Lucretia was taking a blessedly short nap in the comfort of her own den after making sure that Deathbelle was settled down. She had allotted herself a total of three hours of sleep a day, to be taken in twenty minute partitions. One day, months from now, she could breathe easily - but not now, not today. Not for a while. She woke breathlessly, soaked in sweat. Another nightmare... She hadn't slept soundly since the puppies had been delivered. The labor had been relatively uncomplicated, as far as bringing new life into the world, but she couldn't shake horrific visions of the past. Lucretia gulped water quickly and strode to meet Belle at her den. "lucretia mutters..."

Deathbelle slept quietly with her newborns, they were perfect right now. She felt perfectly at peace with them beside her, and nothing in the world could disrupt her. Nothing outside the den mattered, only them. Of course once they were weaned and able to get up and move everything would change again and she would be back into the duties of an Empress. Those thoughts could wait though. Belle stirred slightly as her dream shifted and disturbed her enough to reclaim wakefulness. Or maybe it was just the sound of paws at the entrance.

Mismatched ears perked as lilac gaze was brought to the hide door. Likely it was her sister, coming for their first exam after birth. She looked down sympathetically at her pups, almost all of them were about to be disturbed. Belle had a couple concerns to bring up with Luce already.

"how are we all sleeping?" she murmured quietly. The Shamyn might have been sleep deprived, but she had worked under far worse conditions. Luce was experienced at putting up a front. Although Belle knew her sister well, Lucretia buried her fatigue and hunger deep within herself. The Empress would worry for nothing but her newborns. Lucretia gave a discrete yawn and circled the brood before coming to sit nearby Belle's head. "do you have any concerns?" There were a few things she expected from a new mother - this or that one is eating too much or too little and other small, manageable issues. Certain things you were prepared to deal with. "lucretia mutters..."

Before she could do anything Lucretia appeared at the threshold with light feet and a soft voice. Belle’s features softened into a loving smile as she invited her sister into the chamber silently. ”Better than I thought,” she offered while batting her eyes. ”More than you, I’d say.” She raised a brow at the poorly hidden yawn before leaning back against her sister’s now close form. She sighed softly as she looked down at her paws. ”A few, and one not to do with the pups.. I don’t think.” She shifted slightly, wriggling her toes in the process.

”Since I gave birth.. my toes have hurt. The joints especially, but my paw pads.. my claws are even sore.” Belle looked back up to her sister questioningly. ”That’s not a normal part of birth right? It's been like this since they arrived.” She offered one of her paws for Luce to examine as she went on. ”I.. there’s a couple things I noticed about the pups I need you to look at.” She tried to keep the worry from her voice as she said it.

Lucretia tsk'd quietly and looked over Belle's paws carefully, her eyes narrowed in thought There was no medical reason that she would be that sore - it wasn't like she was doing much walking, that was for sure. Wracking her brain, Luce thought over the activities of the past few months. Could she have picked up an illness? The Firefly Festival had been so congested with other wolves that it was possible. Ah. The festival. Ever since visiting the strange magician they had employed - on a lark, as Luce was a woman of science - she had been experiencing severe headaches. They would come in waves, and her forehead was incredibly tender to the touch. "At the festival, did you happen to visit that strange stall that promised silly, fanciful things would happen to your body?" But more concering were the puppies. Did that bogus ritual negatively affect her unborn? Lucretia fell to examining the puppies, carefully nosing them about. A few seemed to have strange lumps and bumps in places that they shouldn't, but none of them seemed to complain at the touch. It was clear that they weren't experiencing the same pain that she and Belle were. "lucretia mutters..."

Deathbelle stretched and extended her toes as much as she could, the stiffness and discomfort wasn’t helped. Lucretia looked at her paw for a long time. Mismatched ears fell to the Empress’s head as her sister finally spoke. How would she know about that unless she had gone to him to? She had been curious, but honestly hadn’t thought anything would come of it but some gag prize. She hadn’t even received that! ”Yes, but what does it have to do with anything?” She asked as Luce nosed the puppies softly.

There were more than a few protests as they were disturbed, though as they realized it was Luce they seemed to welcome her touch. Especially little Pestilence. ”You.. You felt them right? The bumps.. where there should be no bumps.” She was a little more worried now as Luce hadn’t said anything after the examination. ”And Venom.” She licked the bottom of the puppy’s white chin and caused her to yawn. ”Look at her tongue, I didn’t think she was going to learn how to latch.” She paused for a moment and tried to find her sister’s gaze. ”Luce?”

"Yes... I felt the bumps," she confessed. Lucretia paused to rub her own forehead against the nearby walls of the cave. The cool rock felt good on her own inflamed skull. "I stopped by the booth myself, as an experiment! But ever since I've been suffering from a fierce headache." She examined the puppies again, pressing her nose close to them and making sure to check their vitals. "I know it's hard to believe, Deathbelle, but all of their other markers point to perfect health." Quite honestly, Luce had no idea what to tell the Empress. It was frustrating. There was nothing she hated more than not having an answer. "Oh..." As Venom yawned and exposed her small, forked tongue, Luce's eyes widened slightly. "Sometimes, no matter how well we follow the rules to the letter... there are anomalies that cannot be accounted for. Your babes are healthy, and I will continue to monitor them as they grow. Time might give us more of an insight than endless worrying." Empty words. Lucretia would never stop worrying, but perhaps Deathbelle could. "lucretia mutters..."

Deathbelle watched her sister with intent as she confessed to feeling what her sister described. Mismatched ears fell to her skull as she was given no answers, only more reassurance that they were indeed healthy and there was no real explanation for the anomalies. Belle saw Luce’s eyes widen as she looked upon Venom’s oddly shaped tongue. She wasn’t much comforted by Lucretia’s words, but she wouldn’t press the subject further. Only time could really tell anyway, but that wouldn’t stop their mother from fretting.

”Do you have anything to dull the pain in my toes?” She asked as she smooshed her face into the soft pile of puppies. She didn’t know what she would do if something was really wrong with them. She would discuss it all with Archon later, she’d show him every bump and see if he could provide any insight. The new mom curled tighter around her newborns.

"I can certainly put something together for the pain, but I fear any unction I can put together will only dull the pain. It has been the same with my headaches - anything I use on it only takes the barest edge off." They had told her what she would "grow" at the booth. A pair of goat horns... preposterous. But if that was what they truly were, then her skull was growing new bone. Just like there was little she could do for a pup experiencing growing pains, they would both have to grit their teeth through the season. "did they tell you what you 'won' at the prize booth?" she inquired. If Belle's toes hurt, Lucretia could only wonder at the end result. She settled closer to Deathbelle, then curled around the empty side of the half-moon shape her body made around the newborns. Together they created a hollow space for the puppies to mewl, wiggle, and nurse. Luce smiled down at them, then rested her head on her sister's paws. "they really are beautiful, you know." "lucretia mutters..."