Adept

by J. P. Larson

  "Are you the healer?" the old woman asked.

  I climbed to my feet. "I am," I said. "I am Adept Kia. How may I help you?"

  "I am Ruth," she said. "This is my granddaughter, Vera. We are the midwives. Imana said you wanted to see us."

  "Ah of course," I said. I offered chairs. Ruth took one, and Vera stood behind her. I kept the second chair. "I didn't have anything in particular. I wanted to let you know I was here if you needed me. If there are any patients I should see, you can let me know."

  "How long are you staying?"

  "We had planned two nights, but I am here with Eva Truebright, and it may be she will wish to stay until Maureena delivers." I paused. "Maureena did not allow me to examine her."

  Ruth frowned. "I wish she would. She should have delivered by now. Adept Kia, I have two women who are both due, and you know that the moment one goes into labor, the other one will, too."

  "I am a healer, but I am not a midwife," I pointed out. "I will happily assist, but if there is a baby to deliver, I would really hope you would deliver it. I have helped deliver farm animals, and I have examined pregnant women, but I have never been present for a human birth."

  Ruth looked over her shoulder at her granddaughter. "Imagine, a healer who doesn't know how to deliver a baby."

  "Imagine a magus who expresses humility," Lunia said with a chuckle.

  "I wasn't going to mention that," Ruth said with a grin at my swordswoman. "You know the principles?"

  "Of course. But book learning and experience are not the same thing. I can do a lot with my magic, but I can't use my magic to correct a breach birth, and I have never turned a breach. I have seen my mother do it for one of the dogs, but I was ten years old at the time."

  We talked professionally for several minutes. When we were done, I turned to Lunia. "When we get back to Northmere, I am going to insist on spending time with the midwives." I looked back at Ruth. "Are there any difficult cases here I need to visit?"

  "The Truebright women are known for difficult births," she said. "Every one of Ivarine's children was late, and she almost died giving birth to Sard. Eva was the only easy birth, but even she was late. I don't particularly care how Maureena feels about you. I would rather you remain available until this baby is delivered."

  I nodded. "As long as you know who is in charge."

  "You?"

  "Absolutely not. You."

  She laughed. "We're going to get along well, Dearie."

  * * * *

  Eva and Loralai stopped by another hour later. Eva looked haggard. I pulled her into my arms, and we held each other for a minute.

  "You fought with them?"

  "Yes," she said.

  "I'm sorry."

  "This is their fault, not yours. I've forgiven you, and that should be enough. I even told them why you left, and they don't care."

  "They aren't coming to the wedding."

  "Not unless attitudes change. We'll leave tomorrow."

  "No," I said. "Enjoy your time. We're staying until Maureena gives birth."

  Eva tried to argue, but I said, "I have already met with the midwife."

  "Ruth? That old hag?"

  "She's not a hag, and I've never heard you call someone that before!"

  She sighed. "You're right. She's a good midwife."

  "She asked us to stay," I said. "She has two patients right now, and she has concerns."

  "Olive Fastfish is at least as due as Maureena is," Eva said. "Is my sister okay?"

  "Ruth didn't say otherwise, Eva. But she asked me to remain available, and so I am going to remain available."

  We moved to the bed and sat down, cuddled together for a minute.

  "I'm sorry, Kia," Eva said.

  "Don't worry about it. Enjoy this time with your family. I'll go to bed early tonight and spend tomorrow seeing any patients brave enough to come to me."

  * * * *

  I did just that. We ended up using the tent on the village green. I only had a dozen patients and was able to tend to all their needs before lunch. At one point, I saw Toren, Eva's eldest brother, ride past on some errand in town, but he neither stopped by nor even acknowledged me. I decided the antipathy towards me probably covered everyone at the Truebright homestead.

  My heart ached for Eva.

  We saw our last patient off, packed up the tent, and were back at the inn long before dinner. I took a nap.

  * * * *

  "Adept Kia! Adept Kia!" There was pounding on the door. Lunia and I had played cards down in the common room until late, and it felt like I'd barely gotten to sleep.

  Lunia made it to the door long before I did. She opened it to expose Vera, the younger midwife.

