Raised By Wolves Volume four- Wolves (34 page)

I found himwatching me with a frown as we undressed. I supposed it was no surprise he would realize something was amiss, as he knew me better thananyone.

“Is something the matter?” he asked as I crawled into our hammock.
“Non, there is nothingwrong,”I assured him.
He remained leaning against the sea chests with his breeches around his knees. “Is something… correct?”
I chuckled. “Oui, now come to bed.”
He crossed his arms and kicked his breeches away.
I sighed. “It is your birthday tomorrow. You will be

thirty.”“Ah…” he said with sincere surprise. “I had forgotten.”

He frowned at me anew. “Why are you excited?” Then he nodded with understanding. “I amreceiving a gift. I cannot recall receiving a gift before,” he said with his Child’s smile. Then his face fell. “I amsorryI have alreadyseenit.”

I was crestfallen, and he moved quickly to my side to caress my slack face. “He is wonderful, and I thank you for him. I wishI could make as muchuse ofhimas youdo.”
I wishI could make as muchuse ofhimas youdo.”

I frowned untilI divined his meaning. “Non, non, Pomme is not your gift.”
It was his turn to be surprised. “He is not?” His eyes narrowed. “Youhave another gift for me?”
I grinned. “Oui.”
“Truly? I willbe surprised?”
“I hope so.”
“I willlike it as muchas the big, fat horse,”he teased.
I laughed. “I hope you will like it far more than the big, fat horse.”
In the spirit of the matter now, he eyed me speculatively. “It is not on your person?” His hand darted to cup my balls in case I was daft to his meaning.
I snorted and batted his hand away. “Non. And you will have to wait.”
“I cannot fuck you until I have my present?” he asked with a glitter in his eyes that stirred my cock; leaving it to tell me there were indeed things that eclipsed even my matelot’s

birthday.“Non,” I whispered huskily. “Never that. It is just not a gift.” “Because it is alreadya possession,”he purred.

“Oui, just so,”I breathed. “Since it willbe your birthday, what willyouhave ofme?”
He sighed and pulled away, the playfulness leaving his eyes. “I would very much like to take you somewhere and make you run,” he said seriously. “I have been feeling the need to run, Will. Would you…” He found his answer in my hungry and elated eyes. He smiled and the husky teasing returned. “Perhaps we can slip away tomorrow. We can go somewhere in the forest and I canmake youbegand groanfor hours.”
“Perhaps.”I grinned untilI feared myface might break in

two. “We could go now,”he said withsurprisingearnestness.

