The Prophesied Blood Ties

It would have made sense for the most important night of all- the night fate and magic twisted together in the bonds of time and sealed the fate of the world- it would have made sense for that night to be marked with a special...something. Anything to mark it as a day outside of the usual- something to make it stand out amongst the blur of all the other inconsequential days.

You'd have thought it'd be remarkable.

And it was- but not for reasons one would have come to expect. It wasn't particularity foggy that night, or clear, or cold, or rainy, nor did it have any of the other signs one comes to expect from such a destined night. In fact, had the king not been away at the borders, the night wouldn't have been unexceptional at all. Well, until the births.

The physician stood over the bed they laid on, his wrinkled hands slowly setting the damp cloths he'd just used to clean the fluids from them on the table at the beds head, his ocean eyes unable to tear away, entranced with the small saviors on the bed before him.

Such big destinies for such small, beautiful people.

Their mother's hideous wailing cut into his consciousness, replanting him in the present.

"My Queen- please, you will only damage yourself, be still."

The Physician's sister's voice drifted softly across the room, her gentle murmur hardly more than a whisper above the queen's screams. The Physician glanced over the princes to ensure their safety, though at their mere minutes old they were months away from mischievous movements. Then he turned away from them and to his sister standing over the Queen, looking helpless, as she writhed and screamed, sobbing in anguish beneath her.

The Physician shuffled over to them, laying a hand on his sister's shoulder in comfort. She turned to him, meadow green eyes, burning with confusion, seared into his calm-before-the-storm-blue and they conveyed the silent sort of messages only eyes of close loved ones can convey.

The Physician let his hand fall and his sister slipped back behind him to attend to the princes. He stepped up to her side, looking down at her. The comforting peace and the youthful, bubbly excitement that had coursed through his blood a few moments ago, filling his creaky bones with energy and his aged mind with clarity and purpose, all of the wonderful, awakening emotions the sight of the saviors had brought to him- flooded out of him at the sight of their mother, leaving him feeling depleted and empty.

Her sunshine hair lay splayed out on the pillow, her hands twisting and clawing at the sheets draped over to preserve her modesty as she curled in on herself, erupting with a loud, hideous sobs and hysterical nonsense.

"Your Highness, what is wrong? I don't understand- your sons are healthy-" At the words 'sons' she let out a terrible, ugly cry.

"I have born him demons! Uther!- my poor Uther! I have born him demons!" She let out an animal scream and curled in on herself.

Had the Physician been any less accustomed to dealing with her fits, he might have let the shock of surprise at her words show, but he knew better.

The stories. She believes the stories.

"My Queen, I can assure you, those myths have no founding. There has been no proof that multiple births mean that one is possessed... when the King gets home-" The Physician began, meaning to placate her, to tell her her husband would confirm his testament.

But instead the Queen bolted upright- her sheets sliding down to her middle, revealing the scantily covering birthing gown. But she took no notice, instead her dark eyes locked on his, looking wild and crazed.

"He's not home..." She breathed heavily, her eyes no longer seemed quite so wild. There was a hint of control behind the hysterics- making them seem beyond crazed, beyond crazy ... dangerous.