Post by DawnsLight on Sept 26, 2007 21:51:55 GMT -5
A lot of what I have kinda-sorta planned for this probably isn't canon... at ALL. So, you'll kinda have to forgive me! Also, I'm a horrid storyteller. That said- read and be amazed at my suckfulness!
Chapter 1
The night was moonless and clouded so that not even the melancholy light of the stars shone upon the sleepy little village nestled along the Rhine. In the stately home of the VonHarniers, the lamps still burned late into this inky night. Mrs. VonHarnier was in labor, and it would only be a short while before the babe would make its way into the world.
"Hush, hush, hush now, dear darling." The mid-wife soothed the troubled mother, dabbing the sweat from her brow with a damp cloth, keeping a studied eye on her every movement. The crone had seen hard births before, she had seen many lost to the rigors of the process, both mothers and babes, and the oddity of this birth had her on edge. She was pulled from this reverie by a sudden gasp and strangled cry from the Lady VonHarnier.
"Push darling- PUSH! The babe is crowning now, soon this will be done!" She aged midwife kneeled before the birthing chair, ready to catch the delicate young thing as it entered this world and drew first breath. Her readiness was rewarded as the infant slipped into her waiting hands, the mother slumping back against the chair in relief and exhaustion, tears making trails down her sweaty, flushed face to fall upon the lace collar of her dressing gown.
"Why... why doesn't it cry? It should cry! Let me hold it... please. Give it to me." Lady VonHarnier panted, near-delirious after the exertion, however intent on the well-being of her new child. The old midwife frowned deeply, the lines etched on her wisened face growing deeper as she spoke the words she had had to tell to too many mothers in her time.
"It's a still-born, darling. A little boy, gone to the Lord before suffering a day upon this earth." She rose slowly, cradling the blue-lipped baby boy gently despite the ache in her knees. With a heavy heart, she began to clean and swaddle the lifeless little body as his mother wailed with despair.
The old woman jumped as a sudden, loud crash made her look up from her task; the Lady VonHarnier had risen with such ferocity and intense purpose that the old and heavy birthing chair had fallen backward, the mother suddenly very close, and almost feral in her need for her child- living or not. The lamplight reflected frighteningly in her glassy eyes, and it was all the old woman could do to hand her the lifeless bundle.
The Lady VonHarnier's brow smoothed instantly and she cooed to her infant like any mother would. She slowly slumped to the floor, cradling her son to her bosom. She began to laugh.
"Woman! You've grown too old to see the babe properly- would a still-born grope for his first meal? My son lives..." She smiled, almost more a baring of teeth than any real smile as she fed her child.
The steady hands of the midwife shook now, as she looked upon mother and son, both thrown in sharp relief by the lamplight. The babe was pale still, the pallor of dead flesh, yet there came the unmistakable sounds of greedy feeding. As she stepped closer, she could see his eyes, open and alert, but not in the way of a normal infant. The crone's breath caught as those eyes turned to her briefly. And she knew it- knew it from tales of her mother's mother; An Alp But the Lady VonHarnier had eyes only for her son, and his name was the only word her cracked lips could form.
"Tonius...my Tonius."
Chapter 1
The night was moonless and clouded so that not even the melancholy light of the stars shone upon the sleepy little village nestled along the Rhine. In the stately home of the VonHarniers, the lamps still burned late into this inky night. Mrs. VonHarnier was in labor, and it would only be a short while before the babe would make its way into the world.
"Hush, hush, hush now, dear darling." The mid-wife soothed the troubled mother, dabbing the sweat from her brow with a damp cloth, keeping a studied eye on her every movement. The crone had seen hard births before, she had seen many lost to the rigors of the process, both mothers and babes, and the oddity of this birth had her on edge. She was pulled from this reverie by a sudden gasp and strangled cry from the Lady VonHarnier.
"Push darling- PUSH! The babe is crowning now, soon this will be done!" She aged midwife kneeled before the birthing chair, ready to catch the delicate young thing as it entered this world and drew first breath. Her readiness was rewarded as the infant slipped into her waiting hands, the mother slumping back against the chair in relief and exhaustion, tears making trails down her sweaty, flushed face to fall upon the lace collar of her dressing gown.
"Why... why doesn't it cry? It should cry! Let me hold it... please. Give it to me." Lady VonHarnier panted, near-delirious after the exertion, however intent on the well-being of her new child. The old midwife frowned deeply, the lines etched on her wisened face growing deeper as she spoke the words she had had to tell to too many mothers in her time.
"It's a still-born, darling. A little boy, gone to the Lord before suffering a day upon this earth." She rose slowly, cradling the blue-lipped baby boy gently despite the ache in her knees. With a heavy heart, she began to clean and swaddle the lifeless little body as his mother wailed with despair.
The old woman jumped as a sudden, loud crash made her look up from her task; the Lady VonHarnier had risen with such ferocity and intense purpose that the old and heavy birthing chair had fallen backward, the mother suddenly very close, and almost feral in her need for her child- living or not. The lamplight reflected frighteningly in her glassy eyes, and it was all the old woman could do to hand her the lifeless bundle.
The Lady VonHarnier's brow smoothed instantly and she cooed to her infant like any mother would. She slowly slumped to the floor, cradling her son to her bosom. She began to laugh.
"Woman! You've grown too old to see the babe properly- would a still-born grope for his first meal? My son lives..." She smiled, almost more a baring of teeth than any real smile as she fed her child.
The steady hands of the midwife shook now, as she looked upon mother and son, both thrown in sharp relief by the lamplight. The babe was pale still, the pallor of dead flesh, yet there came the unmistakable sounds of greedy feeding. As she stepped closer, she could see his eyes, open and alert, but not in the way of a normal infant. The crone's breath caught as those eyes turned to her briefly. And she knew it- knew it from tales of her mother's mother; An Alp But the Lady VonHarnier had eyes only for her son, and his name was the only word her cracked lips could form.
"Tonius...my Tonius."
