Lion Head Mesa lance

@Tavina and Ramesses only (at least for now) <3

the rolls of pulsing pain turned into something heavier. through the afternoon it became near unbearable. she walked, she paced. at some point the sun had dared to start setting and it would be then she called for the healer.

her pacing seemed to cease as she drew herself into her den, reclining on the bed. although the comfort that this place once brought here seemed to cease. body taught with tension as she panted her anxieties. green eyes wide as she looked to the mouth of her own den.

tags for ref!

tavina was not far, as treva's time was so very close.

she paused outside the entrance to announce herself, but did not wait to enter. her eyes fixed to the healer as tavina drew close to the bed.

"breathe. just keep doing that." the sesh stepped back to call for @Nazli and @Zakariya. "you," she said to the girl, "go bring water and cloths to this door, but don't come in. and you," she said of the boy, "tell pharaoh to come to the quarters of the mazoi."

she sent them off and came back to treva's side. "come on. we're going to walk a little, just around the room."

tavina. tavina who treva had declared she had trusted. two other bodies who she paid little mind to. they seemed...young. soft. she recognized the one girl but would not have been able to greet her even if she wanted to.

off they went and treva found herself ordered to walk.

this she did with an uneven gait, the occasional pause to writhe in her standing spot. out, out, out, she groaned in pained ways. this was not directed to the sesh, of course, but rather to the things inside her. two were to be expected — or one very large one! the doctor had only meant humor with such a suggestion but it felt that way now.

now! she demanded of her body with great frustration.

she shook her head. "be kind to yourself. they will come. but it will take longer if you are tense. breathe. breathe."

the words became a mantra as she walked with treva. she stopped when the next queen paused, she inspected the way that the woman's belly had taken a new position, announcing that birth was upon their heels.

she waited for the second revelation now.

the walking seemed as if it helped as much as it hindered. she despised the movement, so agitated and eager to writhe. she sucked in air on demand with the pattern of the doctor's mantra. although it felt as if she might truly pop with so much air! perhaps that was the point though because sure enough...after some time of this!

a river, as if the nearby serpent lake had moved into her very den!

well, it was not so terrible, but she felt it as such. a new rippling wave welcomed her with the arrival of all of this and she felt a horrible mixture of excitement and terror.

ill post w ram after ur next reply :D

and there it was. she could not hide a smile as she navigated the woman back to her bed. "on your side, lady," she whispered.

there was commotion in the hallway. pharaoh was arriving. tavina touched her crown to treva's shoulder, indicating she would be just a moment.

outside the door, ramesses waited. sihaya's knowing eyes glowed from somewhere beyond his shoulder. "divine one," the sesh murmured. "her pains have just begun." tavina bowed but she did not wait to be dismissed. she scooped up the things brought by the children and went back inside.

a cool cloth, held to treva's brow. "look at me. look at me. breathe. what is your body saying to do? listen to it."

<333

she fussed no more at tavina, doing as instructed. down on her side she went on the bed. loosely grooming herself from the stress and pain all of it alone.

the fuss and commotion of things beyond her room went unnoticed. although she did groan lowly for the departure of tavina. a short lived thing, but treva found herself unwilling to lose sight of the doctor for even a moment.

soon the swarthy sesh returned, this time with something cool for her face. treva allowed her eyes to shut, heavy breaths the only type of communication she could offer for now. the advice of the doctor did not slip entirely by her though.

listen to it.

and she would be damned if she did not. it would take time and it would not be a silent ordeal, but soon enough her listening would reward them. a child. a firstborn. she stared at it for a beat, as if opening the sac of it may be something akin to pandora's box. but whether it would be by her own doing or the doctor's, the first child would be freed.

a son.

just after sundown he was roused from his throne room by one of the younger fellahin. they blended together quite honestly; he did not discern them one from another. but this time he found himself looking at the boy, whose parentage he knew but ignored if not for the rushing blur of anger that clouded his vision each time.
jawahir had belonged to him and still did, but he meant to punish them for a while, take his gilded face from the sight of his disgraced jewel.
the hallway of the mazoi loomed ahead. he cleared his throat loudly. tavina exited treva's quarters with only a terse sentence before she disappeared. it became clear that the sesh was the only other in attendance, which settled him. this would not be a loud affair. he could announce her after.
he sat back against the wall to wait.
treva's cries were terrible. they rent at him, though his face remained as though it were carved from icy marble. it seemed a lifetime ago that he had paced in the corridor outside satsu's apartments, receiving announcement of first one daughter, then another, then a son.
the wails of torment reached feverpitch. and then they faded. ramesses stared toward the mouth of the quieting den.
he thought he heard a child's cry.

oh, a son.

and her heart felt pain for siptah.

she helped to clean the newborn boy; she wiped the slickness of birth and blood from between his tiny folded ears. "a perfect prince, my lady," she praised treva.

she kept an eye on the other's flank, but tradition must be honored. and so away she stepped again, to the den's-door.

