Marcie continued to meet with the strangers in the tavern for the next couple of days. Breen always joined then, unusual as he rarely drank, but he seemed to enjoy the strange men's company.

They chatted amongst themselves or talked Jin into telling them story, which usually ended up with him standing on a table and pouring ale over himself.

Marcie enjoyed herself immensely and it allowed her to stave off her sadness at being parted from Dara. He kept her company in her thoughts however and he seemed to enjoy Jins stories more than anything.

It was late. Jin had just finished a long tale of the lives lost building Cathels Wall when the door to the tavern was thrown open and Dafne blew in like a blizzard.

Her thin body wrapped in a long flowing black cloak with a large hood and she said into the shocked silence,

"All o you out now"

She then turned to The Barman and said,

"Take me to er"

The Barman needed no prompting.

When The Witch told you to do something, you damn well did it. Especially if she was referring to your heavily expecting wife.

Marcie rushed to follow, then remembered the guests,

"Breen, can you show these three where they will be staying tonight?" she asked hurriedly, all her attention focused on the stairs Dafne had disappeared up.

"What's going on? Who was that?" asked Jin coming over, his audience having all made a hasty retreat.

"That's The Witch" said Breen, his attention also focused on the stairs, "Something must be wrong with mother"

Marcie grabbed his hand,

"If Dafne's here then she will be alright" she said confidently, although her heart was beating very fast and she felt her eyes sting ready with tears.

Breen looked at her, his eyes wide and also showing red, he swallowed, then downed the last of his ale,

"I shall take them to my home, we have plenty of spare beds" he said to no one in particular,

The outsiders gathered up their belongings and followed the man out,

"Let us know what happens" Jin said, smiling kindly at Marcie, "I wish to thank the Bar lady in person for her hospitality"

Marcie barely heard him, as soon as the door closed she raced upstairs.

She passed a room where Kena had all her siblings gathered on one bed and was telling them a children's tale of a fairy who became lost in the wood and made friends with a tree.

It was a pleasant story but the children were clearly not paying attention, they shuffled and squirmed as Kena's voice was drowned out by cries of pain and sobs from down the hall.

Marcie carefully and quietly closed the door and hurried to the source of the anguish.

She found Luce propped up on a mound of pillows on a dirty and stained bed, her knees up, hair soaked in sweat, Dafne checking her opening while The Barman wiped her forehead with a damp cloth and cried quietly.

"He's the wrong way rawnd" Dafne said briskly, she bustled over and massaged Luce's swollen stomach, feeling with her fingertips.

"He needs t come out now, no other way, any longer an you at risk of dying y self"

Luce gasped and panted,

"I...can't..."she huffed,

"Easy now, dont you be sayin that, you been through worse birthin your little army, don you try an pussy out on us now girl" Dafne retorted,

The Barman made a growling noise, but Dafne just glared at him until he backed down,

"Thas right boy, you show some respect to only gal who gonna save your lass, you hear"

She saw Marcie standing helplessly in the doorway,

"Get over here an push down on her tum, will ya" she ordered, "Gonna need ma kit"

Marcie dutifully complied and Luce gripped her arm in a sweaty death grip, while she strained and gasped.

Dafne drew from her cloak a bundle of leather and The Barman paled considerably.

She undid the tie and rolled out a selection of wickedly sharp blades.

Dara, who had been alert and worried the whole time, felt Marcie's apprehension like physical pain, and did his best to comfort her, but there was no comfort to be had from what was to come.

Hours later, Marcie felt exhausted, her eyes were sore from crying her legs ached and she had lost feeling in her hand where Luce was squeezing it so hard.

She thought she was going to collapse when Luce, with the last of her strength, gave one final push and a welcome cry filled the air.

Dafne snipped the cord with speed and precision reaped from countless births, then bundled the latecomer in fresh clean sheets and began to inspect it thoroughly,

"Go ge The Birth Mother" she said, to no one in particular, "Now the worst over she needed"

Marcie went to leave but Luce still gripped her arm, so The Barman left, discreetly mopping at his face with his sleeve.

"What...is it?" asked Luce weekly, she was barely conscious, her eyes drifting closed, trembling gently,

"Got nother girl" said Dafne disinterestedly, "Heavy breathin, little weak, if she survives till mornin say she gotta chance"

"Girl..."Luce said before she sagged back on the bed, her whole body going limp.

"Er, Dafne?" Marcie called, unable to hide the mounting terror in her voice,

"Here" said Dafne, placing the tiny squirming body in Marcie's arms and scooting round the bed.

She gently lifted each of Luce's eyes, then felt her stomach and peered under the sheet that had been placed to conserve her modesty.

"Birth Mother better get ere quick" was all she said,

Marcie was left rocking the newest addition to the Barman's clan, in an effort to calm its shrieking while the nearest thing she had to a mother lay lifelessly on the bed.

