Ian clicked his tongue " Looks like the baby has decided to come a lot sooner!" he casually commented while making his way to the stove, peeking into the pots and pans on it to look for food.
" Iris is hungry! is there anything she could eat right now?" he politely asked while fumbling through the cupboards in the kitchen.
" The food will be ready soon, and she can have a fruit and some bread in the meantime!" Rhya replied while taking the freshly baked bread and cutting a few slices for Iris.
Iris smiled " Thank you, Rhya!" she said while sitting down and picking up fruit from the bowl.
Rhya nodded and smiled, taking a seat in front of her at the table, studying Iris, wondering how this could even happen.
She was aware that sithrians pregnancies progressed faster than any other kind, but this was a different kind of sort.
" I wonder, what is different about you?" she voiced her thoughts out loud, determined to solve the mystery.
Iris smiled " Nothing! Maybe because I'm the chosen Queen!" she guessed while eating the last bit of bread.
Rhya clicked her tongue " Maybe, but you're not the first Queen to have a child!" she retorted, confident in her knowledge while tapping her fingers together.
Iris smiled again, and she knew from Seth that she was different, but he had failed to explain how and since Ian almost turned into an angel of death, he seemed to have gone silent.
" I don't know, Rhya; so many things do not make sense anymore; I stopped wondering!" she lied with a smile, carefully wording what she said since Rhya could tell when someone wasn't being truthful.
"Hmm, interesting! Are you sure?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes at Iris, who kept a blank expression and looked into her eyes.
" Yes!" she firmly stated while getting up from the chair and walking out of the kitchen without Ian.
" She is a bit on edge today!" he explained with a charming smile, following iris.
Iris sat in the corridor with her back against the wall, lightly panting, feeling heartbroken that she had lied to the people that stuck by her and came back to serve her, although they could've stayed and live their lives like she never existed.
Ian halted his footsteps and watched Iris break down one piece at a time; he knew that she felt guilty lying to them, but if Seth was right and they had betrayed before, they most likely will do it again.
Ian let out a heavy sigh and made his way to Iris, stopping in front of her and waiting for her to say something.
Iris absently stared at the floor; tears fell down her cheeks, and she felt disenheartened because of what she had to do in order to follow a plan that only Seth knew.
" It will be alright!" those were the only words that he could utter in his attempt to make her feel better.
Iris lifted her head to look at him " It doesn't feel that way!" she replied in a glum tone while pushed herself off the wall and left Ian standing there looking at the floor.
Iris slowly opened the door, and made her way to bed and crashed on it, feeling exausted already and the day wasn't even half way through.
She sat on the bed staring at the ceiling, trying to put her thoughts together. Everything kept coming back like a boomerang, and now she couldn't find the strength to fight anymore.
Although Ian was by her side, this was her battle and losing wasn't an option; if she lost this time against the witch, there would be no more chances.She was sure that the witch would end her and what was left of kind the first chance she got.
Exhaustion quickly took over Iris's body and she fell asleep sprawled in the middle of the bed, on her back.
Ian walked in the with a tray of food for her, only to find her soundly asleep.He placed the tray of food onto the table, shifted her in bed and lay next to he snuggling close to her.
Ian closed his eyes, and couldn't help but worry about her, since the quiet life he wanted with her seemed further away now than ever before.
As his thoughts went over and over again, on how to get what he wanted, he finally feel asleep still unable to come up with a plan that didn't involve sacrificing himself or Iris in order to defeat the witch and the guardian.
The day passed, the sun went down and in the end the moon rose in the sky, shining its gentle rays over the Fiahthyr Forest and the castle were the five sithrian have found safe haven.
A sudden a heart wrenching scream broke through the quietness in the castle, waking Ian and the others.
Ian jumped in the bed a the sudden scream only to find Iris crouched on the floor, covered and sweat and tears, panting breathlessly.
The others burst through the door as if the castle was on fire only to be greeted by the same scene as Ian.
Athan looked at Ian who was frozen in his spot, staring at Iris looking terrified at the events unfolding in front of him.
Rhya gathered that the baby was coming and was the first one come out of her shocked state, and grabbed Athan by the shoulders " Get warm water and towels!" Rhya instructed, lightly shaking him to snap out of musings.
Seeing that he wasn't moving Rhya did the only thing, she knew might help, and slapped Athan, making him whine at the sudden pain, and with a guilty look on his face, even though he had done anything wrong.
" Get warm water and towels, lots of towels!" said Rhya again a little annoyed that she had to repeat herself in a time like this.
Athan finally moved and went to the bathroom and came back, with all the towels that he could find and threw them on the bed, dashing out of the room and came back with warm water in a jug.
