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 Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:16 pm
 The child had come. Correction. The children had come. Who would have guessed that under all that padding a pair of spawn had ripened? Mas D'aun was certainly bewildered by the outcome. The daughter he was beside himself with glee. After the midwife had washed her free of the birthing gore and ickor Mas had been more then happy to hold the wrapped up mewling creature. She had his eyes. Something that thrilled him to his core.
Then had come the news from the midwife that poor Tri-no's labor was not complete, and the second child had come. A male though. Still...Mas had to admitt that seeing both of his get with blue eyes had filled him with some manner of pride.
Tri-no's job was complete by bringing into life the daughter. Mas allowed the midwife to finish tending and cleaning her. Then he had Tri-no moved to her own bedchambers so she could rest more comfortably and sleep off the events.
The pair of children never left Mas D'aun's arms. He juggled the bottles of Rothe milk so Tri-no would not be pestered with feeding the little parasites. The midwife had been sent to her chambers to rest as well..and Mas was left awake to think. And wonder. His eyes drifted from one blue eyed face to the other. He had mastered holding the infants by cradling them both in the crook of one arm. His own blue eyes were narrowed thoughtfully. He wanted Tri-no to waken soon. he was sure she'd need something for the pain. Perhaps a little lavishing even. But first...they needed to speak...
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:34 pm
I had better have birthed a girl, Trielnolu thought hazily. She remembered the attending midwife telling her that her child had been born whole and healthy, and she remembered that her birthing contractions had not ceased after being told that, but she couldn't recall hearing the sex of the baby. She was pretty sure that she had fainted shortly thereafter. Maybe she was dead. She hurt enough that death would be welcome.
I wonder how Shri would feel about giving birth, she thought. She would probably find it exhilirating, or some nonsense like that.
She was slow to open her eyes as she thought these things because, in point of actual fact, she was in more pain than she'd ever imagined she could feel. Her lineage had made the pain more bearable, but it had also made her acutely aware of it. Her senses were dull by the standards of House Baen'duis, but she knew she was more sensitive than the average drow, speaking in a tactile manner. She would not have liked to endure the birthing process without Lloth's gift of bearing pain, though.
"Where's the spawn?" she asked as she became used to seeing. She was sure there would be someone in the room. Maybe not Mas, but someone. He wasn't inconsiderate enough to just leave her in a bloody birthing chamber after she'd fulfilled her part of their bargain. Well. She didn't know for certain whether she had or not, but that was why she was interested in her spawn.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:54 pm
The sound of Tri-no's voice broke through Mas' own internal thoughts. His head lifted, and a faint smile broke out over his finely painted lips. "I have them here." He cooly replied from where he sat. Of the children, the male seemed to be half sleepily dozeing. Mas gently stood, causeing the males eyes to blink open a bit more fully.
He crossed over to where Tri-no sat. He considered that she might wish to look upon the little parasites that had been squirted out and severed from their connection to her womb. With as much care as he could manage while holding the infants, Mas settled himself upon the bed near Tri-no, and he tilted his arms to give her a fair view of the children.
"Behold our offspring. I think you may have overdone it on the fertility spells Tri-No. But at least we've one daughter."
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:06 pm
Tri-no craned her neck to peer at the bundles Mas was carrying. Her ears had caught his use of the word "them" but she chose not to remark initially. Her memories made much more sense if she'd had more than one child, but multiple births were so rare in the Underdark that she was still reluctant to be too excited by the prospect. Besides, there was always the dreadful possibility that she'd birthed multiple males. That would have been beyond useless and disappointing. And Mas' tone didn't tell her much. Suddenly she craved reassurance that she hadn't managed to ruin this enterprise. She didn't want to endure another pregnancy or another birth.
When he brought the pair close enough for her to see the infants she looked at them intently, inordinately pleased that they'd both inherited their father's characteristic blue eyes. At least this way there could be no doubting whose spawn they were, paternally. And if anyone dared question their maternal line, Tri-no would make them regret it. No way had she gone through all that without being deserving of recognition. Maybe they would like to see how it feels to give birth. It was within her powers to convince a person they were pregnant and going into labor. It was, in fact, something she wouldn't mind trying on someone. Maybe a female servant: convincing her she was pregnant, and seeing if her body would play along.
