…..:::::|. Qilla Street Circle .|:::::…..

Everything was peach. The flowers in the gardens, the garland draped about the pillars circling the complex, all the sheer waving banners hearkening their approach up pass one of the grandest Ladies Houses the two girls had ever seen.

Boy's under the perfect age carried water and folds of cloths toward women round with expecting smiles and husbands nervous in even their walk beside them.

The two girls had strolled through the capital city long enough to come upon its center and the Ladies House situated here in Havvenchael.

They could wholly see why it had been considered the world’s largest. It was unfathomably enormous. Much like a lot of the major structures in the country’s capital.

Halycind suddenly wondered of her own fertility as she caught full sight of the great semi-circular structure, crafted from peach stone. A pregnancy would severely complicate her becoming an Agent. Especially a pregnancy by someone whose name she didn't even know. Oh, why hadn't she thought of any of this before being so swept up?

In reverence of the mothers, a certain etiquette in the Ladies Houses had cropped up on how they should be treated and viewed. Every women, regardless of birthing age or social station—royal or otherwise—all wore wispy gowns of peach and were elaborately adorned in light metal jewelry of the country in which they hailed. Every sun-rising, those who could, walked a processional around the outermost ring of the building within the inner court of its garden as to keep their bodies healthy for easy births.

Onlookers would often sit, quietly, on benches and watch the women, keen in their grace, stroll through inner gardens of the circular building on their processional. At the behest of their caretakers, boys under the perfect age brought gifts of flowers from young husbands and fathers outside eagerly awaiting a visit with their women. Even the semeguard here were of a different sort; all widowed husbands. They wore a seal of purity upon their breast and always seemed of a, stauncher than most, watch.

“You know it's A'al'huhn’s fault these are even here, yeah?” Kodlaa softly started with a chide.

“Why do I remember that name?” Halycind offered.

Kodlaa was surprised she’d even said anything at all, she’d been so quiet before. She’d must have been sobering and Kodlaa was growing relieved.

“The Old Helms yammered on about him.”

“Ah, right. I don’t remember much of what they said.”

“Understandable. They’re quite long-winded.” Kodlaa steered them closer to all the peach in the outer gardens since the view seemed to calm her friend.

“Sometime during the Blue Era when the Queendom of Cat'a hadn't yet yanked up the whole of Buraamira's eastern coastline—aptly named The Warline—there was a phenomenon that swept the whole of the world.”

“Oh, this is vaguely sounding familiar." Halycind slipped a dried berry in her mouth as guards eyed her. She didn't know she could be recognized outside of her white armours but they dipped their staunch heads toward the Gale-Killer, nonetheless. "What was he again?"

"Not sure no body really knows. Mancer. Elder. Fine Mage. Dunno, but he was some sort of a Jemedh stuffed in a rock for a thousand cycles. I mean who sticks a baby in a rock? Regardless he grew up be a man in that rock and once they let him out and he saw a girl for the first time...it was over for the rest of the planet.”

"Riiight, the randy rock-guy. Wasn't he the one Fena finally tamed?"

"That very same." Kodlaa ate one of Halycind’s berries. "They had him on some magical leash but that didn't prove useful at all ‘cause he'd still sneak out every night and bang something new."

"Oooh, right, yeah, and Fena caught him out one night. Told Cashtiel and Aphsa-Ashok. Didn't they have some sort of sit down with him?"

"As you do with a hot-heart. Don't think it was a scoldin' though, just a 'splainin'. Apparently he was a real sweet sort, just a bit stupid. And that night Fena pointed out how many stars there were in the sky and that at some point they'd all been born. Somehow he magically understood that, then understood what fatherin' was and everyone he'd ever snuck away to bed turned up pregnant."

"Why don’t I remember that part?"

"That’s the story-kicker, dog. The next sun-rising tens of thousands of females of every species were knocked up."

"Tens?! Tens of thousands?!"

“Yeah. All at the same time and all at the same stage of early term. He's, what say, sired the whole of the world's nations. You don’t remember them talking about this? His favourite colour was peach. Fena wore peach. That's why everyone at a Ladies house where’s peach, Cash!“

“What? I don’t listen good, ok!” Halycind defended.

“Oh, I wasn’t being harsh with you, it’s just a story.” Kodlaa tried to soothe.

Halycind hugged her own arms feeling the shame of her actions rip her insides apart. She tried to distract herself again. “Tens? Of thousands? That's a lot of – wow.”

“Yeah, there's reasons the Blue Era don't get talked about much.” Kodlaa said in a small voice.

“I didn’t know you knew this stuff.”

