at him, which gave him a moment's concern, until he felt her energy and the intense wave of emotion the words had caused. She reached to stroke the bristles on his unshaven face and twisted further, so to kiss him.
'Love you too.'
I fell into a deep, content sleep, wrapped in Alek's arms. It was very late, or early, when an oddly familiar voice penetrated my subconscious.
'Majesties'?'
I mumbled, 'What?'
Which must have woken Alek, as he shot out of bed and was crouched and ready in an instant.
Still groggy brained, I realized in astonishment that he held a short sword.
Where the heck had that come from?
'Who's there?' he barked out.
'It's Nnelg,' came the nervous response. We both let out a sigh of relief.
'Nnelg? What's wrong?'
'Citaan's in labor, you need to come now! Elena and Yakov are asking for you.'
After his exciting announcement Nnelg vanished as Alek and I scrambled for the wardrobe. Still pretty much brain dead, I managed to get my shirt on backwards while trying to dress.
'Why are they asking for us?' I asked, while struggling to get the shirt right.
'I expect Gredel needs company, and I'm sure Citaan will want you there.' Alek, already dressed came over and untangled me.
'Also, I promised Gredel at his wedding that I'd be Orrantor to any children he has.'
As soon as I was dressed, Alek grabbed my hand and we headed to the courtyard where Loushka and the other griffons waited.
'Orrantor?'
He smiled at me as we hurried along.
'It means guardian or alternate parent. It's an honor to be asked. Oh, and it means, as my betrothed, you're an Orrantor too.'
Okay. I nodded agreeably while my brain worked on catching up with it all. Sounds like a godparent, I can handle that. We arrived in the courtyard at the same time as the others. Alek gave me a leg-up onto Loushka's back, then leaped on.
'Excited, Cat?'
'Half asleep, truth be told. I'm sure I will be by the time we get there.'
Loushka chuckled and pushed off.
We landed at Gredel and Citaan's Estate around twenty minutes later and were met by a flustered Gredel.
'I'm so glad you're here, come on.' He rushed us into the house.
When we reached Citaan's room it was crowded with her sisters and mother, as well as Elena and Leseach. The men all milled around outside the door, peeking cautiously into the room.
Alek didn't hesitate to walk in and went straight to the bed, giving Citaan a gentle hug and kiss on the cheek.
'How are you?'
She smiled up at him, her eyes tired and paused as another contraction hit. Flickers of pain moved over her face; she breathed out in relief when it passed.
'I'm fine, it's going well. Can you please take Gredel away and distract him? This could take awhile, and he's driving me mad.'
All the women in the room chuckled, and Alek nodded.
'Of course, let us know when it's time.'
He walked out the room, winking to Cat on the way. Closing the door, Alek turned to the other men. Gredel was pasty with an obvious sheen; it looked like a drink wouldn't go a miss.
'Soon to be a father.' He squeezed Gredel's shoulder and turned him away from Citaan's door, walking toward the kitchen.
'I think that calls for a drink.'
Citaan's brother and father led the way, the other men following.
'But, but.' Gredel tried to twist back and Sabyn grabbed his other shoulder, steering him straight while Rumal spoke.
'Not to worry, friend, they'll let us know when it's time. These things can take a while.'
In Citaan's room it was dark and glow lamps in each corner offered just enough light to see by. We clustered around the four poster bed, jamming up on the wide, low step that jutted out of either side. The sheer blue curtains were tied back and Citaan sat, propped up by a pile of pillows that her sisters took turns plumping. Citaan, even with all the fussing going on, seemed mostly oblivious to it. Her lovely gold eyes were distant and a faint smile danced on her lips.
We would all pause in the midst of chatting to encourage her through the contractions. Leseach moved around the room as she prepared things. Elena had explained, once she saw our surprise at seeing the Northerner there, that Leseach was a respected midwife.
'Is there anything you don't do?' Loi asked, half-joking.
The Northerner smiled a brief lift at the corners of her mouth.
'It's very common for Northerner's to be midwifes.'
'Even with the shield training?' Sian asked curiously.