Ponderosa watched the trees as she followed behind the royal carriage. She was wary and watchful after hearing Princess Analisa’s accusations in the chapel. She resisted the urge she felt to grab the Dagaz rune and Pearl hidden beneath the high collar of her dress. There were too many servants around. Not to mention that the two knights that had acted as bodyguards and Prince Kelton’s serving man were riding in close proximity to her as well. She had only half listened to their playful bantering and exaggerated relief that they didn’t have to follow through with any of the oaths they had sworn just over four months ago.
The three of them seemed really close; and close to Prince Kelton by the informal way they spoke about him. A closeness she wished to have again, but doubted she ever would. Ponderosa had just lifted her head to look at the trees on her left when the clopping of hooves drew closer on her right. She turned to find Sir Hamnet walking his horse in stride.
“You’ve done a great service for this kingdom, Ponderosa,” he said. “We owe you much for finding and caring for Princess Iredys.”
Ponderosa shook her head and looked away.
“We do,” Sir Hamnet insisted. “Prince Kelton would have changed had he married someone else, even if it were the shy Countess Lilia instead of Princess Analisa.”
She shook her head again. ‘There doesn’t seem to be much trust between you and Prince Kelton, despite your talk describing your closeness otherwise. Why else would you be kept in the dark?’
“I will speak to Prince Kelton on your behalf. What…?”
Ponderosa turned to Sir Hamnet, her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. She slowly, and deliberately, shook her head.
“You don’t want me to speak to Prince Kelton.”
She nodded.
“Surely there is something you need.”
She shook her head, took a look toward the royal carriage, then kicked her horse to pick up the pace a little. Because she was already feeling on edge, Sir Hamnet’s insistence that she be rewarded for finding Iredys just made the feeling worse. A feeling she didn’t care to feel right now, since her attention needed to be free in case Iredys needed her assistance. Ponderosa’s relief was minimal when Sir Hamnet didn’t try to catch up or talk to her again.
When they stopped for the night, Ponderosa followed Prince Kelton and Princess Iredys closely. She attended to Princess Iredys’ needs, aware of Gailan’s almost casual attentiveness to Prince Kelton. He left the room with the dishes Prince Kelton used for dinner. Ponderosa stoked the fire once more and added another log before Prince Kelton called out to her.
“Ponderosa?”
She turned to him and curtsied.
“Would you give us a moment of privacy?”
The edges of her mouth turned down, but she nodded.
Princess Iredys patted Prince Kelton’s hand before she stood. She wrapped Ponderosa in a firm embrace. ‘Be at peace. Nothing will happen to you in the near future.’
‘What about you, My Lady?’ she wondered.
‘That will depend on the baby boy here.’
Ponderosa nodded.
‘You may wait outside for a little while, if you do not yet feel ready to retire for the night. One of us will call when we are okay to have you come back in.’
‘Alright.’
Princess Iredys loosened her hold and touched their foreheads together. ‘Thank you.’
‘You are welcome, My Lady.’
Ponderosa slipped from her embrace then stepped out of the room. She closed the door tightly then leaned against the wall. Iredys words had helped her calm down in terms of Princess Analisa’s accusation. The near constant desire to make sure that Dagaz and the Pearl were still out of sight was nearly gone as well, though her awareness of the necklace was still present in her mind.
She took and let out a deep breath before thoughts of Sir Hamnet filled her mind. She shook her head to try and clear the thoughts, but a different kind of angst stirred in her gut. Had she done something other than care for Iredys to bring Sir Hamnet’s attention to her? She hadn’t thought so. And his eyes…. Ponderosa shook her head again to dislodge thoughts of the knight. Whatever his reasons, she hoped that with her refusal earlier today that he would leave her alone. However, the approach of booted steps made her realize how futile that hope was.
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“Is something wrong, Ponderosa?” Sir Hamnet asked.
She shook her head.
“Then why are you standing out here?”
Ponderosa rolled her eyes and turned her head away.
“He didn’t want to wait, did he?” Sir Hamnet asked.
She turned to him with a glare and shook her head in disgust.
“What?”
She closed her eyes and slowly let out her breath.
“Is…?”
Ponderosa waved her hand at him to get him to stop then motioned for him to go away.
“But….”
She clenched her jaw then pointed more firmly down the hall.
Sir Hamnet held up his hands and took a step back. “Alright. I’ll go.”
Ponderosa kept a suspicious eye on him until he entered one of the rooms further down the hall.