" We need more!" Rhya barked feeling annoyed at the lack of common sense on his part, making Athan dissappear from the room before Rhya starts again to bark orders at him again.
Iris groaned in pain, crouched on the floor holding on to her belly, feeling her body at the breaking point. She hoped that this would be over soon because the pain that she felt was unbearable even for her and she could endure a lot of pain.
Ian cursed himself and for the first time since he had met her, felt responsible for the pain she was feeling. In that moment he wished he could take her pain away or at least share some of it.
Tyla was just as shocked as Ian, at the sudden arrival of the baby and still couldn't bring herself to believe how quickly things progressed. Something didn't feel right, and she knew there would be a price to pay sooner rather than later.
" I need your help to get her on the bed!" Rhya's voice broke through his muddled thoughts and brought him back to the reality in front of him.
Ian nodded and lowered him to get Iris off the floor when she grabbed his hand and Ian fell next to her grunting in pain, feeling his body about to split open.
Ian panted heavily and lifted his head to look at Iris who screamed again and squeezed his hand even harder, while Ian crouched on the floor next to her, every muscle in his body felt like it was ripped apart one piece at a time.
Iris gasped for air, when another sharp pain shot through her lower belly and let out another scream, feeling her body breaking and being put together again.
Ian mustered an ounce of strength and slowly pulled himself up and picked Iris and sat on the bed with her in his lap, looking down at her pained expressions, and hoped that sharing her pain with him would help.
Both groaned in pain with every single contraction that Iris felt, while Ian did his best to comfort in between contraction, the pain that she was feeling was unbearable even for him.
His dream of having a big family with Iris shattered into a million pieces, when he decided that he didn't want to see her suffering this way just to have what he wanted.
" I'm sorry!" he wispered in a shaky voice while kissing her forehead and carresing her cheek.
Iris smile " It will be alright!" she replied in a pained voice while she suddenly curled up in the pain and screamed again letting go of Ian hand hugging her belly.
Ian looked at his empty hand,and felt the pain suddenly fade away from his body while her screams got louder and more heartbreaking.
Ian place his hands on her belly, and gasped for air when the sudden pained hit him tenfold compared to what he felt before, while Iris stopped screaming heavily heaving for air.
Rhya sat at the end of the bed, and waited for the baby's head to appear but by what she guessed, it would take a while before that happens.
Iris whimpered and grunted along with Ian, feeling drained and exausted, by the relentless pain.
Ian caved in and crouched next to Iris, determined to stay by her side no matter what.
Night turned into day, and again night came along again, gone unnoticed by the five people in the room, who were solely focused on the couple who bearly looked alive after almost 2 days of sitting on the bed suffering in tremendous pain.
Iris sat on the bed when a she felt a sudden urge to stand and find water.
She pulled herself of the bed shaking, feeling that every single bone her body wasn't bone anymore they felt soft and at the breaking point.
Feeling her getting up from the bed Ian opened his eye, using the last bit of strength he had left in him and helped Iris go the bathroom, where she lowered herself in the pool along with him.
Iris looked at Ian, his pained expression was heartbreaking for her and she knew that he felt the same about her.
Iris mustered a small smile " He is coming!!" she uttered in a spent voice,while Ian gasped when he felt another jolt of pain hit him in the stomach while Iris screamed feeling her body split.
With their attention focused on the birth, and they minds clouded because of the endless pain, they failed to notice what was happening with the water as the baby began to finally make his presence known.
The others just sat in the door, and gaped at the pool that now slowly changing colour and flames blazed on the surface.
Iris felt the urge to push and pushed as hard as ahe could between screams, growling and grunting, the baby finally was born.
Iris pulled the baby out of the burning water, completely taken by the sight in front of her and cradled him in her arms.
Ian finally sighed in relief when he felt the pain slip out of his body as if it was never there and looked at Iris, who looked ravishing.
Ian caresed her cheek with a trembling hand " You are so beautiful!" he uttered in a spent voice and rested his head on her shoulder and looked at the baby.
Iris smiled " Thank you for my gift!" she softly said while resting her head on his.
" Our gift to each other!" he replied while pushing his finger in the baby's hand, that seemed to refuse to open his eyes.
" Yes, our gift to each other!" she agreed while letting out a content sighing.
" What are we going to name him!" Ian asked while caressing the baby's fingers with his thumb.
" Ian!" she said in a soft voice.
Ian softly chuckled " How about Arin?" he questioned while lifting his head to look at her.
Iris smiled " We don't have to decide right now!" she replied while pacing a kiss on his lips.
' I'm guessing that's 'no'!" he whispered against her lips; she smiled and she kissed him again.