“Yeah, well, I know I got a sweetheart face and all but my braining’s ok. Babies and drinking, I know.” Kodlaa pointed to another plinth that heralded the story she was recalling. “See. The whole thing sent cities and towns and Kingdoms into full political fits. There were too many pregnant females, not enough doulas for the number. They needed to be housed. They needed to be cared for while the mages and scholars researched what exactly had caused the wonder. Kings, Kadifs, MountedMatrons, Ealdormen, Queens, all of’em argued for a whole bend on what to do with the generation being born.”

“Clearly, I wasn't paying attention.”

“It’s alright Cash, maybe you had no interest.” Kodlaa shrugged. “Whatever the call, it all sent everyone loopy. A sudden societal boom like that. Cities and countries birthed invention after invention to both care for and corral an entire birthing generation. Each country and township finally settled on a universal plan. That thing.” She pointed to the large building. “The Ladies House. A lodging where a generation of pregnant mothers could live under the close watch of medics and mages and mid-wives and doulas. A place to hone rearing skills and schooling skills and social skills to pass on to their newborns. And Cat'a has the biggest one. ‘Cause look around you. May Rising is right here in the city...every cycle.” She smiled up at a fear-stricken Halycind. “You're not the only one with an amorous attraction to magecraft.”

"I'm not a dust-dump." Halycind shot back, wounded by her own self-judgements.

"Whoa-Oh, Haly, I would never say that about you. What happened to you, Haly?!”

"I just...I just started drinking again way too soon." She repeated wrestling free of Kodlaa’s gaze. “Uhhh, how soon could they know?” Halycind hesitated, staring again at the building and all the pretty women walking in its gardens.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Know what?”

“Conception?”

“Haly, did somebody hurt you?”

“No.” She shook her head quickly but Kodlaa squinted.

“You don’t have to lie to me. I’m not going to judge you.”

“No, I was just stupidly drunk and I didn’t mind where I ended up.”

“We could go in. Their mages can find out within pachs if there's something running around in there you don't want.” Kodlaa spilled truthfully and with some growing vengefulness.

Halycind knew for certain Kodlaa’s words would challenge themselves if she’d known she bed the Necromancer. She’d already surely lost Siin, she didn't want to also lose Kodlaa.

Halycind had chased that rose-scented death-bringer and now she was seeing what her cocky words on death had wrought for her. She clenched hard on her own jaw. He seemed to not worry of having a child from her but he never had to see her again so what would it matter to him? Though she’d heard years ago, the power in mancers made them sterile. Could mancers even sire children? Siin wanted children. A whole litter of girls.

She tried to ignore her anxiety and was almost openly thankful a scene had opened up in the lovely pools of the inner gardens of the Ladies House.

“What’s that? What’s going on there?” Halycind asked.

Kodlaa’s worried eyes turned to view Halycind’s interest. “Oh, a pre-birth.” Kodlaa burst in a caring whisper.

One of the staunch guards extended his hand to guide the curious two on over toward the pregnant woman and her husband sitting in a shallow pool of mineral waters with petals and candles all about them. She was straining even while a small throng gathered, lead by other guards.

The girls were told some Speculah couples were so excited to bare children they would allow others to view some of their birthing natures.

They’d heard from the Rector she’d been a descendant of Glaurea but Kodlaa didn’t see a lick of Speculah in her person.

Kodlaa finally asked and her husband nodded in the affirmative with a smile. Kodlaa was proud the Super-Natured Speculah had not all been wiped out but the girl still didn’t look any parts pixie.

She’d been told the couple, both, had a small amount of pixie blood but it was enough to trigger this special kind of birth. Kodlaa looked to Halycind watching the woman wince one final time and burst forth hundreds of wiggling creatures from her womb in the waters. She had been teasing what Halycind and Siin’s children would have looked like but she knew they’d be more Speculah than anything else. Blended blood was stronger than most other bloods on Dureyr. And even as those tiny young things assimilated with one another and joined to become bigger more serpentine like creatures, Kodlaa’s eyes kept going back to Halycind.

Kodlaa thought to ask the final number and was told the young woman would have triplets. Both Halycind and Kodlaa were pleased at hearing that, as all the onlookers watched three now healthily well-formed fetus swam back up under the young woman’s gowns and into her belly once more.

Halycind was indeed shocked by the spectacle and Kodlaa told her the mother would have a few more months of pregnancy before giving full-birth.

The hole ordeal was odd. The strangest thing Halycind had ever seen but nothing she’d seen since Ladi Gru Has had been normal so in a way it was easier to accept than her own betrayal.

Kodlaa was smiling and watching them pet back sweats from the exhausted mother as midwives tended her and her nervous husband.

Halycind had interrupted her inspection of the girl with an old thought.