  "You have to come!" she said, looking past Lunia to me. "Grandmother is with Maureena, but Olive Fastfish is in labor. I'm on my way there. I've never delivered a baby alone, and Grandmother insists you come with me."

  I hustled about the room, Lunia and I both pulling clothing on. Lunia grabbed my pack of medical supplies, and two minutes after Vera had arrived, we were out the door. She led us to the stable, and when we got there, our mounts were already saddled. We each climbed aboard a horse, and then Vera led us on a quick path out of the village, heading to a farm two miles south of the village.

  We were met by numerous anxious faces. There was a man we learned was Olive's father-in-law. Olive's husband, Rondar, was there, as well as a sister-in-law, Barta. Rondar and his father took our horses, and Vera pushed past everyone. She seemed to know where she was going. A moment later, we found ourselves in a bedroom, dimly lit by a single lamp. There was an ashen-faced young woman on the bed, and an older woman sitting on a chair next to her. The older woman was Farlie, Olive's mother-in-law.

  Vera moved to her patient. I took one look around the room and immediately began launching light spells around, filling the room with light, but not putting them anywhere they would be in Olive's eyes.

  Vera looked over at me, startled by the sudden light.

  "Oh," she said. "Grandmother is going to wish you could teach her to do that! Is it difficult?"

  "I can't teach her."

  "I was wondering if there was any way for me to have more direct light."

  "Lunia, give me something to cast it on."

  Lunia immediately retrieved a small coin from her purse. She held it up carefully, and I laughed, then I hit the coin with a light spell. She gave it to Vera, who marveled at it for a moment.

  Vera turned to her patient and began talking to her. I turned to Lunia. "Do you have five more?"

  She did, and I lit each of them up. I turned to the woman. "Can someone deliver these to Ruth at the Truebright farm? Maureena is in labor as well, and Eva may not have thought of this."

  The woman stared at me.

  "I'm sorry," I said. I moved closer. "I am Adept Kia, the healer. This is my swordswoman, Lunia." I turned to Lunia. "Can you find the farm and find your way back? Bring us news."

  "I shouldn't leave you," she said.

  "Please, Lunia."

  She nodded. "I'll be back as quickly as I can."

  Lunia moved quickly from the room, and I came to the side of the bed. "Olive," I said. "I am Adept Kia. I'm here to assist Vera tonight. I'm going to use my magic to take a look at you. You won't feel a thing."

  I didn't wait for permission. I extended my magic and got a good, long look. I didn't particularly know what I should look for, but as best I could tell, everything looked fine.

  "Is there anything you want me to look for?" I asked Vera.

  "Is the baby pointed in the right direction? And is the cord safe?"

  "As far as I can tell," I said.

  "Then you probably won't have much to do, but please remain close."

  I nodded and withdrew, but I pulled my bowls out and asked the mother-in-law for water. I followed her to the kitchen and used the hand pump. I cleansed the water with a spell, then I heated it besides.

  "It's hot!" she said, taking one of the bo
wls from me.

  "Yes."

  "How did you do that?"

  "Magic."

  She set the bowl down and put a hand on my arm. "Is my daughter-in-law in trouble?"

  "No, ma'am," I said. "But Ruth is attending to Maureena Truebright, and Vera was nervous. I was available to be here, and so it makes sense to take advantage of that."

  "Eva Truebright is a sorceress."

  "Yes, she is. We're both here, ma'am."

  "Ah, so she's seeing to her sister."

  "Something like that," I said. I didn't feel a need to tell anyone about Eva's limits. "Everything will be fine, ma'am, to the best of Vera's abilities supplemented by my own. Shall we go back in?"

  * * * *

  The delivery took hours. Vera handled it very professionally, and I did very little, but I watched avidly. Vera quietly talked through what she was doing, and I would thank her later. I got an education on what a human birth looked like when there isn't a complication in the world.

  Olive delivered a healthy baby girl. Vera handed the child to me, and I cleaned her up, bundled her carefully, and set her to her mother's bosom.

  "She's beautiful, Olive," I said, a few tears in my eyes. "She is absolutely beautiful."

  I used my magic to check on mother and daughter then pumped a little energy into the worn-out mother, but it probably wasn't necessary.

