How many times have I done this? Hell, I’m not even sure myself. I remember being there for the births of my daughters, waiting outside Zeivah’s den until she finally let me in to see them. I’d been so panicked that first time and it had been for no reason at all. The second time was much the same, I paced and turned and worked myself up when the boys and two more of my daughters were born. My last time at Zeivah’s side……was the worst. The births of my last two sons were the only ones I’d actually witnessed in the full. So much blood, so much pain and Zeivah was never quite the same. Something happened inside her that last time. She was fine for awhile of course, but as the days and weeks and months moved by she grew smaller, slower, more tired as if that which is inside her was simply and slowly giving up. I suppose I always knew I would lose her, instinct is a gift and a curse all at once. She was dying, slowly yes, but dying all the same and I suppose in one way or another, perhaps it was a kindness that the meteor took her…….The fourth time was when I sat beside Cat Eye as she brought Oswin into this world and the last was not but a day ago, when I sat outside Ava’s den and waited to hear of the births of two more sons, perhaps to replace Kael and Lucifer, followed by one more daughter who had made me smile already. Five births I have attended that have been my own doing, yet in reality it has been far more. I watched over Brooke when she birthed, as I did Moth one year, I guarded Areith until her mate came, plus two or three more I cannot even recall. Though never, never will I forget watching over Eris, my daughter, as she bled out across the floor. I watched Eris dying as Brooke worked to save her, to save Ava and Micteca and Eclipse, the children that became my own in time. Eris would never have allowed her children’s births to defeat her, she lived for them and for Castor- only to be taken by the meteor that took so much.

I have lived to long, of that I am sure. I walked Moladion the night Eris herself was born from Apollymi, Queen of Judila, the same Queen I murdered not a year later with an infant Eris beside me. I watched over that same little girl as she grew, watched her birth her children so many years later and indeed, now, I watch over Ava, daughter of Eris, my granddaughter, as she births my great grandchildren. I have lived to see it all and I think….maybe, for the first time- I am tired. Tired of it all. I must be seventeen now, maybe eighteen, I don’t remember and yet my work is still not done. There is another birth for me to guard and watch over. Hmmm, maybe when I finally die they will make me the Angel of Expectant Mothers, traditionally a female role I know, yet I have watched over birthing females for so many years that I am entirely sure it will be expected of me in the afterlife. I moved quickly and easily across Diveen, the spot I’d been resting within the sun a decent run away from the den I knew Zen had been considering. I cannot read minds, I cannot know all things and yet once more, instinct is a powerful thing. After so many years of practice I have become fairly…in-tune to this particular feeling, to knowing when it is I am needed in this regard. I extended my long, white limbs further, breaking into a run atop the flat plains, seeking my mate, my shadow, my Zen, following the scent within the air.

I slowed as I approached, the scent of another thick within the air as my heckles lifted and lips peeled back from my fangs in warning. I will not tolerate another male within my presence or near my newly born children, a snarl erupting from my lips at the sight of what appeared to be some gangly youth…..Azrael’s boy? The Healer? I allowed the growl to die off as no more then a snort as I eyed my grandchild via adoption with wary foreboding. Why was he here? What was wrong with my mate. Were Meryl not protected by Azrael’s claim of him I would have been entirely content to simply shove him out of the way, as it was I merely waited for him to step back before I slid within the den, the scent of blood so thick and potent in the air as It was with Eris. I felt a whine coil within my throat, one quickly swallowed before it could make any sound, refusing to allow such a weakness to be heard in the presence of my mate, a female who had suffered a pain I will never know to bring forth the son and daughter that nursed at her side. At least the pups were well, though indeed the male seemed…weak. I shook the thought away for now, moving to come behind, to lay against her, wrap myself around her as best I could to give the warmth I knew she needed. I’d watched Eris survive this, I’d seen others die from it, yet I am sure, convinced, that my Zen is as strong as my daughter once was.

“I am here Zen, do not sleep now, there is not time for sleep, you must tell me of the pups, I must know right now, surely you would not sleep without telling me, hmm?”

I spoke softly, gently, jaws parting to sweep my tongue across her face in an effort to rouse her once more before the violet of my gaze sought Meryls own as he worked. Perhaps Azrael does not understand his son’s work, yet I will admit to some sense of pride in my grandson, already so young and yet fearless of the blood that stains the floor and permeates the air, much like the faint scent of fear that clung to him.

“She can survive this Meryl, I have seen it thrice before, she can live but you must not second guess anything you do, now- fix her. I will make sure she does not sleep or lose heat, now you do what you need.”

It was more an order then anything and yet I am used to giving orders. I am the Angel King after all, the one true leader and at times like these, when death itself has chilled claws within this den there is not time for pleasantries, orders work entirely better, my own voice confident and assured lest the child lose focus. If I act like I believe she can be saved, Meryl will believe it, Zen will believe it and that is all I need. She is strong, my mate, I would not have bound myself to her unless it was true. She will live. I command it- and nobody disobeys my orders. Not even Fate.

“Tueri et regere digneris custodierit illam, ne forte hac nocte angelus supra quaero ab omnibus caeli tereretur.”

Still, a prayer never hurt anyone.