Once the door was closed, Ponderosa tipped her head back to rest it against the wall. His persistence was annoying. It was times like these, she wished she still had her tongue and could tell the cheeky knight to shut up and leave her alone. She didn’t need or want any kind of reward for helping Princess Iredys, she didn’t even want to have any kind of social association with him unless she absolutely had to.
A shiver ran down her spine. She just hoped that as they finished traveling to the summer castle, that Sir Hamnet would back off.
“Ponderosa!” Prince Kelton called.
She entered the room.
Prince Kelton had the blanket wrapped around his waist and Princess Iredys was curled up at the head of the bed. Her face was very pale. Ponderosa approached Iredys and knelt on the bed beside her.
Iredys shivered.
“I didn’t…. I thought…,” he started, but couldn’t finish.
Ponderosa turned to Prince Kelton long enough to motion for the blanket. She wrapped her arms around Iredys until the blanket landed next to them. Picking it up, Ponderosa covered Iredys with it. She could hear Prince Kelton pull his pants on then scramble to set out some writing tools, but she kept her focus on Iredys. She was bleeding a little, which was normal for someone who hadn’t had sex for several months.
Iredys whimpered and a gush of yellowish fluid came out of her body with a little more blood. The mattress was soaked and the sweet smell of the fluid was unmistakable. Iredys was in labor. Ponderosa gave Iredys’ shoulder a gentle squeeze before she climbed off the bed to grab a few things from her herbal kit. She picked out several tinctures, then brought them back to the bed. Iredys took the herbs before Ponderosa helped Iredys lay on her left side on the driest part of the bed. She tucked a pillow between her knees to keep her pelvis open.
“Ponderosa?” Prince Kelton asked, agitated.
She scribbled some words on a piece of paper, handed it to Prince Kelton, then shoved him out of the room.
“Ponderosa!” he protested as she shut the door.
She set a chair in front of the door to keep everyone out as booted steps and voices sounded in the hallway. She needed to give her full attention to Iredys.
‘He’s early,’ Iredys whimpered with her next contraction.
‘He’s right on time,’ Ponderosa said, stroking the top of her head. ‘Exhale as the contraction starts, and relax.’
Iredys did so before she shook her head and tried to get up. Ponderosa helped her get up and let her walk around the room. While she walked, Iredys would pause from time to time and adjust the blankets and pillows on the bed. Ponderosa prepared clean cloths to put over the baby once he came. She had just thrown a couple more logs into the fireplace to build up the fire when Iredys breathing changed.
“Puu,” she vocalized.
‘Transition already?’ Ponderosa asked, her eyes widening.
Iredys nodded then lowered herself onto her hands and knees.
Ponderosa grabbed a towel and positioned herself behind Iredys. The young Prince was already crowning. She watched the top of his head bob slightly through the vaginal opening before he practically shot out of Iredys’s body. Ponderosa caught him with practiced motions. He whimpered and curled in the much cooler room before he started to wail.
All the muted noises out in the hall turned to silence as Ponderosa passed the baby boy between Iredys legs to where she could hold onto him as she sat back. Iredys held him close as tears slid down her cheeks.
‘Welcome, Nathaniel,’ Iredys sighed.
His wailing continued as Ponderosa supported Iredys off the floor and onto the bed. She grabbed her knife to cut the cord, but as she took the white cord in her fingers, it came away without her needing to cut it. She looked at the end and saw that it had been burned. The sound of Nathaniel’s cries changed before they quieted as he latched onto Iredys’ breast. Ponderosa caught the placenta then took it to the table to clean it. The scraping of the chair near the door caught her attention and she left the placenta in the bucket of water to allow Prince Kelton to come back in. As she opened the door, Ponderosa noted that all of Prince Kelton’s knights were crouched by or leaning against the walls.
“How is she?” Prince Kelton asked, a mix of emotions crossing his face.
Ponderosa smiled then stepped back to let him in.
Prince Kelton hurried over to the bed. Ponderosa left the door open, but none of the knights ventured into the room. She finished cleaning the placenta then chopped it up so it could be mixed into a glass of meal and herbs. Prince Kelton was stroking Iredys head as he looked down on their son when she brought the glass over.
“Nathaniel?” he asked Iredys.
She looked up at him with a smile and nodded.
“Hi, Nathaniel,” Prince Kelton said, lightly running his hand over the top of his head.
Nathaniel let go of Iredys’ breast and fussed a little until she could get him to latch on the other side. Ponderosa offered the glass to Iredys. She drank it then turned her attention to Nathaniel. He let go of her breast and she settled him in the middle of her chest so she could rub his back and get the bubbles out. Prince Kelton sat closer to them and embraced them.
“I love you,” he whispered.
‘I love you, too,’ she whispered back, leaning into him.