The dirty and damp walls and floor smelled pungent till it stirred a person's insides to make them gag. The rats and lizards roamed cohabiting with the inmates of the dark place.
Only a small window allowed the fresh air from outside to enter this hell. The noises of the whirling wind and the crying clouds could be clearly heard even from this underground place.
The guards kept pacing in the hallway while glaring now and then at a man who sat on the said dirty floor in minimal clothes. The chillness in the air increased, and now, the guards also took refuge near the brightly burning torches to gain some warmth.
But he sat on the dirty and cold floor with his legs folded in the knees. His ankles and wrists were chained tight enough yet allowed him to move them.
His golden-brown hair was sticky and covered with blood sweat, and something else that kept the floor and the stone walls always damp. They smelled awful, and so did his body.
His tan skin was covered with black and purple bruises. Some of them bleed, while some were more painful only without blood oozing out of them. He was covered in sweat even on this chilly night.
It was not because he felt hot, but because he was burning in the fire of vengeance. The wounds on his body did not pain him as much as the scars of betrayal did.
His brown hair covered his face partially, giving him that lethal appearance. And his big green eyes... they were trying to murder someone with just a look.
A bolt of lightning struck loudly in the dark sky that sent goosebumps down his matted skin. His exterior was calm, but his insides churned and twisted in turbulence painfully and helplessly.
A pair of legs stopped outside his cell. Then, he heard the sound of the opening of the metal door that was covered in bars. The brown shoes came into his vision.
"Gerald, it is time!" The man informed.
Gerald did not move his head. He sat still. "I know."
His voice came raspy after days of torture and silence. The only time he opened his mouth was to beg or scream after a punishment.
Punishment for what he thought was his right as a human and a crime in the world's eyes.
"The situation is very delicate, Gerald. Lord Longhurst is very tensed. We can not predict what he is planning to do. They have summoned old mother and a priest." The man who worked for Ralph Longhurst and had developed sympathy for Gerald filled him with whatever information he had.
"The priest?" Gerald finally lifted his head to look at the man in the uniform.
"Yes. I do not know why but I do not get a good feeling about it." The man confessed.
Gerald paused for a brief moment, then asked, "Is he the priest from the old church?"
"Yes."
Gerald sucked a deep breath, for he realised for what reason Lord Ralph might have summoned the priest. If he was worried before, then he was restless now.
"Be strong, Gerald. You know what is written in your destiny and I hope that you have accepted it by now." The man said, only to continue with an apologetic tone.
"I wish I could do something for you!"
With that said, the man went out of the cell, leaving Gerald alone in the middle of nowhere. Gerald scoffed at the man's last words.
He could not do anything. Gerald could not do anything to save himself or change the course of events. He tried, and yes he did.
But now that he looked back at his choices, he contemplated if they were right or wrong. The arrival of the priest did not settle well with him.
The time had slipped from his hands, and now all he was left with was regret and rage. Only God could change the things for better!
*
*
*
The old woman wiped the wailing woman's body with a dampened cloth. She was chanting prayers and ordering the maid to assist her.
"Mother, My Lady is having fever. What should we do now?" The maid was on the verge of breaking into tears.
"This fever is not a good sign. If it continued to rise then she can pass out and then it will complicate the situation. We need her awake till she delivers the baby." The old woman changed the cloth with the colder one on the woman's forehead.
"The labor has started for hours now. How long it will take for the baby to come out?" The maid was frustrated seeing her mistress withering in pain.
"It is not in our hands child. Only the almighty, decides when a soul enters this mortal world and when it should leave for the further journey in another realm. We are only expected to play our roles wisely in his world."
The maid wished that the almighty show some mercy on her mistress and do some miracle. But mother nature has never changed her rules for anyone, and she will not change them no matter what!
"Listen my child, you have to be awake. If you sleep then the baby's life will be in a critical situation." The old woman said to the wailing young woman.
Her eyes fought back against the force that pressed her eyelids closed. Her foggy vision turned blurry, with dark patches dancing in front of her eyes. The pain in her abdomen had increased ten folds, and she thought it might be the last night of her life.
"Do you understand me?" The old woman asked.
The young woman only made some grunting sound between her screams that the old woman took as a sign of affirmation.
The time was passing fast and nature outside became as impatient as the people gathered in the one secluded corner of the palace.
The old priest finally opened his eyes, his pupils hard and focused on nothingness.
"Father?" Ralph tried to gain his attention.
The priest slowly looked towards the room in which Ralph's daughter was. Her screams filled with agony cut through her parents' hearts.
"The time has come, My Lord."
Another thunder shook Warthford Island, and they heard the sound of collapsing of a large tree somewhere not too far away.
"Father!" Cordelia was on the verge of losing her mind. As a mother, she was expected to be by her daughter's side, when she needed her the most.
But Cordelia's misfortune did not allow her. Her daughter, angry at her parents, had told them not to come anywhere near her. She wanted to bore it all alone. Yet, she was not the only one miserable in the palace.
Gerald counted the numbers in his head, waiting desperately for the right time. His ears were eager to hear the news.
"Come here. Do as I show." The old woman called the maid. She showed her what to do, and the maid breathed in before doing the same.
The old lady wiped the sweat from the young woman's face.
"Do you hear me, child?" She asked.
The woman moved her head in a yes.
"Can you put some pressure downwards?"
Ralph's daughter was exhausted. However, she kept her efforts. If she failed, then she would fail two more lives.
She grunted loudly, as she applied some pressure downwards. The old woman pressed her hands on the woman's swollen belly.
"Good... good. Do it again." She urged.
"Mother... mother... I can see something." The maid exclaimed in partial excitement and partial panic.
The old woman looked down in between the young woman's legs to see a small round peeking out of the entrance of the woman.
"It is baby's head!"
"The almighty has begun his game, My Lord." The priest said, still looking at the room.
Cordelia clutched her husband's hands in worry.
"Push some more, child. Push with all your energy." The old woman encouraged.
Ralph's daughter screamed at the top of her lungs. The maid smiled when the baby's head peeked out some more. But the young woman was tired. Her efforts came short, and she cried in frustration.
"I... I can not!" She breathed out.
"No child. You can... please do not stop. Keep pushing. Come on." The old woman tried her best to keep Ralph's daughter awake.
"This is not a bad weather. This is the sign of what the future holds." The priest then looked out at the storm through the window.
Ralph and Cordelia shared a worried look.
"This is the sign of her arrival. She has begun her journey in this mortal world." The priest announced.
After prompting for more minutes, the young woman gathered all her courage and pushed for one more time.
"Mother... the head is out!" The maid shrieked in excitement.
Taking charge from the maid, the old woman adjusted herself. With her well-experienced hands, she held onto the head, and after applying enough force, she slowly pulled the baby out as the young woman kept pushing with her eyes clenched tightly.
The last scream mixed with a gasp left the woman's widely opened mouth. Her eyes bulged out of the eye sockets. The old woman raised holding a bundle of muscles that was covered in blood in her wrinkly hands, its umbilical cord still attached to the mother.
The old woman heaved a sigh of relief, and the maid could not control her tears when the woman revealed that it was a GIRL!