her voice was a steady drum through the hours. she hardly paused save to invite keyni to join her words, slowing them so that the woman might follow along.

lótë's cries grew louder. she entered the darkest water of childbirth. there was firstflood. there was denial. and then there was this, when a mother accepted the pain and used it to grow stronger for what was to come. she hovered as close as her sister would allow. and her song had changed.

she lay out herbs. she offered her sister the sap of pine needles. it would not change her labors, it would only insulate her tongue against the bite of her own teeth.

you walk you walk you walk

do not look back

the time is coming

do not look back

you walk you walk you walk

singulluktuq! she said under the wailing of her sister. keyni was close.

twins. and the qualupilik had come again.

a girl, a daughter to two villages, gone without breath.

kukutux took the girl when the tribulation stole lótë again. a child beautiful and lifeless. she rose and took the babe from the den, heart seared with a misery she knew would fade. sedna would hold this new spirit again until it was time to be reborn.

when she returned, it was to find the second child moving with breath. her sister wept in gratitude. kukutux breathed a great sigh of relief and brought her herbs closer. "i am here. keyni is here." their third sister guarded the door and had taken the still girl child to be buried.

but for now, she would give lótë peace with her son.

the duck departed the den. she sat beside keyni. her smile was low and tired and many things all at once. "lótë will need you as anaa while i am not here," she said gently. she did not know who her sister had chosen for her hearth, but it did not matter. the villages were strong with skilled women.

the duck began to sing once more, a lighter lullaby.