The girl lay on the bed and let out a long and painful moan.
She could feel life flowing out between her legs, hers and the baby's. She lay in this uncomfortable bed for four hours, and might stay there for another four, or perhaps never get up. At this moment she thought this would be the scariest moment of her life, but it would soon be replaced by a new fear. She began to understand people's fears. After Bridge got up from her in a panic that day and carried her home and then to the hospital, and finally her father sent her here, she realized that her future was inseparable from fear.
"He is too young," said the nun. "I saw the back." Not the head.
Normal children will have their heads down so that their mothers can bring them into the world smoothly. This child was different... He was born more than two weeks early, and there was no father accompanying him outside the door. He should feel resentful. Who made her come here alone, with nothing but her child. But this child, while giving her companionship, also reminded her day and night that this was why she was sent here.
Maybe after a few seconds, she felt weaker, her senses suddenly blurred, and a part of her was unusually awake. Determined to save her life, the nun sent the two girls to get the pliers. She heard her prayer: "Gaia is here...I really hope Dean...I will get you some glass grass...you are bleeding..." A voice seemed to whisper on her cheek.
"Put him on the goose down cushion." She also heard herself saying, "Please, the bed is too cold." This was almost her lifelong plea. The bed was so cold, and the sun and the stove were a world away from her. Let her child lie in bed, and he will die soon.
She was answered by chaotic shouts outside the door, followed by the echo of the bell. She lowered her head, struggling in sweat and blood. She realized she hadn't shed tears yet, and it looked like she might be able to hold on for a while. The kind-hearted Sister Delia who was responsible for delivering the baby asked her to hold her robe and kept trying to move the baby's position. With Drea's help, her child is less likely to die.
Delea looked out the window uneasily. "Why haven't they come back yet?" As soon as he finished speaking, the two girls broke in through the door. One of them held steel tongs, and the other carried a large ball of glass grass in his apron. When the nun saw them, she was immediately furious with them: "Anka! Go get another pot of hot water. What's the use of giving me a bunch of weeds?" Even the mother on the delivery bed knew that glass grass needs to be soaked in hot water. is effective.
The steel tongs had been sterilized by fire, but she still wasn't sure if they were clean. She wanted steel burnt by holy fire to touch the baby's skin, but the children of sinners do not deserve blessings. Soon, Sister Delea clamped the child's head with steel clamps and dragged him out of the mother's warm womb.
The reddish liquid spread all over the mattress, and the linen sucked it clean. She could barely feel the entire process, the pain blocking most of her sensations. Sister Delia handed the baby to the girl Anka and gave her a large amount of hot glasswort tea, but the blood continued to flow, making the remaining girl cry in fright.
"Sister Delia, Manet is dying. Am I going to die too?" The girl's name is Ciatta, and she will also give birth in one month. The first time she entered the delivery room, she saw such a difficult delivery, and now her legs are still shaking.
"She will not die, God will bless her." The nun replied, looking a little unnatural.
He won't. The mother bleeding in the delivery bed thought. I betrayed the goddess and committed the sin of sexual immorality. The goddess would not forgive me, let alone bless me. If He really exists, I only hope that He can forgive my child... Little Aiken is just a baby, and he cannot choose his parents.
The bell outside the window rang three times to indicate that distinguished guests had entered the monastery. Sister Delia left in a hurry, ordering Anka and Siatta to give the young mother some decoction. The newborn's cries were silent, and were almost as loud as silk amid the vast tolling of bells. The chaos in the delivery room subsided quickly, just like the chaos in the yard earlier. Siata blew a cup of tea and was about to put it into the mouth of Manet, who was nearly unconscious...
A golden shadow suddenly rushed in and knocked over Seattle's cup.
"!"
Four girls screamed in the room. The baby could not open its eyes yet, and was crying harmoniously in its swaddling clothes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry -" The little lion head has never seen the scene after giving birth, and she is even more at a loss than Siata now. "what should I do?"
Anka hugged the baby and cried out in despair. Siata cried so hard that she knelt on the ground and begged Roma not to eat her. She talked incoherently about children and God, completely forgetting Sister Delia's instructions.
"Two idiots." The girls' reaction made Roma regain some confidence. But her eyes never left the blood-stained delivery bed. Fortunately, she did not leave. "What's wrong with this woman?" The blood was still flowing, but no one answered. Roma had no choice but to grab the water cup, scoop out a cup full of fishy-smelling medicinal tea and feed it to Manet, and the blood flow became less. After a while, the newborn's mother was out of danger. Aiken also settled down, and Anka placed the child on his mother's chest.