We could, thoughI was not sure ifI could find the trailin the dark. “First light—anylight,”I said quickly.
He sighed and threw himself beside me like a disappointed child. “Now I must wait for Horseplay
and
my present.”
“No one has been mistreated as much as you, my love,” I teased.
“Non,” he said with mock seriousness. “No one ever has. Your treatment of me is abominable. You torture me endlessly with your naked body and empty promises.” He dove atop me to tickle me mercilessly.
I laughed untilmy cackles achieved some imbalance with my breathing and I made a strangled snoring sound rather like a horse.
We were interrupted bya knock onthe door.
“What?”Gastonasked the shutters.
“I am sorry to disturb you. It is Mistress Theodore, she is…”Theodore said urgently.
Gaston had torn the shutter open before he could finish. One glance at our friend’s distraught face and we were scramblingfor our clothes.
“Does she labor? Has her water broken?” Gaston was askingas he beganto dress.
I had not seen her in days, and the last time I had, she had appeared paler and more listless than my sister; though she was not thin: she had actually grown somewhat plump these last months.
“Nay, nay,” Theodore said hoarsely. “She is… Oh Lord… She is hysterical. I called Hannah to be with her. Rachel says the baby is dead. She says it has not moved in days. She has been lying abed claiming she was tired and professing there was no need for concern. She often rested a great deal with Elizabeth. I thought nothingofit. But thenwhenI went to retire, I laid a hand upon her belly as I often do, and she began to weep. She is…”
He stopped talking as Gaston ran past him, his bare feet thundering around the balcony until he reached their roomon the far side ofthe house.
I took Theodore’s shoulders and embraced him.
“Oh Will,” he gasped as he clutched at me, “I cannot lose her. If we cannot have any more children, so be it. I will sleep elsewhere, but byGod I do not wishto lose her.”
“Stop,” I said gently. “And do not deny both of you… Now is not the time, but surely man, you know there are things youcando to please one another without it leadingto babies.”
“Rachel would not approve,” he said. He appeared a lost boy.
“Later, we willcross that bridge later,”I assured him.
“Ifthere is a later,”he gasped withnew tears inhis eyes.
“There will be a later,” I said as much for him as for myself.
His beliefin his impending loss was frightening. I took his hand and towed him back to their room; past the rest of the household who had begun to emerge from their rooms with worried faces. When we arrived and I saw her, Theodore’s fear settled into mybowels and twisted them.
Rachel was indeed hysterical—and sickly. She sobbed and writhed feebly in Hannah’s arms. Her face was ghastly pale and her bodybloated.
I wondered how long she had been swollen. Had she been so the last I saw her? It had been at dinner several days ago, and allI could recallwas her fullbowlofsoup. She had not eaten that night. I only remembered it now because Henrietta had teased her, saying there was no need to watch her waist now, she was already fat. Rachel had not laughed. Her only reaction had been a grim smile. I had assumed she was merely out of sorts as pregnant women seem to get. Rachel was often sternevenwhenshe was not withchild.
Gastonhad her thincottongownpushed up to below her breasts and his hands on her naked, grossly-distended belly. It looked… wrong. Vivian’s belly had not even appeared so swollenwhenshe birthed.
“How long?”Gastonasked.
Rachel did not answer and Hannah shook her head helplessly.
Gaston slapped Rachel. Beside me, Theodore jumped, but he did not attempt to push past me into the room. His wife gasped, but her gaze did settle onmymatelot.
“How longhas it beenstill?”Gastonasked again.
Her face contorted with guilt and shame and a thousand other tragic emotions.
“How long?”he roared.
“Three weeks,” she at last gasped. “I didn’t want to say anything. I thought… I was afraid…” Her roving eyes found Theodore behind my shoulder and she turned away to bury her face inHannah’s chest and sob.
I turned to Theodore. He appeared stricken senseless. “She told me he was sleeping last week,” he whispered. “The babe did not kick and I asked and she said he was sleeping…”
I shook him. “You go to her, and you hold her, and you tell her she has not failed you and that you want her to live. You do that, now!”I hissed untilhe nodded withunderstanding.
I pushed Theodore into the roomand followed himuntil I could kneel beside Gaston. “What do you need?” I asked. He took a deep breath and recited a list. I dove out the door, only to encounter a dozenworried faces a discreet distance away.
“Does she labor?”Henrietta asked.
“Nay, she… She is ill,”I said. “The babymaybe ill. I do not know what will occur. Gaston wants several ewers of clean water and a kettle ofboiled water. Beyond that, it would be best if you all went downstairs. She does not need to hear people standing about whispering, and this is not a time for anyone to paytheir respects.”
“Should we fetchthe midwife?”Liamasked.
“You might as well,” I said as I pushed past themto the stairs.
“Should we fetch a priest?”Yvette asked with an ashen face as I beganto pass her.
“Not yet,” I whispered, “but perhaps Father Pierre should be informed that his services might be required… later.” I leaned close and dropped my voice further still. “The child will be stillborn.”
She nodded withtears inher eyes.
Then I was free of them and in the hospital. I took a moment to breathe and curse silently. This was going to make a fine present indeed. I glanced skyward and wondered what the Gods were thinking. How could Theybe so cruel?
There was no time for my whining, though. I collected the things and ran back into the night. Thankfully the household had done as I requested, and retreated to talk quietly in the atrium. I was relieved to see a light in the cookhouse. When I reached the balcony I found Agnes standing with her hands in her hair, rocking back and forth. I was inclined to snap at her, but thenI remembered her great fear after seeingJamaica born.
“See to Elizabeth if she should wake,” I told her gently. “Hannahwilllikelybe busywithus.”
“Muriand Samare bringing the water. Muriand Hannah delivered Apollo, not the midwife.”
“That is good to know. Do not worry. She is strong.”
Her huge, tear-filled eyes trapped mine. “I am afraid,” she whispered, “of doing it again. It went well the first time, but…”
“Then perhaps we should not. We can discuss it on the morrow. Your womb has not seemed to like my seed anyway,

and maybe the syringe will never work. Do not worry. I am

and maybe the syringe will never work. Do not worry. I am not… Youneed not do anythingyoudo not wish.”
“OhWill, I’msorry,”she breathed.

“Do not be, now go and sit and drink some wine.” I gently pushed her aside and entered the room and closed the door.

Gaston was concurring quietly with Muri and Hannah. The women regarded me as an interloper, but my matelot turned to me with grateful eyes and gave me the names of several medicinal roots and requested a mortar and pestle. “We are going to try and force her to labor,” he added as I mumbled throughthe list tryingnot to forget anything.

“Do we want laudanum?”I asked.

