As the dark of night settled over Perborough, Tri saw the woman approach again. Tri thought she looked older now, worry having deepened her wrinkles. The woman did not need to say anything, Salora recognised her and closed up the shop right away. Tri waved goodbye to Michael who had arrived mere minutes before. Together with Salora, she followed the woman through dark alleys not yet lit by lanterns. They entered an old house through a low door and both Salora and Tri had to duck to avoid hitting their heads. The woman led them up two flights of narrow stairs and into a small apartment that was poorly lit. Tri could here muffled voices behind the door they were heading for. The room revealed behind it was rather full of people, all women, gathered around the bed at its centre.

With few words, Salora ordered everybody except for the midwife and the mother-to-be out. At first, some of the women, all showing a strong family resemblance, hesitated, but none could withstand Salora's gaze. Tri wondered whether any of them had ever seen a person of Salora's heritage before. Even in Perborough, it seemed unlikely. While many more types of people wandered the streets than those of Limben, Tri had not spotted any other half-demons yet, and had seen many curious stares in Salora's direction all day. The woman who had fetched them from the market insisted on staying with her daughter, so Salora told her to stand back and be quiet. Tri remained near the door, feeling rather lost. She watched as Salora exchanged some words with the midwife and examined the poor woman on the bed. There was silence for just a moment. Tri made her way over to the bedside and asked the older woman for her name.

"Malia, this is my daughter Thesa," Malia said, not taking her eyes off her child.

"I'm Tri."

"It's her first baby, poor Thesa has been in labour for hours, yet there is no progress. I worry her hips may not be wide enough, she took after her father and they have a sad family history with those narrow hips." Tri blinked in confusion, never having given the topic any thought before. She appreciated women's wide round hips as much as anybody, though more for aesthetic than practical reasons. A sudden cry interrupted her thoughts. Salora was looking for something in her pouches and, once she found it, reached the herbs to the midwife.

"Go make some tea of this, but don't let it sit too long, and make sure nobody else drinks from it! We will have to speed this process up." The midwife nodded and went outside of the room. Salora turned and pointed at Malia. "You, go get some towels soaked in clean hot water." Without waiting for a response, Salora positioned herself at Thesa's side and started feeling the woman's massive belly.

"What are you doing?" Thesa asked between heavy breaths. Salora merely told her to be calm. Feeling pity, Tri went to Thesa and told her that everything was going to be fine. The woman gave her a brief bewildered look. "Who are you?" Salora did not respond.

"We're here to help. Your mother, Malia, she came to us today to ask for help. My name is Tri, I'm new to all of this, but I am sure that Salora will help you. That's her. She's really good with herbs and such. You got something against the pain earlier, didn't you?" Thesa nodded. "See, that was from Salora. I understand that you are scared, but I'm sure everybody will do their best to help you have a healthy baby in your arms soon." Tri gave Thesa a reassuring smile.

"Thank you."

When Malia and the midwife returned, Salora told Tri to follow her outside for a moment. The hallway outside the door was full of the women who had previously been inside, though they scattered into various rooms when Salora emerged. Pulling Tri aside, Salora whispered: "This woman has lost a lot of blood, the child appears to be stuck, I am going to get it out, but I don't know whether they will survive." Tri was stunned with shock. "Listen closely now, this is important, the midwife understands the situation, so she is no problem, but if the mother, I mean the grandmother, has to watch one or both of them die, she may become violent. You see, if the child is born not breathing, I may be able to help it, but not with a furious grandmother beating me. Same for the mother. Do you understand?" Tri nodded and swallowed. "I'm going to send the grandmother to get more hot towels, we don't need them, I just need her out of the room. As soon as she goes, you must make sure to look the door from the inside and then see to it that the mother does not panic." Without another word, the two of them headed back inside.

Tri watched as the midwife helped Thesa drink the fresh tea. Salora took a look at the bucket of hot water and the soaked towels that Malia had brought back. Without looking up, she told the poor old woman that they needed more. Malia hesitated at first, but then she left again. As soon as she pulled the door closed behind her, Tri stepped up to it in order to lock it.

"There's no key!" Tri hissed at Salora, who merely pointed at a big chest by the side of the room. Tri sighed and went up to it. Holding it on one side, she attempted to drag it to the door, but the chest was heavier than anticipated. Seeing her struggle, the midwife scurried over to her to help. Together, they just about managed to push and pull the heavy chest in front of the door. There was silence for a while then, the tea apparently having soothed the exhausted Thesa into a light doze. However, it wasn't long before Malia returned and realized that she had been locked out. Her loud knocking on the door woke Thesa up. Tri hurried over and took Thesa's hand.

"You have to trust us now, alright?"

