Orhan

For a moment the stallion experienced a surge of exhilaration. There was nothing wrong; Arcana was merely in labor. Their second child would be here soon. His mind swirled with this information and made him feel pleasantly faint.

"Please stay with me," Arcana pleaded, but before Orhan could promise that he would not leave her side, her voice contorted into a cry of pain. All at once his excitement was gone. He watched with a sick feeling in his stomach as she dropped to the ground, her swollen belly heaving with convulsions and shallow breaths. She was still wet and bloody from their earlier struggle, and looked so helpless lying there on the wet sand. Quite suddenly he became afraid for her: afraid that she was not strong enough to make it through this.

His blood rushed in his ears as he stood guard over Arcana, standing so close that their legs were nearly entwined. For the most part, he kept his eyes averted from the horror that was the translucent sac emerging from her. He had never witnessed childbirth before, and found that it was absolutely terrifying to watch, so instead he remained at her head, alternating between keeping a keen eye on their surroundings and lowering his head to touch her cheek and whisper quiet reassurances.

At some point, he found that he was on his knees. Each beastly groan of pain that came from Arcana was more and more unbearable to hear, to the point where he closed his eyes and prayed to his mother's goddess not to take Arcana away from him. It was all he could do. Childbirth was no enemy he could fight; it was no tangible evil he could chase away. He could only wait, and hope that if the goddess was real, that she heard him.

The birth may not have taken long, but to Orhan it felt like an eternity. By the time Arcana stood, he was shaking with anxiety and his coat was frothing with sweat. He scrambled to his feet and took several steps back to gauge the situation, almost in disbelief that it was finally over, and that the love of his life had survived to produce another foal. Through dazed eyes he observed the small heap on the ground that was their child. Arcana was cleaning it, and as her tongue washed away the film of afterbirth Orhan saw that they had produced another daughter.

And she was strong. To his disbelief she was already attempting to stand, her tiny, lithe body swaying to and fro atop her stick-thin legs, but never toppling over. Her eyes were dark like her mother's, and her coat was a rich brown marred with large areas of white creeping up her legs and spreading across her back. Her tiny black tuft of a tail was speckled with white, and a tiny snip gleamed at them on the tip of her nose. The more Orhan looked at her, the more striking she was, until his vision blurred with tears and he could hardly see her any more.

So much had happened to them in such a short amount of time, and Orhan was overwhelmed. Silently, he stepped forward and pressed against Arcana, burying his face into her bloody fur and letting loose a choking sob.