CHAPTER 32 A Birth
Alex opened her eyes to the dim light and saw the mysterious female vampire, Kate, peering down at her. "Come with me," the woman said. "You're in danger."
"I can't," replied Alex. "I'm in labor."
"You must," said Kate. "Your life and that of the child depend on it."
"Was that you following me?"
"Yes, and others are following me."
The darkness seemed to deepen, and struggle though she might, Alex still could not move, so Kate took her hand in hers, held it, and though cold, was a great comfort. The contraction finally eased, and Alex struggled to her feet.
"How long have you been in labor?"
"It just started."
"How far apart are the contractions?"
"Ten minutes," said Alex.
"I know a place. You'll be safe."
The woman led Alex along a maze of passageways, stopping once while Alex had another contraction. Finally, Kate located a small hole in the wall, and they squeezed through. It opened up into a space large enough for them to move about. Alex heard the faint echo of dripping water.
"This'll have to do."
"You're Kate, aren't you?" said Alex.
"Catherine, but among the Colony, they do call me Kate." She was small, almost frail, and young. Yet her high-pitched voice made her seem even younger.
Catherine? Alex wondered where she'd heard that name recently. "My name is Marie," she said.
"I know who you are," said Kate. "All about you, but we can talk later. I need to get a few items. You'll have the baby soon."
"You've midwifed before?"
"No, but I had a baby once, years ago. Hang on. I won't be long."
Alex was afraid for her to leave and stopped her as she stepped into the exit. "Are you sure I'm in danger?"
"Alu knows you've seen his band of ferals. He knows better than to trust you with that secret."
"What he's up to is unconscionable."
"I know. I just recently found out myself. He's not pleased that I'm here, and particularly not that I found his Ichor Dome. I knew something was wrong with him when I first saw him. I tracked him."
"Why did you come back to Sinaia?"
"To visit my only child's grave. She passed away not long ago. Alu forbade it."
"I've heard that he's become angry recently. He doesn't mingle with the Colony as he once did. So they say."
"He's all wrapped up in the Ichor Dome. This new breed of vampire experiences passion without love, violence without regret, and hate without restraint. Everyone a feral vampire bites can became a vampire. What's more, Alu is himself feral."
"So I've learned. That's the reason he's no longer on Millennium Road," said Alex.
"You know that for a fact?"
"I've been to the front."
"Wow! You are something special. I've tried but never made it that far."
"He's not there. He should be right behind the Centaur, but isn't."
"It's even worse than I imagined. I'm pleased I found you. I thought I'd never get away from this new über-coven. Alu has plans for your child, and if he found out that you've delivering early, he'd take you into custody."
"He's always been overly interested in my baby," said Alex. "Seemed to resent me being pregnant, too."
"Of course. He wanted to make you feral. He was afraid if he bit you, you'd lose the child. Trust me on this. He wants to create a new kingdom of feral vampires. I've heard him tell others that with you and your child, he will rule the world."
"I just can't imagine why he's gone rogue."
"He says there's more to it than the Ichor Dome. I tried to get him to tell me more, but he's really secretive about it. He wouldn't tell me more until I let him turn me feral, he said."
"You wouldn't go along?"
"Lie still. I'll be right back."
"My grotto. Baby clothes and other items in the cedar chest. Ask Cosmina."
Kate squeezed through the opening and was gone.
As Kate's footsteps faded, Alex felt another contraction grab her, its gripping force strong and persistent. She writhed in pain and felt a wetness between her thighs. Her water had broken. The contraction finally turned loose of her.
Alex was immensely tired and felt as if she'd been drugged. The cavern was so quiet that her eyelids drooped, and she dozed. She dreamed of Millennium Road but immediately left it and headed toward the glow in the distance as if drawn by gravity. Alex could now see that the Chateau — she was surprised she remembered what they called it — through its splendid bridge, adjoined a door in a wall that surrounded a magnificent city, one she recognized from her dream the night Velinar bit her. The Chateau was now finished, and a beautiful pale-blue seraph stood before it beckoning, wings all aflutter. When Alex approached her, she offered a golden key, which Alex took, then the angel disappeared. The Chateau was a magnificent structure formed of pentagonal sections, sort of a flat, multi-sided sphere. The frame of the Chateau was formed of adamantine, and its walls overlaid with pure silver trimmed in gold. Alex recognized the geometric shape from her geometry class. It was one of the Platonic solids, a dodecahedron. She used the key to unlock the door and went inside.
The Chateau was one room and sparsely furnished, no kitchen appliances, no bedrooms since it was in psychic space, she reasoned, just a couple of sofas and easy chairs along with gold throw-rugs strategically placed about the floor. One pentagonal section opened onto the bridge, which led to a gate in the wall of the greatest of all cities, the City of God. The see-through pane of the pentagon was a door made of one enormous flat-cut diamond. She tried to open it, but found that it could only be opened from the outside.
Alex looked around, and hearing voices behind her, turned to see two children, a boy and a girl, walking along the bridge, enter through the diamond door, and come into the Chateau with her. "We've come to play," they said.
They taught her a game for three and made her sing and dance. She'd never been so happy.
Podul de piatră s-a dărâmat
A venit apa şi l-a luat
Vom face altul pe riu, în jos
Altul mai trainic şi mai frumos!