"a son, divine one."

tavina was back at treva's side before she saw any expression on the pharaoh's face.

a son.

son, boy, prince. perfect, tavina had called him as treva stared at him. careful to settle him to her side. still she could only find herself staring at him. disbelief, pride, confusion, concern.

she did not know what she felt.

she did not know if she felt anything at all in these physically warping moments.

it mattered little, though, as nature riddled her with waves once more. a lowly sound that started somewhere deep in her belly and came out in windy rolls. as if she was a ghost haunting this place suddenly. this next child saw it fit to test the limits of their mother. this one would take their time.

but treva would deliver once more. this one just as healthy as the first. now she knew the process and this one she could clean herself. the reveal of a gender once more as she nosed the thing for life and inspection.

a daughter.

one who cried softly for but a moment before treva could place her near the son she had birthed. two brown, chubby things for children. hardly an impressive sight for all the fuss and pain they had caused her.

at the very least, she thought, it all seemed to be over.

the lazuli eyes widened, but the physician was already turning away.
a son. his mind too thought of siptah.
a son! another prince! energy coursed through all of him. he stood, and this time he began to pace. suppose she delivered more?
ramesses walked to and fro. his guard stood at the ready. and now his eyes shone from time to time toward the den. now he listened with straining ears for the lusty cry of any more princes born now from the woman who would be his second queen.
the firstborn's title was already upon his tongue, but ramesses would not speak it. the web of time during which he was not married to treva might invite scandal and a curse from the gods.
wonderment lifted slightly the pall of grief.

scarcely had the sesh returned when the pains began. treva's sounds became concentrated. she refreshed the cloth and kept it upon the focused brow, until it became a strain and a second child entered the royal chaos of akashingo.

"a princess." destined for a fate similar to makono and ashikaga, she hoped this girl might find solace in the other royal sisters.

as before she cleansed the babe and ensured that she latched to treva's side. tavina returned to the doorway. "a daughter, great one."

again she came back, and this time stood only to observe the noblewoman for any further waves of pain.

words exchanged somewhere not far from her. as her head grew heavy and she let it settle over extended forelegs. with heavy lids over green eyes, she looked to tavina. a silent thanks that she could not bring herself to speak.

loosely she was aware that the pharaoh awaited outside.

it was then she bothered to let her gaze slowly drift. the two at her side seemed content to settle into a slumber post feeding, silence befell her chamber all at once. like the great end of a rainstorm.

he's been told?

she could only assume that was why tavina stepped out each time.

ram out!

a daughter.
a third princess. he did not mind, for a third prince might have broken akashingo from within. ramesses waited for a while but when tavina did not emerge again, he gestured sharply to sihaya. the man escorted him away.
his heart was heavy, and yet he could not help the elation which slanted sharply beneath his pristine hide. 
another day he would call upon treva and name the newest prince, but for the remainder of the night into morning, he would go to sit vigil beside satsu, and allow the raking cries out of his throat as well.

"he has. he knows."

her purple eyes moved to treva's exhausted, glowing face. "by morning the palace will know as well. will you take visitors?" she asked.

she would move to bar the door if told. the newest royals did not need such speculation at their doorstep so soon after birth. "i am going to bring more water. i will be back, and stay with you until tomorrow afternoon."

she lingered, waiting for the nod, her eyes traveling over the babes and then back to their mother.

can fade on your next <3 ty as always for being such a fun and fast writing partner :D

visitors.

she wondered who would care to visit her. she imagined none out of kindness, more out of speculation. suddenly she felt like more of a conversation piece. even more so than she had while pregnant.

not until they both have names. she need until at least then to decompress from it all. to adjust to the sudden things at her side and bond with them in precious moments.

that would be all she'd offer, a soft nod for tavina to go her way. treva would be wrapped in a deep sleep by the time the medic returned.

<333 same to u! wanted to leave it up a bit for visibility! fading now <3

stay she would.

remain through the night: the first task. she would waken for each cry and help treva to hold and align the babes. tavina was prepared not to sleep until the morning.

but for now, water. 

tavina smiled at the little nativity: mother, daughter, son.

she turned and was gone from view.