What felt like hours later, Justyna Birth Mother stumbled through the door still in her nightgown and a hastily donned cloak.

Thick-boned and plain, her dirty blonde hair was hanging out of her bun falling around her face.

She took in the scene in one glance, then coaxed the babe from Marcie's arms and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room, immediately the girl began to calm in her arms as Justyna rocked and jiggled her.

"She'll need feeding soon" she warned, not looking up from her charge, her voice soft and soothing.

"She gonna ave to wait" Dafne snapped, as she threaded a small needle shaped like a fishing hook with thick black thread, "Marcie, aint no time for tears girl, wipe em off and help me with is"

Marcie wiped her face, but could not help the tears that continued to fall as she helped Dafne to stitch and sew Luce back together.

Dara became so distressed that Marcie had to back away and sit heavily on the floor as her legs no longer supported her.

The young dragon couldn't understand what was happening, all he knew was that someone she loved was being hurt, and that made him angry and afraid. She tried to help him understand but she was too tired and too upset.

She stared at her blood stained hands and felt bile rise in her throat, she fought to keep it down.

She became aware of Dafne calling her name, and looked up to see The Witch hovering over her, looking unmistakably concerned,

"Its alright girl, she gonna be fine, when you feel ready go get me some Spikle root from the herb shed, grind it up, add water, make it into a paste and bring it to me, got it?" she said,

Marcie waited for the request to register, she gently pushed Dara's extreme motions away from her, till they didn't effect her as painfully and nodded.

She used the wall to pull herself to her feet then stumbled out of the room.

The rest of the Barman's clan accosted her on her way out, she managed to say something about their mother and the baby being in good health before escaping outside.

In the open she felt much better. She gulped in clear icy cold air and let It cool her face.

Finally she could breath again.

The snow felt amazing on her hands as she used it to clean off the worst of the blood. Dara calmed when she did, and sent her apologies and happy thoughts of the new life she helped bring into the world, he thought it was funny, as if he had a new sibling of his own. It was strange, the conclusions he came to sometimes.

Feeling several shades better, Marcie remembered to send a small prayer to The Goddess that Luce and her child. Then she walked around the back of the tavern where the herb shed was situated.

She found the Spikle Root easily enough. Of all her faults, Kena was the mistress of gatherers and she kept the shed very well organised.

Marcie had closed the door and slid the bolt home when she heard the low murmur of voices.

Curious, she rounded the shed and saw Breen leaning towards another figure, his hands on the fence behind the person, effectively trapping that person.

"I mean it, stop" said the person Breen was targeting,

And Marcie realised with a shock that it was Sebastian.

"Stop what?" came Breen's reply, his voice low and husky,

"Get away from me"

"Hmm, make me"

"Your mother is in labour, you will have another brother of sister soon, you should see to her"

"Hmm, well, you see I have so many brothers and sisters, whats one more? And besides, Marcie is right. With The Witch there, no harm will come to either"

"You should be there"

"What if I want to be here instead"

Breen leaned in closer and Marcie's eyesight adjusted to the low light, so that she could see Sebastian was leaning as far away from the other man as he could within the confides of his arms, his head turned to the side.

No to be deterred, Breen Leaned in further and Sebastian's breath caught.

"I think you want me here" he said, his voice lowering even further,

"I don't" came the shaky reply,

"Oh come one, don't tell me you haven't been watching me since the Tavern, I saw you"

Breen undid even more of the buttons on his shirt, despite the cold, and pulled it open to show the whole of his chest,

"Do you like what you see" he asked, leaning in and placing a kiss on Sebastian's exposed throat.

When Sebastian didn't respond he sighed theatrically, dropped to his knees and began unbuckling the belt at his eye level.

Sebastian made no move to stop him.

Marcie chose that as her moment to leave. She slipped away quietly back to the Tavern kitchen where she ground the Spikle Root in a mortar and added water to make it a paste.

She focused very hard on her task in a bid to keep her mind of what she had just witnessed.

When she was finished she ran it back upstairs to Dafne, who took it without a word and began to apply it to the fresh stitches.

Luce regained consciousness slowly some time later.

Already her colour was better, the Root taking affect.

As soon as she was awake Justyna laid the babe at her breast so it could feed.

"Thought of a name yet? Or you used them all up?" Dafne said,

Luce was evidently feeling much better because she gave The Witch a disapproving look.

"She shall be called Myriam" she said, turning back to the babe, gazing down at her lovingly.

"A fine name" Justyna approved,

"Better an naught I s'pose" Dafne grunted,

"Will you sing for her Marcie dear?" Luce asked, ignoring Dafne completely,

Marcie smiled, "It would be my pleasure"

She stroked the child's soft downy hair and started to sing.

Kena led the children to bare witness to the birthing song, welcoming little Myriam to the world.