"Why did you lock my mamma out?" Thesa asked.

Tri felt miserable. "Salora thinks you and your child have better chances this way. I'm going to be honest with you, this will be a tough birth. Salora will do everything in her might to help you and your child, but she thinks Malia might distrust her and thus endanger you." Tri could see that she was only panicking Thesa further. Suddenly, Tri's hand was crushed, accompanied by another loud scream. Tri could see that Salora was saying something, but the words did not reach her ears. Even after Thesa went quiet again, Salora was merely whispering to herself, fully focused on the task at hand. Tri felt paralyzed, watching Salora and the midwife do their jobs. They were instructing Thesa on how to breathe and when to push. Meanwhile, all Tri could do was offer Thesa empty words of hope and encouragement. Time passed, the hammering on the door came and went, and Tri saw the exhaustion increase on everybody's faces.

When the child finally came, there was a great sense of unnerve in the room. Salora, holding the new-born, immediately turned her back, shielding the child from everyone's view. Her head hung low and she was muttering to herself. The midwife wasted no time trying to stop Thesa's bleeding. Tri finally had her hand back and was rubbing it with her other hand to regain some feeling in it. She saw how pale Thesa was now and called out for Salora. There was no response, so Tri tried to get Thesa to talk to her.

"Where's my child," the words came in a weak whisper.

"Right there, it will be right with you. You have to stay awake, alright? You're a mother now, you did well!" Tri watched as Thesa's breath slowed and came to a halt. "Salora!"

The infant's cry finally filled the room as Tri was coming to a halt next to Salora, having sprinted across the small room. Without a word, Salora pushed the child into Tri's arms and rushed to Thesa. Tri held the small being in her arms, shaking with tears. It was screaming, smeared in blood and other liquids, and still attached to it's dying mother by the cord. In an attempt to calm herself as much as the baby, Tri shakily began to sing an old lullaby. She barely remembered the words, so she made some up as she went. The crying didn't stop, but Tri got calmer. Glancing over at the bed, she saw the midwife still doing her best to help Thesa. Salora merely knelt next to the bed, her hands holding Thesa's, her head hanging low. Tri assumed that this was the end then. She continued singing in a low voice as the infant finally calmed down in her arms. There was knocking on the door once again and Malia was shouting something outside. Eventually, the midwife stood up and came to Tri. She quickly cut the cord and tied some string around the remaining stump on the child's belly. Placing her tools aside, she fetched a still mostly clean towel and took the child from Tri, drying it off expertly.

Tri stumbled across the room and felt to her knees at Salora's side. Only now she realised that her new friend was still mumbling something. Looking at her, Tri realised that Salora's eyes were open and glowing faintly. Turning to Thesa, Tri noticed that colour was returning to the woman's face. Some more moments passed until Thesa's chest expanded as her breathing began once again. Tri knew then that Salora had used more than just herbs and alchemy to help this family. As Thesa opened her eyes, Salora let go of her hand and sagged down on the floor. The midwife handed the child to the new mother while Tri hurried to check on Salora. She was unconscious but breathing steadily. Tri sat down next to her, placing Salora's head in her lap, calling for the midwife.

"Wait a minute, I have some smelling salts somewhere," the woman said, hurrying to her tools. She came around the bed opening a small bottle. Holding it under Salora's nose, they watched her quickly regaining consciousness. Once she'd fully come to. Salora quickly pushed herself clear from Tri and checked on the mother and child. Satisfied, she briefly thanked the midwife before heading for the door. To Tri's surprise, Salora managed to push the heavy chest away almost effortlessly on her own. A furious Malia rushed inside, followed by a great number of other women. Salora let Malia enter, but stood in the way of the others.

"One visitor at a time. They need to rest," she ordered, taking some more herbs from her pouches. Once Malia saw that mother and child were well, she turned to Salora. Before she could say anything, several bundles of herbs were pushed into her hands. Salora gave her instructions of what to do with them. "I shall return tomorrow evening to check on them. You can pay me later." Salora hurried past the people in the hallway as though their many thanks were arrows hurled at her. Tri rushed after her, wishing the people well as she passed them by.

Outside, the alleys were now lit by lanterns. Tri found herself entirely lost, but Salora at least appeared to know where she was going. Tri was pretty sure they came past the same bakery at least twice, but she did not say anything. Eventually, they made it back to the waggon, where Michael was waiting. Tri had become rather ravenous on the way and gladly took the food he offered her. That night, Salora lay down to sleep together with them. Tri wondered whether using magic exhausted her, but still dared not ask. She would have loved to tell Michael everything about what happened, but all his questions had been cut off by short answers from Salora. The story would have to wait.