Gem of a Different Cut

Prologue: Davenhill Gains an Heir

  Queen Follette huffed and huffed as she felt the many beads of sweat run down her forehead and face, some getting into her eyes, blurring her vision. She squeezed her hand until it was stark white, and her husband, King Tomaad, winced in pain and tried to calm her down with soothing words, asking a nurse to quickly bring more water for his beloved.

  "It'll be over soon, your high - " the royal physician started, but was interrupted by the Queen.

  "Just get it out of me!!" She shouted, her chest heaving with both deep and shallow breaths as she gripped her linens with a hold that no one could ever hope to break. The King looked sheepishly at the physician, who, in return, waved him off. He was used to the fury of women in labor.

  "Just a few more pushes, highness." He said calmly. "It'll be over soon."

  The Queen tried her best to do as instructed, and within another 20 minutes, the physician was holding their infant.

  "Congrajulations," he said with a smile, looking at the King and Queen. "It's a beautiful princess." However, he looked confused - the child did not cry. He snapped at the baby's foot, and she jumped and started to cry. He sighed with relief, and quickly cleaned the princess off with gentle hands before handing the girl to her mother.

  Queen Follete searched her new baby's face with admiration and love. She held her close, smelling her head and giving it a light kiss. King Tomaad watched his wife and new daughter and fell in love with the magnificent scene before him.

  He reached out and timidly touched his daughter's soft head.

  "She's perfect, Foll." He smiled at his Queen, who wholeheartedly agreed with him. "What shall be her name?"

  "I was thinking maybe Elta, but seeing her now, I know that she's supposed to be my little princess Genevieve." She answered, a small tear coming to her slightly bloodshot eyes. The King hugged his two beautiful girls.

  "It's perfect, Foll." He said, kissing her tear away lovingly. "Princess Genevieve." He echoed softly, feeling the name roll off his tongue.

  Across the Kingdom, another woman was giving birth. A woman of beautiful dark skin pushed and pushed until she heard the cries of her newborn. Sweating buckets, she looked, relieved, at her husband. The nurse cleaned off the child and congradulated the couple as she handed the little girl to the mother. She had greying black hair, and he face was kind and spotted with black freckles. She gave off a warm, trusting, somewhat tired feeling to those who met her. She smiled, revealing a gap between her two front teeth. Her husband, a tall, lanky man, who's eyes has also seen some trying times. His nearly all-white, tightly-curled hair had begun thinning at the top, and he wore round, slightly rusted spectacles. The mother, Lotola, smiled down at her new daughter.

  "She's perfect, Valnir. What do you think her name shall be?" Latola asked her husband. He thought for a moment before answering.

  "Dureese."