Slippery and light in colour but healthy and heavy.
Repositioning the tiny bundle, I focused my lissa on him. I forced away the fluid in his nostrils and mouth until he spit it up, and almost instantly, he let out a massive cry. Eena and Father had already taken care of tying off and cutting the young’s cord while I watched. Father then turned Mother so she was sitting on her behind. She was both crying and laughing as Father had his face buried in her neck, mesmerised by her as he always was but even more so after she just birthed another of his offspring. I was beaming happily as my lissa searched for any sign of the young being unwell or injured, but there was none. I adjusted him in my arms as my eyes moved to between his legs, and I instantly froze.
“Ezah, what is it?” Mother suddenly demanded, seeing me halt my movement. “Is he well?”
I looked up at her and found her eyes. Father, Kol, and Eena all had their gaze trained on me. They saw my wide-eyed expression, and without a word, I shuffled forward on my knees and placed my new sibling on my mother’s chest and said, “Look.”
Everyone looked at where I pointed, and Mother instantly gasped, Father gaped, Eena began crying, and Kol tipped his head back and roared. I joined him, and Father followed suit.
“A female,” Mother whispered. “She is a female.”
“Faya,” Father rasped, pressing his head to hers. “You’ve given us a daughter. We have a princess.”
I couldn’t believe it, and neither did anyone else.
“I don’t understand. My readings and those of other healers sensed a male. How could a healer’s lissa have been fooled?”
“Maybe Thanas wanted to surprise us?” Mother suggested, sniffling. “She has so surprised us.”
“Tradition continues,” I said, feeling emotional. “She will birth the next Revered Father.”
“Thanas blesses us,” Kol said.
Mother began to weep as she cradled my newborn sister. I moved up beside her, then waited for Eena to prepare the cloths between Mother’s legs. When everything was in place, I placed my hands on her stomach and proceeded to clear her body of the afterbirth. I dimmed out any blue lights I could see, and I removed as much of the swelling from her uterus as I could. By the time I was finished, Mother’s stomach was less than half the size it was moments ago.
I opened my eyes and removed my hands from Mother’s body.
“That”—Kol blinked—“was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I watched her stomach shrink!”
Mother, Father, and Eena laughed. They had seen it done after every one of Mother’s births. It was not surprising for them like it was for us. Neeba, the Royal Healer, was no longer in the room when I glanced around. I stood and put out a call to my brothers.
Come to Mother and Father’s wing, I said. Mother has birthed our new sibling.
Is Mother well? Ryla replied first. Was the birth an easy one?
She is well, but it was a very difficult birth. She called on the strength of Thanas to get through it.
My response was on the open channel I shared with my brothers, so once they heard it, I practically felt them as they rushed in the direction of the palace. Kol and I tried to help Eena and more servants who arrived to clean up the birthing space, but she whacked at us to go and be with our parents. We listened to her because Eena scared us a little when she got mad.
Father had lifted Mother and our sister out of the room and brought them down to their bed chamber without any of us noticing. Kol and I followed, and we hovered outside of the chamber, not sure if we should enter or not. We decided to give them some time alone with our sister as parents, so we both sat down on the gold floors with our back pressed against the white marble walls. I didn’t realise how tired I was until I allowed my body to relax.
“You did well,” Kol praised. “I watched your face as you focused your lissa. It looked hard.”
“It was very hard.” I exhaled. “Remember when I told you that when I see pain or illness, I see it in colour?”
“Yes, baja,” Kol answered. “Blue is pain, red is a blood sickness, purple is a mind sickness, orange is an organ sickness, green is a bone sickness, brown is nerve and artery sickness, and pink is a broken or damaged bone. I remember.”
“And yellow is pregnancy,” I reminded.
“Right.”
“Well, inside Mother’s body, I saw millions of beaming blue lights. I have never seen so many before, not ever. I was chasing them around to put them out, but they always lit back up brighter than before.”
Kol swallowed. “Birthing is very hard on a female.”
“Very,” I agreed. “We must be kinder to every single female we meet. We could not survive the pain they experience during birth. Not at all. Thanas has made them life bearers for a reason. They are stronger than us.”
Kol nodded as he digested my words. I knew he was trying to imagine what I saw when I used my lissa, but it was hard for anyone who was not a healer to understand. I could not project the images of what I saw when I used my lissa. It was like it protected itself from anyone else seeing what was only for the mind’s eye of a healer.
My sons, Father’s voice filled my head. Come inside.
Kol and I got to our feet and entered our parents’ bed chamber. I beamed when I saw Mother. She looked freshly bathed with her white hair hanging loosely over one shoulder. She was sitting upright on the left side of the bed with her furs tucked around her as she cradled my sister, who was feeding.
“You look beautiful.” I told her. “Like a vision.”
Mother beamed. “I have you to thank for healing my body. I would still be in pain if not for you, my son.”
Father nodded as he put his arms around our shoulders. He was shorter than me but not by much.
“Do you want to know her name?”
Kol and I looked at Father and said, “Yes,” in unison.
“Surkah,” Mother answered with a smile. “The Elders say it was a glowing white plant on the old world. One would only have to look at it to be entranced by its beauty.”
“It is a fitting name,” I said. “She is a beauty. Our Surkah.”
Mother smiled, and even though she was no longer in physical pain, I couldn’t do anything to take away the exhaustion she felt. Her body would need a few terms for the swelling that I couldn’t reduce to subside naturally before it would revert to normal. Only plenty of rest would do that.
“Where is our new brother?”
We all looked towards the open door. Ryla’s booming voice filled the chamber as he and my other brothers entered our parents’ wing. I shook my head as they filed one by one into the bed chamber.
“Brother?” Mother looked at each of my brothers with a smile. “Don’t you mean your new sister?”
Each of my brothers’ expressions was hilarious. The shock each of them felt was washed onto their faces and made Kol and me laugh. Ryla was the first to go to our mother. He dipped his head and ran his nose up the bridge of hers and placed a kiss between her eyes. The mate kiss made Father rumble with approval.
“You have saved me from a very difficult job, little one,” Ryla said to our sister, making our father snort with amusement. Ryla turned to him and gave him a firm hug.