When Shadow meets Light

Chapter 1 - The child of the Shadow

"Get away from me!" Theia's voice roared through the palace halls. "Don't you fucking touch me!"

She dragged herself into the corner of the room, her nightdress painting a trail of blood across the polished floors.

The nurses scrambled, their faces pale with fear. "Theia, please! You have to let us help you!"

Gripping the velvet curtains, she pulled with all her might, her body convulsing in pain. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. A massive eruption of wind and lightning tore through the room, shaking the castle walls and sending shockwaves into the night sky.

The nurses staggered backward, their eyes wide with disbelief at the power unleashed before them.

"If we don't get that monster out of her now," the maester whispered to her father, "the whole castle will collapse."

Llanzo Lox Loras, towering and rigid with fury, glared down at his daughter as she writhed in agony. "Cut it out of her," he snarled.

"Llanzo, it will kill her," Abisai, his wife, pleaded, clutching his arm.

He shook her off. "Sit down, Abisai. It's her or this entire family. Hasn't she shamed us enough?"

The maester gestured to the midwives, who cautiously approached Theia with a gleaming blade.

"No! No, no, no!" Theia begged, her voice raw with desperation. "Father, please! No!"

Her screams echoed as they held her arms and legs down. The maester lifted her blood-soaked garments, and the blade hovered over her quivering belly.

Outside the door, her siblings huddled together, flinching at her cries.

"Is Theia going to die?" whispered little Cedella, clutching Ajani's sleeve.

Femi, the second eldest, knelt to Cedella's height, her expression hard. "Theia has done something very, very bad, Ceddi. The gods are punishing her for it."

"I don't want her to die!" Cedella wailed, tears streaking her face.

"If it's the gods' will—"

"Enough, Femi," Ajani snapped, his jaw clenched. "Theia is strong. She won't die."

"Theia is weak," Femi shot back coldly. "And she's a traitor to this family. She must suffer for this."

Ajani spun on her with a glare sharp as steel. "Go to your room. Now."

"But—"

"Femi! Don't anger me. Go to your room!"

Reluctantly, Femi turned and disappeared into the shadows of the hall.

Inside the room, the knife tore through Theia's skin. Her screams grew hoarse as consciousness ebbed and flowed, waves of agony pulling her under again and again.

"I can't watch this." Llanzo stormed out into the corridor, joining his children.

Labor dragged on for forty-five grueling minutes. The midwives struggled to reach the child, their faces slick with sweat. Abisai pushed past them, kneeling beside her daughter.

"Theia," she said softly, her voice steady despite the chaos. "If you don't stop fighting, your baby will die."

Theia's tear-streaked face turned toward her mother. "Please, Mom. Don't let them take him away from me. Please."

Abisai cupped her face. "The gods will take him back if you don't let us help. You must trust me."

Theia inhaled sharply, steadying herself through the pain. Her trembling body relaxed against the pillows. Abisai took the blade, her hands unflinching. With precision, she deepened the incision. Blood spilled, warm and unrelenting. Abisai rolled her sleeves up and plunged her hands into the wound, pulling free the squalling infant.