"Whoa," said the man as he hurriedly stood and glanced at his wife. "Uh...I really don't think I'm qualified for this..."

"Go back to the house," the elf told him. "Get some blankets, towels, and warm water along with a glass to drink and food."

"Alright." He leaned down to kiss her cheek before running back to the house.

Leafë positioned Belinda so that she was more comfortable and could breath easier by resting her head on a low jutting part of the boat while raising her legs over the other seat. "Do you know anything about the babies?"

"They'll be twins," said the blonde. Her haggard features softened as she stroked her stomach. "Just like I was."

"Was?" the other echoed, green eyes wide.

Belinda looked away as tears began to form. "My sister Liress and I were born to Lady Eliana. She died giving birth to us...like I shall."

The elf opened her mouth to protest, but the woman ignored her as she said, "We were raised among governesses and learned how to act like proper ladies. I was always the 'wild' one, the one who preferred riding over balls. Liress enjoyed the social scene more than I did, but grew a fondness for magic when she discovered she had the talent for it at the age of ten. This drew her closer to Galbatorix's inner circle of magicians: the Black Hand."

She suddenly paused, clutching her stomach with a moan. Leafë grasped hold of her hand and told her to breath. Belinda followed her directions until she was able to continue. "By the time we were twenty, Liress was the leader while I was being flocked by potential suitors. Though my sister was the more beautiful of us, no men dared to approach her due to her power and the...closeness between she and the king.

"I went out riding more and more frequently to avoid court. I saw the villages, where people living in poverty while we dined in the highest of fashion. I heard tales of some of his majesty's cruel torments, and of the rebel group that fought to free Alagaësia from his tyrannical rule. I knew from my sister hints that he was a Rider, but I didn't know much about them until I met Beloth."

Another contraction started, and she squeezed her companion's hand tightly as she spoke. "He was amazing; tall, with silver hair lighter than yours and angled gray eyes. He looked to be in his third decade, but I thought from his pointed ears that he was an elf. I found him on one of my rides while I was exploring the forest depths. At first, he began to run away, but I called after him, trying to show I meant no harm.

"While searching for where he'd disappeared too, I was not looking around me, and a branch clipped my head. The last thing I remembered was falling out the saddle while my horse reared, for I blacked out before I hit the ground."

Smiling, Belinda's eyes were unfocused as she dwelled in her memories of the past. "When I awoke, his face was what I first saw - so beautiful that I thought I had died and gone to that ancient eternal realm where it was said such beings dwelled. He looked at me, unmoving as I raised my hand to touch his cheek and ask him - "

"If I have died and gone to paradise, then I shall be content to stay here forever with you," whispered Rose along with her mother. She closed her eyes and smiled, just as the other blonde did in the reminiscence.

"And he simply responded, 'You are not dead, fair maiden, for I made sure to keep you here in this world so that we might create our own paradise,'" quoted Belinda. "And with those words, I fell in love.

"He told me about himself: how he'd once been a great Rider - a human one - but his dragon, Glïnwyrd, had been slain in the fall of Doru Araeba. In her last moments, Glïnwyrd harnessed her magic to transport Beloth far from the battle, in hopes of him keeping him alive. He wandered for days in the forest, his grief and anger causing his magical abilities to rage out of control. Soon, the surrounding villages deemed the woods haunted; indeed, when I rode there that fateful afternoon, many had warned me away."

"I'm back," cut in Niom as he ran up into view. "Sorry it took me so long; the triplets started wailing, so I had to rock them until they'd settled back down."

Handing the supplies to his wife, he promptly flopped down on the sand. Folding the towels in pillows, Leafë placed one beneath Belinda's head and another under her feet. She laid another one down between the woman's legs where the babes would emerge, and the elf then offered her some fruit and water. The blonde declined the food, but drank swiftly. "Thank you," she said, voice less hoarse. "Now, where was I...oh yes, about Beloth."

"Beloth the Wise?" asked Niom, sitting up abruptly.

She smiled gently and answered, "That's the one. I told him all about my life in court, just as he'd told me his."

"Wait, he's still alive?" interjected the man once more.

Belinda's smile faded, and her face grew even more weary. "Not anymore."

"Oh. I mean...I'm sorry," he apologized, eyes downcast.

"I visited him often," she continued after a few moments of silence. "Everyday that I could escape the trappings of court, I went to the woods - to Beloth. Each time I was with him, I fell more and more in love with him. Liress grew suspicious of my outings and asked me if I had a secret lover. By this time, she had grown closer to the king than to me, and I no longer believed that I could trust her with my secrets. So I avoided her questions and kept sneaking to the forest.

"We were soon handfasted with only my horse as our witness, and after many months of us being together, Beloth asked me if I would run away with him. I asked him to where, and he said he was going to journey to his homeland - Alalëa. He wanted me to come with him, and of course I said yes. He told me to meet him at the port an hour after dusk fell, and I promised him I would. Then, I told him the secret I'd been keeping myself - that I was pregnant.

"At first, he was stunned, but then he laughed and twirled me around. Beloth was able to tell I was three months along, and I would have twins. We celebrated until I had to leave, kissing him goodbye and telling him I would meet him on the pier." Belinda winced as another birthing pain racked her before whispering, "But alas, it was not meant to be."