**Set the day after Rudy and Fern return to the castle**

As soon as Fern and Rudy had returned to the castle, and after the greetings had finished, the tired, travel-worn pair had returned to their room. They had thrown open the balcony doors to allow the wonderful autumn in, fluffed up the furs on their bed, climbed in and promptly fell asleep. It has been in the late afternoon when they had crashed and Fern does not crack open her sleep crusted eyes open until the early morning hours.

A yawn splits her maw and she reaches a up to swipe away the gunk in the corners of her eyes as she slowly sits up to cast her gaze around their room. Her pale lips pull into a smile at the familiar sights, Puff happily snoring away in her basket, Savage asleep in his. Reddy, asleep on the wooden perch, who blinks open her eyes as Fern shifts on the bed. A paw immediately flies to the grey woman’s lips and the hawk swiftly closes her eyes.

Letting out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, Fern carefully slides off the bed and grabs her sword before stealthy moving to the door. Casting a glance back at Rudyard’s slumbering form, she blows him a silent kiss before slipping out into the hallway and down the familiar corridor. Her paws know the route to the training grounds well and she wastes no time making her way there.

It feels great to get back into the old routine, the day to day life of living in the castle and she allows herself to get lost in her training. However, despite what her husband may think, Fern knows her limits and does not strain herself. She stops after only half an hour but at least it is something. Grabbing her sword, the sore woman slowly waddles her way back to the castle, eager to grab a ton of food and to rest her round belly in a comfortable position.

Pale paws cross into the grand foyer but Fern hesitates turning left to go into the great hall. Eyes wander to the other hall as she remembers that she had promised Rudyard that she would get a checkup with his sister, Gwynevere. Turning right, the gray woman makes her way to the infirmary and steps into the healing ward. The medicinal smell of herbs hit her nose and bring memories of her mother’s smiling face flooding into her ming. Blinking back a sudden bout of tears, the gray woman calls out softly, “Gwynevere?” If she isn’t here then maybe she can just slip away without getting a checkup.


"Fern Carpathius"

Gwynevere was ducked down behind one of the cots, cleaning up a bowl of water that had spilled with Blue when she heard the door to the infirmary open and a quiet voice calling out her name. Her ears perked and she lifted her head, spotting Rudyard's wife in the doorway. Artorias had mentioned to her the day before that their brother and sister-in-law had returned home and that Fern was expecting so she had already planned on seeking out the gray-hued woman, but in seemed that Fern had gratefully come seeking her out instead. She smiled and waved Fern in with one gray-tipped paw. "Fern! Come in! I'll be with you in just a moment." She passed off another dry towel to the black lemur that was helping her and picked up the bowl that had tipped over before walking over to the large desk where she did the majority of her work.

She turned to Fern then with a soft smile. "Well, congratulations," she said as she stepped over to her, glancing over her rounded belly to begin trying to gauge how far along Fern was. Since she had been away for the majority of her early pregnancy it was going to be hard to have an exact guess, but it was obvious she was pretty far along by now. "How have you been feeling? Any pains, cramps, nausea?" she questioned as she went to go grab a couple of supplemental herbs and vitamins, figuring it was better to get her on a regimen of them regardless of whether they were starting them late or not.

"Gwynevere Carpathius"

Fern had half hoped that Gwynevere would not be in the infirmary but the dedicated healer is there… of course. A gray-tipped paw waves to her and a smile blooms across pale lips as the pregnant woman walks in. Waiting for healer to finish up, the gray wolf’s gaze roams the room, landing on a rather… stark reminder of the things the Carpathius family had been through. Even devoid of skin and bleached to a pristine white, Oxx’s skull sends a chill of fear racing down her spine. Rudyard had told her of the night that the crazy wolf’s life had been ended but seeing him like this… it feels weird.

Gwyn turns to her and Fern’s attention is pulled from the dead wolf’s skull and a bright smile appears as they talk. With a shake of her head, the gray woman says, “I am fine and, as I keep trying to tell my mate, nothing is wrong. I had some morning sickness for a bit but that seems to have passed. The worst thing I have been experiencing is this bottomless pit of a stomach that makes me feel like I am always hungry.” A gentle laugh bubbles out as she shakes her head, saying, “But, Rudyard insisted I come get an examine. So, here I am.”

A shrug of gray shoulders has the sword that slug over her back rattling in its scabbard and a thought occurs to Fern, “I have been training but not a lot. It is safe for me to do that, right? Rudy wants to me to rest but I… get tired of resting.” Shuffling her paws, she hopes that she isn’t endangering their unborn pups because she is restless. A shy smile is on her lips as she looks to Gwyn.


"Fern Carpathius"

Gwynevere grinned a bit and chuckled as Fern spoke about how she was fine and Rudyard's constant worry that had made him push her to come get an exam. It sounded like being an over protective and worried mate and father ran in the family since Artorias had very much been the same with Briar. It was good to hear that there were no adverse side effects to be concerned about though. That made her job easy. "I'm certainly not surprised by Rudyard's worrying," she commented with a smile. "I'm glad to hear you haven't had any concerns or complications though. Even if you haven't felt anything off it is still a good idea to get an exam or two along the way though so my worrywart of a brother is in the right... this time at least." The rattle of Fern's sword did catch her ear while she was gathering a few herbs and adding them to a mortar so she could prepare them for Fern to take. She glanced up from what she was doing at Fern's question about her training and Gwyn smiled in return, replying, "That's entirely fine. As long as you're paying attention to your body and not pushing yourself too hard then there's no harm in it. In fact, I'm heard that it can actually be very beneficial to keep active through pregnancy when you can."

With the medicines she wanted to give her sister-in-law prepared, she motioned for come over to where she had a bed of furs about the same size as the cots that where lined up across one side of the room. "I set this up for Briar's pregnancy since getting up on the cots became a bit difficult after a while. Go ahead and lay down and we'll check on those pups." She waited for Fern to get comfortable on her side and then she sat back on her haunches, resting gentle and experienced paws on her belly. Going by feel, she gently pressed and moved along the other woman's torso, counting the pups she could feel as she went. The pups squirmed and kicked against her, making a little smirk tug at her lips. "They certainly feel lively," she joked lightly. "That's a good sign though. I'm not picking up on any issues with their energy or movement." Very quickly it became apparent that much like with Artorias' litter this was also going to be a large bunch. "I'm counting at least four pups... maybe five," she said as she lifted her paws away, giving Fern another smile. "I'll make sure we have plenty of supplies and herbs at the ready for you when you go into labor. I'm sure we'll need them."

"Gwynevere Carpathius"