But that wasn't the most important matter at the moment. The most important matter was Mas' words: they had a daughter.
"I assume the other one is male? At least there won't be difficulties regarding succession." She knew all about those, and couldn't imagine how much more complicated things could be in Baen'duis if there had been a pair of twins eligible to inherit.
"Have you named them yet?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:20 pm
Should he offer to let her hold one? Mas was uncertain if Tri-no wanted that much a maternal connection with her twins. Who knew though? Mas shifted himself on the bed a bit more so he could be cloesr to her. He noticed how her head had needed to lift to see the children and honestly...She shouldn't be doing anything more then lounging comfortably.
"Would you care to hold her?" Mas asked after his moment of hesitation. His blue eyes shifted down to where the male had begun to fuss. "Yes. The other is certainly a male. Second born too, so I am quite pleased. Though honestly I've no bloody idea what to do with the male."
His words came out faintly amused as he tilted his gaze to look over at Tri-no. "Birthing twins...reguardless of the spells that had been used, was quite a feat Tri-no. I did not want to make any sort of descions concerning these two until I could speak with you. I have the thought that perhaps you would like the honor of naming the female?"
His head tilted to the bundle that was lieing comfortably nearest to Tri-no. "I was considering sacrificeing the male to Lloth in thanks for giving me a female. But then I got to thinking about the potential danger the female may face. She is the future Matron after all. Micaretth could decide to do her in out of spite. Little s**t that he is...so I was thinking of making the boy her double. I could think of having a bit of fun with the boy too. he is only a spare after all."
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:34 pm
Mas shifting on the bed made Tri-no a little uncomfortable. Not physically, but she had gone to a great deal of effort to produce those brats, and if anything should happen to the female, she would be understandably devastated. She had significantly less interest in the fate of the male, and was about to ask Mas what his views on sacrifice were when he brought the matter up for himself. As for holding her...she had to make an effort not to let her inner squirming at the thought of holding one of the shriveled things become too apparent.
"I appreciate the thought," Tri-no said. She needed some sort of excuse, though. Her thoughts jumped quickly to her hand, the damaged one. While it was functional, and probably suitable for handling children. "But I think I'll wait until she's less delicate. I would hate for something to go wrong while I was holding her because my hand somehow proved inadequate for the task."
There. That ought to stop him from trying to pass either one of the things off on her. It wasn't as though her hand would get any more fixed. Everything that could be done for it had been done. So until the spawn became less fragile, she wasn't going to hold them.
"I also appreciate your consideration, but they are both your children. I'm more of an incubator than a mother. Still..." Her red gaze, far more typical for a drow than that of her offspring or their father, came to rest on the female baby. "I might be able to suggest a few names. The end decision is yours, though. She's your heir, after all. Do what you will with the boy."
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:48 pm
Mas nodded his head, and in accordance to Tri-no's wishes he drew the children back into his own arms. "Of course. There is no further requirement on your part to have anything to do with them. I mean, the male in particular, but you have fulfilled your contract. So you need not see them again unless your curious of course."
And he most likely would not be seeing them much either until they were old enough to begin molding properly. "I would be eager to hear your suggestions for the female. I want her to have a good name. As for the boy..."
Mas gave the fussing child a good hard look. A flickering of names trapised through his mind, before he twisted his lips. Unlucky Secret.... "Ilmindia.... I shall name him Ilmindia. I'll have to charge the midwife to keep his gender hidden and refer to him as a female as well. Hnn..Maybe I should have him castrated..."
Mas tilted his head throughtfully as he placed a finger in the boy's mouth to still him.
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:14 pm
It wasn't that Trielnolu wanted nothing to do with the monsters. She was curious about them, and couldn't help feeling a certain proprietary interest in them. She just didn't want to form any sort of emotional attachment to either one of them. the girl was to be Mas' heir, and she was probably not the best role model for a girl he wanted to bring up to be biddable. And she had little interest in the male. Maybe she had been a little too enthusiastic when it came to measures to ensure conception, but that was because she'd feared she wouldn't have a girl. It had never occurred to her that she'd spawn twins.
