In The Darkness, I Found The Light

Chimera showed up shortly after she had begun to work with Siren. Ali noticed how exhausted, physically and mentally, their king looked. After the struggles and trauma they'd all endured, it was to be expected. Seeing Chimera like this just ground the crushed fragments of her heart into dust as she dwelled on the fact that she had been the cause for all of his misery and pain. She'd failed to birth his children, she'd failed to prevent their conception from happening in the first place, she'd caused everything bad since the day she'd been brought to their little island back north. Aliana couldn't look Chimera in the eye, instead keeping her head bowed with eyes turned to the floor like she had when she'd first been bought. She felt her mate nuzzle the top of her head and grace her crown with a kiss, giving her an out if she needed it. He was so considerate... she didn't deserve it.

"I'm fine," she lied in as flat a tone as she could manage, then slipped away to return to her work. Chimera began to comfort Dalila as he had every mother of his children and Siren was darting about doing the bulk of the work. This was not her first rodeo with births, and Ali knew what to do by this point. Practiced paws prepared the swaths of linen to receive each pup, taking her place at Dalila's hind end as the woman's contractions came stronger and faster. Siren coached Dalila through the process, and after some painful cries, Ali received the larger boy, cleaning him off as he choked and struggled to breathe. Aliana's eyes sparked to life and she returned to action—only for Siren to step in and begin trying to resuscitate the pup. Ali watched with helplessness while Siren tried and ultimately failed to bring the pup back to life. The light left Aliana's eyes again. One down...

While Siren set the pup to Dalila's side and returned to doing everything, Ali snuck up along the side of the bed and placed a gentle paw on the pup's sides. She felt along the still warm body, feeling an empty ache in her chest as she looked down at the patchwork pup that had tried so hard to hang on to life. He looked like he was fully developed though, so why had he perished? Frowning and furrowing her brow, Ali pressed into the boy's chest, realizing it felt more hollow than it should have. The pup's lungs hadn't fully formed and couldn't get any air. The child had effectively suffocated as soon as it was born. Ali's heart sank into the pit of her stomach, her throat tightening as she wondered if she had caused this. The contraceptives she'd given Dalila had not been enough to prevent their conception—but had they been enough to prevent the pups from growing right?

Panic struck the clouded fae and she glanced from Dalila back to her hind end, already fearful that she may have killed every pup Dalila was carrying unintentionally. Hurrying back down to the cloths, Ali took position, ready to receive every other pup inside her friend and prepared to do everything she could to make sure the rest survived. Please don't let me have killed them all... she silently prayed while she timed Dalila's contractions, her broken heart pounding in her ears.

"Aliana"