Hardly a Lady

XIV

Confinement was excruciatingly boring.

Every day was the same; Giselle would wake up, lie in bed for an hour or two and then she would rise to have a warm bath. Next one of her ladies would dress her in a simple cotton dress and a silk robe that tied just over her stomach, and her hair would usually be styled into a simple braid. Then she would eat her breakfast and write some letters, and the rest of the morning would be spent playing cards or painting. Then, after lunch (which usually involved a plate of macaroons courtesy of Andra) Giselle would watch as her ladies danced or sung for her, all the time pretending that the sound of Fausella's screeching wasn't hurting her ears. Then she would read a book, followed occasionally by a visit from either the Queen, Serrena or her husband, and then finally after dinner she would take another bath and go to bed.

After a month of the same repetition, Giselle was bored stiff. Her patience wore thin with all of her ladies - even Kendra - as each day without any sign of the baby passed. The doctors came to examine her when it reached a month since the evening of the ball, and confirmed that everything was perfectly normal with the prince; he was merely taking his time.

On the other side, Ash rarely left Giselle's side nowadays, announcing that he needed to be close to the princess and the baby when he came at all times, which of course was something that even in her heightened emotional state Giselle couldn't complain about. A bed had been set up for him outside Giselle's bedroom door (much to Lady Tressema's objection) and each night he slept on the hard wooden frame, his sword lying at his side and his dagger beneath the pillow. In one of the few moments they stole alone, Ash promised his beloved that nobody would get anywhere near her or the baby so long as he was around, and he would always be around to protect her.

Giselle spent 6 weeks in total in her chambers before she felt the first twinges of labour. She had been sat in her dining room - as she did every day - curled up on a window seat when she felt her large stomach tighten. She held her breathe suddenly, wondering if she had imagined it, and neither Elsa, Ash, Kendra or Lady Tressema looked up. Giselle paused for a few moments, frowning as she set down her book and waited to see if the twinge had been anything more than the stomach cramps she sometimes got.

Then, there was another, and this time it was more profound and painful. Giselle intook her breath sharply and reached for her stomach, gritting her teeth together as the pain intensified and then dulled. "Your highness!" Lady Tressema exclaimed, rushing to Giselle's side instantly. She grabbed Giselle's arm to support her as Giselle slowly rose to her feet, her knees shaking. Ash jumped up also, reaching out to help Giselle stay upright.

Suddenly, Giselle felt a warm trickle down the inside of her leg, and it didn't go unnoticed by Lady Tressema. "She's going into labour!" she shrieked, with more excitement and energy than any of them had exhibited for the past month. "Captain, carry her upstairs to her bed, Elsa, fetch some towels and the midwife, Kendra, alert his highness the Prince, the King and the Queen of this news! And if you see Allina, Fausella and Blair along the way - where have those girls gotten to? - then tell them they are to return swiftly and with all possible haste to her highness' chambers. Go!"

Giselle groaned as she felt another contraction, and gently Ash lifted her off of her feet, holding her easily in his arms as he carried her towards the stairs. Lady Tressema ran ahead, removing her extravagant headress and rolling her sleeves up to her elbows as she went, since she had boasted that she had practiced in midwifery and intended to be fully involved with the birth of Giselle's son.

"It hurts," Giselle groaned into Ash's neck. "Hush now," Ash whispered in reply, his tone soft and loving, "this will all be over soon."

They reached the top of the stairs and entered Giselle's bed chamber, where Lady Tressema hurriedly tossed the pillows and expensive bed covers off of the bed and onto the floor. Ash gently laid Giselle down on the bed and smoothed her forehead when he knew Lady Tressema wasn't looking. Giselle forced a smile for him despite the pain, which quickly turned into a grimace as there was another contraction.