Taelin's Story

The years passed slowly for Taelin and Daela. Mixed in with the haze of torturous encounters with the men who held them prisoners, were the few moments of pure love and joy shared between the two. Seventeen years it had been since they had met. Seventeen long years.

The two had suffered together, attempted to comfort one another, and even protected each other. Their love had grown, even though they had been forced to do unthinkable things. Seven children had been born to the pair, though Daela would never meet any of them.

The years had been hard on the woman, and though she was strong, there is only so much anguish one person might handle before their will is broken. The first signs of her breaking became evident after the birth of their sixth child. Daela withdrew within herself once more. She would not eat, nor sleep. Even her health began to suffer from such.

She often fell ill, and was not able to recover with the ease that anyone else might. The last child born, had taxed the poor woman’s body to the limit. During the pregnancy, she had fallen ill once more. The illness moved to her lungs, where it took root and festered. Leaving her gasping for breath at the slightest exertion. The birth was very hard, and Daela very nearly passed on in the middle of it.

Rowley, the healer, kept watch over her. Feeding her teas and herbs to counter the effects of her illness. Though her terrible cough remained, and would bring her to her knees and cause her to expel blood at times, she recovered once more. The woman fo for for her life, though why, no one knew.

Only precious months passed before Taelin was forced to claim the woman once more. His whole being had shook with the effort, for he felt dirty and tainted for allowing the men to make him do such a thing. Never would he have caused Daela harm in such a way, but for fear of both their lives, he was forced to do it.

Every time they were cou, Ta, Taelin secretly wished that nothing would come of it. He knew the pain Daela suffered through each pregnancy, and the emotional hurt that came from having the child ripped from their arms afterwards. If the elf could have kept such pain from his love, he would have. However, once more, the coupling would prove successful. The Lady Daela once more carried a child.

Throughout the following months, she oft fell ill. Suffering everything from her never ending cough, to fever and vomiting. Taelin knew the men had not told the healer of Daela’s current condition, once more. For he had never come back after the birth of their last child. The elf thought it odd, for Rowley seemed to wish to help them, why, then, would he simply turn his back on them?

Taelin was left to care for the woman, as best he could. Being of elven decent, he had never fallen ill, nor did he know how to truly care for her. There was little he could do, but hold or comfort her at times. The men had at least left Daela free to roam the room, during these months. Taelin was thankfFor For the first time he could hold his love, feel the child grow within her.

Many nights he lay awake with Daela curled to his side. His hand would slide slowly over the rounding flesh of the woman’s belly, and a smile would grace his face at the sensation of a flutter beneath the skin. Though he had watched his lover’s body grow heavy with child many times before, to actually touch and feel such was a totally different experience.

If Taelin closed his eyes, he could almost imagine what life would be like were they free. They would have a small talan, perhaps even a cottage. He could imagine this child being created in love, not forced upon them at knifepoint. A smiling child, fully of happiness and the knowledge that his or her parents were terribly in love.

Taelin smiled sadly down at the drawn and pale face of his love. Over the months since the conception, Daela seemed to have faded. There was no longer colour in her cheeks. No longer did her eyes hold the lively twinkle they once did. She simply existed. Simply living to provide life to their child.

Fear clenched its icy fingers around Taelin’s heart at the thought of what would happen to his love when the babe decided to come into the world. Would thaleraler return once again? Would Daela survive once more?

The elf pulled his lover closer to him, rocking her sleeping form gently. Through the swell of her belly pressed close to his side, he was able to feel the uneasy movements of the child within. Careful not to wake Daela, he slid his arm from around her shoulders and moved down her body carefully.

Glancing up at the pfaceface, the elf leant forward and bestowed a chaste kiss upon the firm mound that was their child. His hands sliding lightly over the round contours, attempting to provide comforting energy to both mother and child. Leaning down, he gently pressed his ear to the belly before him, and listened closely.

A smile spreading across his face once more as the little quick heartbeat filtered through to his ear. It sounded almost like the galloping of a horse, he mused, and closing his eyes listened even harder still.

Long minutes he stayed still, simply listening, until his concentration was broken by a well-aimed kick connecting with his cheekbone. Sitting back, the elf chuckled quietly, always mindful of not waking the sleeping woman.

“Hush, penneth. (little one) You will wake your mother, and she needs her rest. I know you are getting rather cramped in there, but you must be patient. You will see the world soon enough.” Taelin whispered to the unborn child.

With a sad smile upon his face, the elf began to sing softly to the child. He sang the only thing that came to mind. An elven lullaby his own mother had sung to him countless nights of his youth. Resting his head upon Daela’s belly, his eyes began to glaze with sleep. He continued singing softly until sleep claimed him. Just before his consciousness slipped into the world of elven dreamscape, Taelin thought he could hear another voice join his. A feminine voice that was all too familiar. With a smile upon his face, he finally fell into a rare peaceful sleep.