Devestation (1): Right On Schedule

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 1st March 2006

Characters: Miryene, Jio
Description: Miryene goes into labor early, but that turns out to be a minor crisis when an earthquake devastates the Hall.
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 11, day 2 of Turn 3

Jio awoke with a start. It was not so much the surprise of being touched by cold hands in the middle of the night as it was the panic in the woman's voice. "Miryene?" he asked as his mind snapped to alertness. He reached out for her in the dark, feeling her hands and hearing her labored breathing. "Are you all right?"

"Jio?" Her hand tightened around Jio's wrist until it was almost painful.
"I--I think you need to get the Healer..." "Is it time?" he asked, his eyes wide with surprise and anxiety.

Miryene's eyes were scared as she shook her head. "It's too early. It's not time yet. Something's wrong."

"All right, Miryene," Jio said as he took her face in his hands calmly. "It will be all right. This might just be a false alarm. Why don't you lay back against the headboard while I go find a healer."

She stared up at him, the fear in her eyes bleeding into pain. Both hands went to her stomach, and she let out a low whimper. "Shards, hurry. It hurts."

"I'll be right back, Miryene. Don't worry, everything will be ok," he said reassuringly as he crawled off the bed and hurriedly slipped on his shoes.
"Just hold on a few minutes. I'll get Talrian."

Miryene nodded, her eyes filled with tears. She clenched them shut, her teeth digging into her lower lip as she tried to concentrate on breathing.

Jio didn't even notice the biting cold through his night shirt as he ran through the snow to Talrian's cot. He was relieved when the healer quickly opened the door, but he couldn't understand why the journeyman would take so much time getting ready. Though the vintner pleaded with him to hurry, Talrian seemed not to feel the same urgency he did. Relief washed over him when they finally arrived back in the warmth of the Hall and he quickly ushered him into the rooms the newly-weds shared. Talrian perched on the edge of the bed, smiling at Miryene as he took one of her hands. "Tell me what's happening, Miryene."

Miryene's fingers tightened around Talrian's hand almost painfully. "It hurts," she said, her voice strained with nerves. "I'm not--is it too early?"

"It's early," Talrian replied quietly, shifting his fingers until he could feel for Miryene's pulse. It was far too rapid, and he tilted his head to Jio, gesturing that he should sit down with his wife. "But it's not too early. I'd rather your baby stayed right where they are for a few more sevendays, but if today is the day, we'll manage."

Jio walked around the other side and crawled across the bed to sit down next to her, taking her hand and looking into her face worriedly. Too early? He looked up at the healer for reassurance.

Talrian suppressed a sigh, his eyes firm as he met the vintner's. "There's nothing to worry about," he said very clearly, letting Jio know with his expression that the man had best start presenting a comforting face to his wife. "We need to keep track of the contractions and see how long they're lasting and how far apart they are. This may be a false alarm, but I'll stay close by until we know for sure." Jio nodded and looked back at Miryene, still not reassured, but Talrian had told him his job was to be strong for his wife and at all time seem confident and calm. "See, Miryene. It will be all right. Do you want anything? Water? Another pillow?"

Miryene shook her head, shifting her glance from Jio to Talrian. "So what do we do now?" she asked. Talrian squeezed her hand, giving her an encouraging smile. "Now, we wait."

~*~

"Ooh... ow, ow ow!" Miryene's hand tightened on Jio's, and she whimpered.
Candlemarks had passed before the originally sporadic pains had settled into any sort of pattern. "Another one--"

Talrian checked the notes he'd made and nodded. "Right on schedule. I'm going to fetch a few things and send a note to Dikero at Amethyst Cliff...
he said he wanted to be here."

"Miryene, you're doing so well," Jio said as he wiped damp strands of hair from her forehead. "It won't be long now. You're doing fine." Shards, he had never felt so useless in his life! All he could do was sit next to her and talk. There was nothing he could do to _help_ her. "Just a little longer, love."

Not bothering to correct Jio--it would be well into evening before Miryene saw the birth of her child--Talrian started toward the door. "I should be back in a quarter cand--"

The feeling started first, vertigo making Talrian wonder if he'd gotten too little sleep or gone too long without eating. The sound followed, and he realized that it wasn't his head. The floor was actually _moving_ underneath his feet. "Oh shards--" It was all he had time for as the world dissolved into chaos around him. Jio's first instinct as he heard the rumble was to run to safety, but _Miryene_! He reached over her, covering her body with his own as best as he could as the shaking continued. Glass shattering could be heard over the roar and the terrible sound of the building cracking, groaning... He heard a loud crash and panicked screams in the halls. Jio closed his eyes, squeezed them shut. How long could this nightmare _last_?!

Her pained gasps were loud in his ear as she clung to him, a low moan of pain ripping through her as the bed shuddered. Her fingers tightened around Jio's arms, still clinging as the rumbling subsided, leaving behind it the cries of the injured and Miryene's labored breathing. "J-Jio--" Her husband was silent, trembling for a moment, not trusting that the shaking had actually stopped. Shards, what was happening out there?! "Are you all right?" he finally whispered, looking down into Miryene's terrified eyes.

Talrian staggered to his feet with a groan, making it to the side of the bed in a few steps. "Are either of you hurt?" Worried as he was about Miryene, it was taking every bit of self-control not to bolt out the door and rush to his cot. **Rialine... shards, _please_ be all right...**

"I'm all right, Talrian," Jio said, not taking his eyes off his wife's face.
"Miryene?" he asked softly.

"I--I'm fine..." She managed a hint of a smile as one hand went to her stomach. "At least, I'm not any worse..."

Talrian nodded in relief. "Jio, stay here for now... Miryene can't be left alone. As long as everything progresses the way it has been, you won't need me for another few candlemarks... I need to see what sort of state the Hall is in." Jio swallowed hard and nodded. He could hear cries and screams outside, and his nostrils detected the faint smell of smoke. "I won't leave her alone."

Last updated on the March 2nd 2006

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Devestation (1): Right On Schedule