It wasn’t until after he had finished his morning training regime in the practice yard that he heard the news that the labour had entered its final stage and that the child was likely to be born within an hour or two. Upon hearing the good news, he decided to wait for further development closer to where Nazma was about to give birth. He sent the page who had informed him of the situation ahead to ask Chepi to meet with him outside Nazma’s bedchamber. When he arrived in the antechamber to the baronial apartments she was waiting there to talk to him.
“How goes it, how is Nazma fairing and is the midwife at all concerned.”
“Everything so far seems normal but sometimes it is only in the last minutes of labour that things start to go wrong. Nazma seems in strong spirits but the first one is always the hardest and you can never tell how the mother might react until the whole thing is over and done with. I cannot stay any longer, not if you wish me to keep a close eye on things and my help might be needed at any moment.”
“One last thing.”, Amondo stated as he removed a strange looking necklace from the left pocket and handed it to her.
“Put this on and if you notice something strange or unexpected happening then simply touch the pendant and I will come running. Hopefully, she isn’t planning anything if it isn’t a boy but you never know I didn’t dare have the apartment checked.”
He didn’t inform her of the other function of the necklace and as soon as she put it on she returned to the bedroom to help with the labour and Amondo sat down in one of the seats within the antechamber to await his fate.
It was slightly less than an hour and a half later that he heard a baby crying. In the meantime, he had started to read an interesting tome on the history of some mercenary company he had never heard of before that he had brought with him. His enjoyment of it was every so often interrupted by strange sounds that leaked out from the bedchamber and his own worries.
The crying of the baby was shortly thereafter followed by the magical device in his left pocket starting to vibrate and a weird noise emanating from it. This was the signal that something had happened to the wearer of the necklace and upon hearing it he jumped up from his seat, activated his ring and drawing his sword he rushed into the bedroom beyond.
When he entered the bedroom he was confronted by the fact that other than Nazma, her sister and two babies everyone else in the room wasn’t moving. They all seemed to be frozen in place not moving an inch or making a sound. It was unnatural which meant magic and as far as he knew neither Nazma nor Sallie knew any magic beyond a cantrip or two. This meant it must be caused by some kind of magical device a remnant of the old world passed from generation to generation or found in a ruin somewhere.
He quickly looked over the room in an attempt to identify the device but without any luck. While he was doing this Nazma continued to lay in her bed with a baby beside her but Sallie who had been holding another baby left it down on the floor and drawing a dagger no doubt tipped with poison tried to stab Amondo in the back. It didn’t work as he was as always aware of his surrounding and quickly grabbed the arm holding the dagger before taking it off her.
“Alright you two here’s how it’s going to go down, Sallie, when I tell you to you, are to remove from her person whatever prevents your sister from being frozen and hand it to me. Then you will pick that baby boy off the floor and return him to wherever you are hiding the magical device responsible for all this. Now Nazma for the sake of the Barony and whatever remaining feeling I have for my late brother we are going to forget this ever happened.
When you are recovered enough you and your daughter will retire to the Manor House and you will raise her quietly and not interfere in the running of the barony. Try not to turn her against me and when the time comes, I will arrange a suitable marriage for her, and you will leave and never return. Cross me in any way and she and you will find your self’s in the worst whore house I can find.
I won’t even bother asking you what would have been in store for her if you had gotten away with it. And Sallie if you ever try to do that to me again you won’t live long enough to regret it. Do you both understand, or do I have to resort to what was my first inclination when I discovered what you had tried to do?”
“I understand milord and you don’t have to worry about little old me.”, replied Sallie.
“Yes.”, came from a weakened Nazma.
“Now about the boy is his mother still alive Sallie?”
‘No milord we couldn’t use the cleric so we had to settle for someone less qualified as a midwife and the mother died after giving birth.”
“Has he a father or another relative?”
“No, I found the mother for my sister in a whore house, one of two the other died of the great pox months ago.”
“Well the thatcher’s wife miscarried recently so when the time comes leave him at their door and I’ll have the village cleric take it from there. All right am going to move towards the door now once you’ve handed over whatever keeps Nazma moving I’ll leave the room to await news of the birth and Nazma please don’t name her after my mother or my brothers either.”
Sallie removed what looked like a pin from her sister’s clothing and Amondo watched as Nazma stopped moving. When he left the room to return to the antechamber it was five minutes before Chepi came to tell him that Nazma had given birth to a baby girl and that both were doing well.
“Has she named her yet?”
“Yes Amondo, Myrna Malla after some beloved relative or other.”
“Well, I better get the messengers headed out with the good news as soon as possible, for good or ill I am the Baron of Membe now and may the gods have mercy on my soul.”
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