Hushed Willows kanayuk ∩

She nodded slowly. Another tea. Another medicine to try in hopes of staving off the inevitable.

Was it so terrible of her to half-hope that the birth of her children would take her after all? It would be an end; it would mean that she could finally rest. But that thought was often lost in the ferocity of love she felt for the lives brewing within her, the knowledge that she could not leave them behind. They needed her. For them, if nothing else, she would do this. Whatever it took.

I am frightened, Reverie admitted, glancing out over the territory. Nearly all of Hearthwood was visible from her den atop the hill. Terrified, honestly. It - it isn't death that scares me. It's the pain, and the blood. I still have nightmares about it sometimes. More often now than ever, as the birth of her children loomed ever closer.