Roma forgot her original intention, she was completely attracted to the baby. If mortals are considered unclean and mysterious creatures are considered clean, then the existence of the newborn has brought about a change in her definition of uncleanness. She decided to stay a little longer, since the coordinates of Iron Claw City didn't matter anyway.
"Who are you?" Anka asked.
Roma raised a finger to her lips. The weak mother was about to fall asleep. "Has no one here seen the Lion Man?" she complained softly.
Anka shook his head. "There are only humans here. And I heard that the lion people are the enemies of humans. They captured the fortress in the west of the kingdom a hundred years ago."
"That's not a lion man. My tribe lives on the southeastern grasslands of Binyaio. They are crazy to go so far."
When Manet woke up again, Sister Drea was by her son's side. There seemed to be many people in the room, all girls she had never seen before. One of them was dressed very differently from the other girls in pure white linen. She had dazzling blond hair and was only older than the newborn. This little man is holding my baby. Manet was very uneasy.
"Who are you?" She hugged the baby and stared at the inhuman features above the girl's head. Unlike Anka and Siata, Manai has seen many inhuman races... Her hometown is a place where mysterious creatures love to go. The least common of these are elves, but not mercenary archers without pointy ears.
But this is Gaia's monastery and a place for unwed mothers. After she became pregnant, her father sent her to church, but kicked her lover out of the house. It was too cold at the convent in Winnivas, so the nuns in charge of the girls packed them into the Crusaders' ranks and transported them together via shuttle stations to the north, thousands of miles away from home. If the place here is still not enough, she may be sent further away... In any case, it will be impossible to see her family, her hometown, and the man who gave her love and sin.
"Everyone asks that," the blonde girl said.
"She is Miss Roma Penelope," Sister Drea told her.
"She is still a lion." Anka added.
Lion man. Manai couldn't help but look at her. There was a legend of werewolves in my hometown. In terms of appearance, the difference between the two is not very big. "What are you doing here, Miss Penelope?"
"I have to take care of little Aiken." Roma replied.
Manet glanced at Sister Delia in confusion. She seemed to have heard this reason for the first time. At this moment, she opened her mouth in surprise, and the wrinkles on her face increased.
Roma didn't care what they thought. "I like him and I want to take care of him," she announced loudly. It was as if she was telling the adults that she was going to play house. "I also saved you, Manet, with glass grass." This was true, Siata blushed.
Sister Drea whispered in her ear: "This child sneaked in, and Mother Barnza couldn't see her. I guess she is a mysterious creature. Do you know what a mysterious creature is, Manet?"
Of course, but to her, it didn't matter. "Will she hurt Aiken?"
"In my opinion, no one loves babies more than her. You slept for six hours, Anka and Siata went back to rest, and she is the only one who is still here looking at little Aiken." Sister Delea Patting his chest, "I found out about this later... If she wanted to hurt anyone during this period, no one could stop her."
So Roma stayed in the monastery. Sister Delia first hid her in Manet's room, and after the stipulated six-day puerperium was over, she let Roma hide in the attic of the shared dormitory. The little lion head seems to be no smarter than human children, and both Manet and Sister Delia are willing to join her. Gradually, Manet was willing to talk to them about Bridge and her family, even if the topic was unpleasant.
Until one day, Dean Barnza taught many girls to go to her room, including Manai. Manet came back crying, and Sister Delia comforted her and told her not to take other people's words to heart. To Roma, their conversations were full of mystery.
"I love him." Manai said tremblingly, "I want him to see Aiken. But my father doesn't have that much money, and my brother hasn't grown up yet. Gaia, I really miss them... "
"Can anyone come up with the cost?"
"Two people said yes. There was also a girl whose child was born unable to cry. Dean Barnza concluded that he had an intellectual problem and mercifully let her go."
"What did that woman say?" Roma couldn't help but ask. These days the little lion has seen the nun who runs the convent. She wears tight silk robes and has a stern smile and anger. But the other party turned a blind eye to her, which made Roma feel strange.
"She said that her sins were so heavy that she could no longer bear them, so the retribution was on her children. Now that her sins have been paid off, the merciful goddess will no longer punish her. Dean Barnza also returned the name to Got her."
In monasteries the names of sinners are kept secret. These girls become pregnant out of wedlock and have to bear the shame and keep it a secret throughout their lives to avoid bringing shame to their families and society. Manet is like this, and so is Anka and Siatta. They are nameless people in another sense and must live with loneliness throughout their lives.
Roma shuddered hearing this. She vaguely felt something was wrong, but she didn't know what was wrong. I'm so glad the Lions don't have such a tradition. "Then what was your original name, Manet?" Sister Delia also looked at her with concern.
"Dorothy," she answered.