"I don't intend to be completely removed from them, but I do not feel I would be particularly useful at any point in the near future. They are simply too young. And, if I may say so about your heir, they are also rather squished looking. I realize that I'm hardly a paragon of female beauty, but I don't think your daughter is really in the running either, at the moment." She was already taking care to put all the possessive adjectives so that the children were Mas'. She wanted there to be no mistakes on that front.
"How about Pfranqi? No. Too childish. She will grow up eventually, I hope. Maybe Illaizha? Or Sin...something. Sinatra? I don't know. I'm not much good at naming things. And names are so permanent."
The thought of her male offspring being raised female, an upbringing very like his father's, amused her right up until Mas mentioned musingly that he might have the boy castrated. Though she would have no objection to sacrificing the boy, as was right and proper on certain occasions, she did not hold with mutilation. Particularly not that sort of mutilation. She came from a sensual House, and though she had not been one to appreciate the full extent of Baen'duis' abilities until conceiving the twins, her upbringing made her recoil at the thought of castration.
"Not that," she said a little too quickly. "If something should go wrong, you will want someone of your bloodline to be able to reproduce, even if it is through the male line."
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:25 pm
"Squished?" Mas looked at the pair with a blink of his blue eyes. Following her comment, he began to gently pull back on the blankets to give the pair a bit more moving room.
"Ah. I understand Tri-no. In truth I doubt I'll have much to do with them until they are actually useful and moldable. Honestly, whats the point in wasting my time tending to menail concerns? It's not like it will gain me anything. I'll just wait until I can actually talk with them and have them understand me. So I do understand your disinterest in them. heh..and I'm certain the girl will turn out just fine looking. You really do have some lovely curves after all Tri-no."
Mas turned then to considering the name. While the first name surely sounded...cute...he nodded his head in agreement with Tri-no's thoughts. "Ah..Sinatra has a nice gentle glide to it....I shallaccept that for her name then. Sinatra and Ilmindia..."
Mas paused then. Tri-no's quick cutting in on his vauge museing caused him to lift a brow. Looking down at the boy, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I suppose you have a point. it would do me no good to leave only my brothers line as possible breeding stock if something should go awry. I'm sure I can use the same methods to concceal Imindia's changes as my own mother used on me."
Pauseing again, Mas turned to glance at Tri-no. "You still seem quite weary. I shall take my children to their nursury now and have a talk with the midwife. Shall I send someone to fetch you a drink when I leave?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:34 pm
Well. She'd surprised him, then. But squished was actually one of the nicer adjectives she could come up with to describe the pair. They were not particularly attractive in their hours-old state. It was hard to believe, however, that both of them had fit inside her. It gave her cause to wonder just how large she had gotten with her pregnancy. Clearly some sort of post-natal exercise program would have to happen. Lovely curves or not, she didn't think anyone really found globular a particularly attractive shape.
"With any luck, she'll inherit no more than a third of them," Tri-no joked.
It surprised her some that he'd agreed to one of her names. He was the more creative of the two of them, she'd always assumed, and this was his heir. How could he leave the naming of such a relation up to someone else? "That sounds very nice. And like a pair of girls. I'll have to remember to tithe well to the temple, and give vocal thanks to Lloth for blessing my womb so."
The very thought, however, of such an activity was draining. She'd had an exhausting several hours, and so while she registered Mas' acquiescence and agreement not to mutilate his son, she didn't hear much else that he said on the matter. She did hear him offer to have someone bring her a drink, but she suspected that once he left she would fall asleep easily.
"I think I'll be fine, thank you. I'll probably sleep some more once you've left."
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Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:40 pm
Mas laughed at the joke. A light little chuckle to which he nodded his head. It was amuseing after all. Not that he expected his daughter to have the same problem as her mother. Tri-no's life had not been a fond one as far as he could tell. Preferably his daughter owuld be happy...just..conditioned properly.
Standing with the children in his arms, Mas nodded his head. Yes...Tri-no certainly did seem worn after thie brief talk.
"I understand. I shall check in on you later Treilnolu. Rest well." His lips curled into a faint smile. Tithing for a pair of daughters..well... that shoudl definatly gain a bit of a gossiping started shouldn't it? Squaring his shoulders, Mas lightly slipped across the floor and towards the door. he now had a midwife to threaten properly into secrecy. Or kill... though he'd rather not. someone had to change these things diapers after all...
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