"Varkas..."
Varkas immediately crossed to the bedside and bent over her.
Talia desperately wrapped herself around his sweat-soaked neck.
Through tear-blurred vision, she could vaguely make out his disheveled face.
"Help me, Varkas... Please help me... It hurts so much."
At her tearful plea, the arm wrapped around her tightened with unmistakable force.
Holding her so tightly she could scarcely breathe, Varkas looked sharply toward the priestess.
"What's happening?"
"The birth canal is opening normally. However... the baby still isn't descending..."
Another fierce contraction gripped her abdomen.
All sound instantly faded into the distance.
Whimpering weakly, Talia clawed desperately at the thick, durable fabric wrapped around Varkas's solid body.
It felt as though the lower half of her body were being crushed alive.
"Your Highness, you have to push now. You must push the baby out!"
Talia shook her head frantically.
No.
I can't.
I'm scared.
It hurts.
It hurts so much.
She looked up at Varkas as though pleading for rescue.
Again and again, she gazed at him as though simply clinging to him would make everything right.
Through her tear-filled vision, his face looked paler than she had ever seen it before.
That face, white as carved plaster, lowered until it hovered just above hers.
"It's all right, Talia. It's all right... Don't cry."
With hands gone cold from tension, he gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.
His voice was unnaturally low.
Talia's face twisted.
It's not all right.
Nothing is all right.
And yet...
If he said it was...
She wanted to believe him.