  Vera handled everything else, finally stepping aside to clean herself up. She turned to me. "Thank you, Adept Kia. While your services weren't necessary, it was reassuring to know you were here."

  "Thank you as well, midwife Vera," I replied. I pulled her into a hug. "My first."

  "We shouldn't need you now," Vera said. "I'll stay here for a few more hours, just in case, I presume you'll either be at the inn or at the Truebright residence if something comes up."

  "Or sitting beside the lake," I said. "The water is calming."

  Lunia and I then moved around, congratulating everyone. I received thanks for my help, but I had done little. Ten minutes later we were mounted and heading back to the inn. "Sleep," I said. "I need sleep."

  "I napped a little," she said, "but I'll be joining you."

  We were halfway back to the inn when we saw a mounted horse galloping hard from town, and as he drew closer, I recognized Eva's younger brother, Sard.

  "Kia!" he yelled. "Kia! You have to come. Ruth says you have to come!"

  "Oh no!" I said. I immediately clicked the horse into a run, Lunia right on my heels. Her horse was carrying more weight, but she was a better rider, and so she was able to keep up. Sard's horse was tired, and he dropped back, but I knew where I was going.

  Toren was waiting for us as we rode into the yard. We came to a stop, both horses blowing hard and done in. He grabbed my horse's head for me and I dropped to the ground.

  "What happened?" I asked.

  "I don't know. Suddenly Eva came out of Maureena's bedroom and said to get you, and she looked frantic."

  "Lunia! I need that pack." I didn't wait but ran into the house. Eva was waiting for me, and she wordlessly grabbed me the moment I stepped into the house, dragging me through the house to Maureena's bedroom. When I got there, Maureena was in bed, sweat-soaked and listless. Ruth was poised between her legs. Ivarine, Eva's mother, and Kolara, Sard's wife, were both there. Kolara's hand was in her mouth, and Ivarine was so worried she didn't even take time to glare at me.

  "Ruth, what is going on?" I asked.

  "The delivery is taking too long," she said, "and the mother is exhausted." She looked up at me, and she looked worried.

  "Forceps?" I asked.

  "Too early," she replied.

  I moved closer and spoke quietly. "Ruth, I'm only an adept. The spells specific to childbirth are primarily magus level. There are earlier spells, but the expectation is I will become a magus, and so I haven't been taught them."

  "Can you help with the mother's fatigue?" Ruth asked.

  "That I can do."

  "And do you have spells to tell if the baby is positioned properly?"

  "Yes," I said. "Well, I have spells to look, and I can describe it to you."

  "Start with that," she said.

  I straightened. Lunia was in the room, opening my pack.

  "Water," I said. "More towels. Eva, the water should be hot, but not hot enough to scald." They had both been around me enough to know what I needed.

  "How is Olive?" Ruth asked.

  "Healthy baby girl. There were no complications at all. Vera did well."

  "Good," Ruth said.

  At that point, I ignored everyone but Ruth and my patient. I raised my magic and extended it into Maureena. I could see she was exhausted. Then I began describing what I could see.

  "Good, good," Ruth said. But she frowned when I described the baby's head. I bent my head closer, and she said, "There's going to be bleeding, a lot of bleeding."

  "I can handle the bleeding. Get that baby out of there, Ruth." And she nodded.

  I moved up to Maureena. Her eyes tracked me weakly, but she was too tired to protest my presence. I created a new spell, one to ease fatigue. I knelt next to her and said, "Maureena, I'm going to give you a little spell. It will give you more energy. Then we're going to bring your little baby out to meet his mother, aunts, and grandmother."

  "Didn't want you here," she said.

  "I know. And I'm sorry about that. This should feel good though." I turned to Ruth. "Now?"

  "Now," she said.

  I sent the magic into Maureena. What it did was set up a conduit of power from me to Maureena. She opened her eyes widely, and then I pumped some of my own energy into her.

  "Ivarine," Ruth said. "I need you to help mop Maureena's head. Kolara, do you think you could let Maureena hold your hand?"

  A contraction arrived, and Maureena arched her back, screaming. When it was done, Ruth said, "Good, much stronger."