“What’s Glaurea?”

“A dead city. Mechanical. A White Era Speculah Hold. They say the super-nature lived their.” The husband spoke up to address the Gale-killer. His accent was foreign sounding, as if he were from Tuje’ha. He was certainly handsome enough to be from there.

Kodlaa pointed to Halycind’s satchel where the rosestone box dangled. “The maker of the music box said it had bits and bobs from Glaurea.”

Halycind considered giving the box to the pretty couple but thought of her feather and couldn’t let his token of love go. So she handed the Rector a collection of gold and gems for the two of them instead.

The young couple were terribly gleeful and thankful to the Gale-Killer. They reminded her they could rest easily now that she’d rid the region of certain doom and their babies would be safer.

Halycind still felt unworthy of such praise but seeing their honest relief made her feel like she wanted to do more for anyone else she could.

Kodlaa and Halycind greeted them one last time, wished them all well, and finally walked further into the city center.

“Where’d you get all them gems?” Kodlaa prodded lightly.

“The chancellor’s necklace. I dismantled it.”

“Postman Fatty’s chain? Wow.”

Halycind gave her a chuckle. The first she’d given this morning and Kodlaa passed her a hopeful grin.

Herbals and sweet-roots and rose-coloured cakes sat on every stand and she took from each as they approached a crowd blocking the course on through to the city center. They sat in the circle, watched warriors and magi play-fight and took in everything May Rising could muster in its grand affair.

“Eberhavven?” Halycind thought for a moment on where they sat. “Is your family from here? You'd always said your grandfather was from the west but you'd never mentioned where from exactly.”

“'That’s cause he never exactly mentioned where from.” Kodlaa answered with a ready response. “He’d always gave me the impression we were from everywhere.”

“Oh. Odd.”

A bright handsome mage burst colours for the girls as they ate their cakes then whisked himself away into other parts of the crowds. Halycind waited expectantly for whatever clever words Kodlaa was sure to spill.

“Nothing to say, Kodi?”

“No. I’m not going to tease you. I love you and you’re not in the mood.”

Halycind almost wanted to tell her what she’d done but another thought jumped in front of her musings. “Why do you have such a vested interest in us anyway? Siin and I?”

“I like you two. A lot. You’re my favourite people, really. I—I just don’t want--” Kodlaa stopped to gather herself as she also seem consumed with other thoughts. “I just don’t want anything to get in the way of you two.”

Halycind grew a curious look on her pack-sister staring off at the players. There was now more behind her eyes than she’d known there to be before. “Why would something come betwee—” Halycind’s query was cut off as Siin, her boyfriend, approached their table.

Halycind’s chest was sent into near panic. She wished she’d never let him out of her sight last night. She wished she’d never been so arrogant as to think she could handle herself drunk and recovering. He was such a good feather already. He’d wanted his pup to come be with him.

Halycind was growing dizzy in her silent panic.

“Getting lost in the sparkles.” Siin opened, playfully.

Halycind stared at him, her gut wanting to hurl all her foods right back up.

“Where’ve you been all morning, uul'begadhi?”

Kodlaa looked up at him rather seriously then back to the events playing out in the circle.

Siin furrowed. “Collecting farts. Where else?” He was chuckling confidently but then glanced to Halycind. His half-foggy half-swaying eyes remembered sounding like thunder to her; and for a moment, all he saw again was darkness and the empty streets of Havvenchael. It had been a long time since his head had been this muddled.

“Disgusting practice, mage.” Kodlaa teased.

“Right.” He cut. Sharper than he thought he'd utter but he’d only now noticed he was angry. Though, he didn’t know at what.

“Siin?” Halycind wanted to reach for him, wanted to poor out all her apology and youthful stupidity so he could forgive her of something he knew nothing about. He looked so angry.

She'd betrayed them before they'd even become something and she hated every thought of it.

His stomach was turning sick again. The little girl in the forest made his stomach turn like this but why was it now turning when he looked on Halycind? Had he made all the wrong decisions in the infirmary; decisions he’d been guided to adhere to for the dangers of loving her?

Percival closed in behind Siin with Veygornne and three others in tow. All their worried looks—Halycind, Siin, and Kodlaa—were steered toward the commanding looking lot.

The Exemplariat stepped aside, extended a palm toward the three very tall, very foreign looking figures in muted purple cloaks, and grinned a long smirk up one side of his face.

“Wolaenkis.” He addressed as they peered upon him, “I'd like to introduce you to your first profferers.”

It took a solid moment for the words to register, they'd all been waiting for something like this, something official, since arriving in Ladi Gru Has. They, all three, then burst a different look of stupefaction.

"The ‘Venge?"