He shook his head. “They are not familiar with it, and I amconcerned it willcalmher bodysuchthat she willnot strainto pass the child.”

I looked to Rachel where she lie with her head and shoulders cradled in her husband’s lap. She appeared much calmer now, but her grip on his hands showed white skin over every knuckle. Theodore met my gaze with desperate eyes. Well, if she could not have anything, he surely could; and he appeared to need a drink as much as I felt I did. I added brandy

to mylist.Agnes was thankfully not swaying outside the door. I

 

spied her downstairs engaged in earnest conversation with her lady. Theywere intears.

 

Samwas on the closest staircase, heavily laden with two pails ofwater, a smalltub, and a kettle. I ran around to the other

 

stairs, passingthe Doucettes’ rooms inthe process. Dominic was

 

stairs, passingthe Doucettes’ rooms inthe process. Dominic was standinginthe doorway.

He thrust out his cane to snag me as I passed. “What is happening?”he demanded.
I shook him off. “Nothing you need be concerned

about.”“Stupid cunt,”he snapped.

I was not sure who he was referring to. I gave him a backhanded slap that knocked himinto his roomanyway.
I was able to take the stairs closer to the Theodores’ room when I returned. I glanced up at the Doucettes’ door and did not see him. I thought perhaps I should tellYvette to tend to him, but now Agnes and she were arguing. I swallowed a curse and returned to Gaston.
Theodore was thankful for the brandy, as was Muri. I decided we would need another bottle. That one had not been full and I was surely getting none of it after it was passed to Gaston and he too took a hearty swig. He stopped me before I left and asked for two more things he had forgotten—and a syringe. ThankfullyDoucette had possessed severaland I did not have to ask Agnes for hers.
When I returned again, they had opened the shutters and lit several lamps. The roomwas unbearably hot on this unusually still night. When I reached over Rachel to hand Hannah another mortar I discovered why: I could feel her fever several inches fromher skin. I took a closer look at Theodore and saw his shirt was soaked through everywhere she had pressed against him. The sheets below her were soddenas well.
Muri was soaking rags in a basin of cool water. She
Muri was soaking rags in a basin of cool water. She began handing themto Theodore, who placed themon Rachel’s

head. “Can she have water?” I asked Gaston. “To drink. It

 

looks as ifshe has produced more sweat thanshe has blood.”

He was busymixingherbs. He glanced up at her. “Oui, if we canget her to drink it.”
I ran and fetched another ewer of drinking water and a smallcup.
“’Ow is she?”Henrietta asked as I passed.
“She fevers.”
She gave a knowing nod, her features grave. “Liam has gone for the midwife, but with Lord Montren and those two up there, she’s alreadygot the best.”
“I agree, still the midwife might know some trick the others do not. One can never tell.” She might also cause allsorts ofdifficulties and have to be thrownout ofthe house.
Bones ushered Father Pierre into the atriumas I reached the stairs. I motioned for himto follow me. Once we were onthe balcony I quickly explained what I knew. He crossed himself and followed me without comment to the room. Rachel seemed pleased to see him, and between the good father and Theodore, theygot her to drink some water.
As the roomwas now quite crowded, I retreated to the doorway and watched Gaston deliver the mixture he had prepared to her entry and squirt it high inside her with the syringe. I wished to ask him what it would do, but shouting the question fromwhere I stood seemed inappropriate. I knew there were concoctions a woman could drink or put in her vagina if were concoctions a woman could drink or put in her vagina if she wished to end a pregnancy: I guessed this was the same or something similar. I realized I knew little of the process. I had always heard talk of a woman being open and ready to push the babe out. I did not know how they kept a baby in. I sat with my back to the railing and sifted through a morass of memories: things I had overheard, Vivian’s birth, Gaston’s occasional informative statement on the matter, and remembered sensations from being inside a woman. Sadly, my cock, as sensitive as it was, had proven less than informative: it was surely not a fingertip. I supposed I could go and look at one of the medical books inthe library. One ofthemsurelyhad a diagramexplaining a woman’s internalparts.
There was movement to my right. I turned to find Agnes wavingme closer. I reluctantlystood and went to joinher.
“I will have another baby,” she blurted. “This… What Rachelnow endures, is a rare thing. I was fine last time. I willbe fine again.”
I wished to argue that Rachel had purportedly been fine last time. Instead I wondered at Agnes’ change of heart. I glanced about and did not see Yvette. “Does Yvette wish for youto have a child?”I asked.
Her lips tightened briefly and her eyes flicked away. “Aye. But it is because she knows I want one and I am only scared.”She added quickly, “So please continue to give me your