  I filled Maureena with as much energy as I thought she could take. Then I began casting spell after spell, all of them some form of good health. I sent them into the woman. I would have given them to the baby, but they triggered on contact, so I couldn't help the baby until he was delivered.

  Another contraction came, and Maureena gasped and screamed.

  Eva stepped up to me, handing me a hot, damp towel. I cleaned my hands. Lunia mopped Ruth, receiving thanks for it.

  "It hurts," Maureena complained. "Please make it stop hurting."

  "I'm sorry, Maureena," I said. "The best I can do is to numb you, but it paralyzes the muscles, and then you can't give birth. I'm so sorry I can't do more."

  "What good are you?" she muttered.

  I didn't say anything, but I gave her another boost of magic.

  It took another half hour before Ruth said, "I need my forceps sterilized."

  "Lunia, throw them into a bowl," I said. "I need a second bowl with cool water."

  It took a minute, but Lunia arranged everything, setting them onto Maureena's dresser. I stepped over and cast a cleansing spell on the water. I then bathed the forceps in magic and used raw magic to lift it from the first, dry bowl, into the cool, clean water. A moment later, Lunia carried the bowl to Ruth, and she plucked the forceps out.

  "I said sterilized, not clean."

  "Trust me," I said. "I know the difference." She nodded.

  It took more time, but then Ruth began to smile. "Here he comes. More towels!" Lunia was already waiting with them. "Bare down, Maureena. Push hard. Push. Push!"

  Maureena gave a scream, and then I could see the baby begin to slide out of her, Ruth guiding it as best she could. As the baby slid into Ruth's arms, I began sending good health spells into the infant, filling him with strength, helping to clear out his lungs, and doing everything else I could. A moment later, he let out a wail, and then Ruth was cleaning him up, swaddling him in the towels, and finally placed him at his mother's breast.

  Then Ruth sat back down again, and I knew things weren't over. She was using towels to try to control th
e bleeding.

  "Adept Kia," she said. I immediately knelt down next to her. She spoke quietly. "She's bleeding hard."

  I immediately sent my magic in, looking for the sources of bleeding. I didn't know much about post birth bleeding, and I didn't know what was normal.

  "Do I just stop it all?" I asked her.

  "If you can."

  The next part was hard. I couldn't see what I was doing, so I needed to keep the look spell active while making the next spells. I guided them carefully, and slowly I reduced the flow to a trickle. Then I used more general healing spells, pumping them over and over into Maureena.

  "Good," Ruth said. "Adept Kia, that's good." She looked over at me. "Don't pass out!"

  Lunia and Eva both heard her, and suddenly they were there for me, supporting me on either side. Eva knelt down. "Ruth, is that enough?"

  "That's enough," Ruth said. She looked at me. "You saved them both, Kia."

  I sat back. "Bed," I said.

  * * * *

  When I woke, Ivarine was in a chair beside the bed, watching me. I turned my head to her.

  "Maureena?"

  "Sleeping," she replied.

  "Shouldn't you be with her?"

  "Eva said you would likely wake soon, and I wanted to talk to you."

  I closed my eyes, assessing my strength. I had a horrible headache. I was dehydrated, dealing with low blood sugar, and my magic was low as well. I didn't bother opening my eyes. "If you're going to scream at me, can it wait?"

  "You hurt my daughter," she said, but she spoke calmly. "Do you have any idea what you did to her?"

  I opened my eyes. "Yes. Do you have any idea how desperate I must have been?"

  She didn't answer that. Instead she said, "Eva says she has forgiven you. And she says you are to be married in the spring. She also says there will be grandchildren, but that you will be carrying them. She assures me there are ways to make this happen."

  "We haven't discussed details, but if that's what Eva says, then you can trust it is true."

  Ivarine looked away. "Ruth told me Maureena and Tendril would have died without you." I presumed the baby had a name. "Do you believe that buys you forgiveness?"

  "Do you believe that's why I did it?" I replied. I sat up and swung my legs out of bed. I was dressed in an oversized shirt, and it wasn't one of mine. "If you could please send Lunia in, I will vacate your home as quickly as I am able to get dressed. I have no desire to remain where I am unwelcome. I have no intention of arguing with you. I believe this should be a happy time. There is a new life in this house. You do not need the strife my presence causes."