Vom face altul pe riu, în jos
Altul mai trainic şi mai frumos!
"Bring your friends here," they told her. Sing and dance to that song only in the Chateau, only with friends." Then they turned to leave.
"What friends?" she asked.
"You'll know when the time comes."
Once outside the Chateau again, she was able to see the gate into the City clearer. It was made of pure pearl.
Kate's return startled Alex awake at the same time another contraction threatened to squeeze her in two. Kate had brought an aluminum chair with a reclining back, on which she spread a thick blanket. She helped Alex onto it and left her legs hanging off the end. The contraction was brutal, and when Alex started to scream, Kate shoved a rag into her mouth.
"Bite down," she said. "You can't allow yourself to voice the pain. Keep it inside."
Alex bit down and wrestled angrily with the contraction. Finally it let up, and Alex relaxed. She started to ask Kate a question, but then came the next one. When it eased, Kate checked Alex's uterus.
"You're fully dilated. It's baby time!" she said.
As if triggered by Kate's enthusiasm, a mighty contraction grabbed Alex and would not let go. Alex growled into the pain, pushed with all her might, and felt it give.
"I can't believe this is so quick, but here it comes," said Kate.
Alex kept pushing, but all at once, it got easier. She saw Kate pull the baby from within her, as if she'd performed a party trick, and then Alex heard a squeak, a cry.
"It's a girl," Kate said, dipping a rag in water, dabbing and rubbing the baby. It kept crying, more loudly now.
"Yes," said Alex. "I've known for some time."
"You didn't deserve such an easy delivery. You're supposed to have more pain and heartache before you get such a beautiful
child."
Alex wasn't sure Kate was going to give up the baby. She was suddenly afraid that taking charge of her delivery had been a trick to steal the child. "Can I see her?" she asked, panic in her voice.
"Oh! Sorry. I'm really excited myself. I won't say why just yet, but let me tell you. This little girl is very special to me too." She set her in Alex's arms.
Alex couldn't imagine what Kate was talking about, and the thought evaporated with her first view of her daughter.
"Hold still now," said Kate. I've got to remove the afterbirth."
Now that the mad rush for safety and delivery were over, Kate seemed to sink back inside herself. She held the baby while Alex cleaned up, and put on the clothes Kate had brought from her cedar chest.
"You have to get out of the cavern now that you've delivered," said Kate.
"This business of being immortal is still strange. I've only been one a few months. Even with you as young as you appear, your child died of old age?"
"Yes." Kate considered something for a moment and didn't speak. Finally she asked, "Why did you become a vampire?"
"Not by choice," said Alex. "I was bitten in the woods near my grandmother's home. I fainted, or I guess died, and when I woke, I had started to change."
"So you didn't want to become one either?"
"It was thrust upon me by special circumstances. I've been pissed off ever since. Cost me two loves."
"I had a husband who lived with me here in Sinaia. He fought in WWI, survived it but died a few years later from a wound he suffered. Since I'm on Millennium Road, I can never be with him in Paradise." Kate grew quiet. "Or with my daughter," she added, sadly.
In the dim light cast by her glow bottle that was gradually losing its luminescence, Alex could see that this bothered Kate greatly. Alex thought that possibly she could help with Kate's problem.
"Have you named the baby yet?" asked Kate.
"Since I'm not going to be able to live openly in the world, I've given her my name, Alexandra Marie Eidyn." She held the baby close and longed to have her in brighter light, so she could get a better look at her.
"That's a really interesting name."
"My grandmother gave it to me. I'll call this lovely little lady Andra."
"Alex-Andra? That's really cleaver."
"And Ra. The Egyptian sun god. She's already lit up my life greater than any sun. I've never liked any of my names for myself. Maybe they've always been meant for her."
Little Andra made a small sucking noise. She had her tiny fist in her mouth.
"Give her a nipple," said Kate. "She'll need the antibodies in the colostrum. If she gains the immunity of a vampire, she'll certainly be healthy." She put her cold hand on Alex's arm. "You're still warm. Such an amazing thing." She sat close to Alex, and gazed down at the child. "She's so active for a newborn."
Alex pulled open the front of her blouse, and put Andra's little lips up against her nipple. Andra smacked then took it. A powerful sensation of warmth and great love came over Alex. She saw Kate's eyes fill with tears.
"I have something to tell you, Marie. They tell me you're called Marie here. Is that what you prefer?"
"No. I gave them that, but I go by Alex."
"Your grandmother called you Alex, didn't she?"
"What do you know of my grandmother?"
"My name is actually Catherine. I was born here in Sinaia. So was my daughter. She passed away the same day, the same instant, your grandmother passed away."
Alex's mind went into a whirr. Catherine. Where had she heard that name recently? The cave seemed to darken for an instant, and then she realized. Catherine was her own great grandmother's name. "You can't be," she said.
"Yes, the child you hold to your breast is my great great grandchild. Your grandmother was my daughter."
"But you're so young." Alex tried to fit it all together. She remembered her grandmother's words and the journal she found in her grandmother's attic. "You are the illegitimate daughter of Queen Marie. You're a Cantacuzene."
"Yes. That's why Alu wants us both. We're royalty."