Get me out of here!

[Willow]

Nicholas, summoned by our young kitchen helper, entered Willow's room. His eyes scanned the mess, finally coming to rest upon his beloved, sleeping while sitting against the wall. She was escaping into sleep too much, he thought. He began to straighten up the room, finally picking Willow up and laying her on the bed. Her eyes opened as she began to stir. Seeing Nicholas sitting on the edge of her bed, she murmured, "How long have you been here?"

Stroking the hand that wore his ring, Nicholas replied, "Not too long, my love. How are you feeling?" "Tired, so tired." "Willow, darling, I know you have been under tremendous stress lately. But, we need to talk."

Sitting up carefully, with Nicholas tucking pillows behind her head, Willow looked at Nicholas with eyes that almost appeared lifeless. He took a deep breath and began. "Willow, the baby will be born in less than 3 months. We need to discus our plans for marriage. I would like to marry you before our baby comes. We need to ensure his or her place as my heir." Willow looked at Nicholas. There was no doubt that he was right, but she didn't have the desire or the energy to plan a wedding now. "Nicholas, you know I love you. I have always loved you and always will love you. But I don't feel that this is the right time for us to marry. My best friend is gone, and our King is missing and perhaps dead. These times are so uncertain right now. I know that Arconia is in turmoil. Perhaps we need to wait and marry when things are not in so much upheaval."

A brief flash of anger and disappointment crossed Nicholas' handsome face, but quickly left. He knew that Willow would bring these things up. "Willow, if you were not carrying my child, I would have no problem agreeing with you. We would wait for our marriage then. But my baby is growing inside you now. You know that we must marry so that this child can inherit Marsteria one day. We don't have to have an elaborate wedding. We just need to quietly go and get married." "Nicholas, I just can't right now! The Queen is having to deal with all kinds of trouble in the kingdom. I can't add to it right now!" "Why would our getting married be trouble, Willow? I just don't understand why you don't want to marry me." "Nicholas, I DO want to marry you. I want to be your wife and have your children. I want that more than anything. But now just isn't a good time." "When will it BE a good time, Willow?"

At this moment, the door to Willow's room was thrown open with great force, hitting the wall behind it. Standing in the door was a beautiful woman with striking black hair and eyes so blue they looked like sapphires. Willow just stared at the vision in the doorway, hardly daring to believe her eyes. "Mother?," she asked.

[Willow]

There, standing in the doorway, was none other than Lady Olivia Giles, adoptive mother of Lady Willow Giles. Lady Olivia's eyes took in the scene before her. Her daughter, pale, wan, and very obviously pregnant, was laying in the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed next to her was Prince Nicholas of Marsteria, whom Lady Olivia had not seen since he was a child. Upon her entrance into the room, Nicholas rose and bowed to her. Her sapphire eyes blazing, Lady Olivia said to Nicholas, "Get out. I will deal with you later. Right now, I have to talk with my daughter."

Nicholas, being a fine man, well in tune to the emotions of certain women, lost no time in hurrying from the room. Lady Olivia shut the door and sat on the bed, reaching for her daughter's hand. "That fool of a Brother Emmanuel has told us quite a tale. I have come to you to hear the truth."

Nicholas paced the hallway outside Willow's room. He could hear the murmer of voices from within. First Willow, then her mother, and so on. People came and went in the hallway, watching Nicholas pacing, glancing at the door, as if trying to imagine what was happening within the room. Even Queen Zelda came through, patting Nicholas' arm in encouragement. About an hour passed. Nicholas had made his 350th round around the hallway when he suddenly stopped short at the sight of someone coming around the corner. Someone hurrying at a great pace. Could it be? Was it really?

Yes, it was. It was the Queen of Schoolcraftia, and she did not look as if she were in a good mood. Spying Prince Nicholas, she stopped. "Do I know you? You look very familiar," she asked. "Yes, Your Majesty. It is I, Prince Nicholas, of Marsteria." "Ah, yes, I thought you looked familiar. Where is the Lady Willow Giles? I must see her immediately." Nicholas gestured towards the closed door, saying, "That is her room. However, she is indisposed at the moment. Shall we go downstairs and I will see that you get some refreshments?"

Ignoring Nicholas, the Queen rushed to the door, throwing it open, as it had been previously thrown little more than an hour before. Willow, on seeing who was at the door, shrank back into her pillows. Her mother, Lady Olivia, stood and curtsied to the Queen. "Your Majesty, my daughter and I are discussing the events of the past several months. May I please have a bit more time alone with her?"

The Queen of Schoolcraftia rushed at Willow, pushing past Lady Olivia, and grasped at Willow's shoulders with her strong hands. She began to shake Willow, screaming at her, "How could you let my daughter die like that! I TRUSTED you! How COULD YOU?!?!" <img src="graemlins/evil3.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil]" />

[Zelda]

Zelda while waiting for someone to find latenight, had decided to wander the castle corridors. She had not changed her type of attaire since having the meeting with the citzens of Arconia. She was barefoot and wearing a light cream tunic and soft leather breeches. Her hair was caught up in an untidy pony and she carried a small knife in her belt.

In the wing which used to be Moontic's and was still inhabitated by Willow and Nicholas she found Nicholas pacing outside WIllows room. She heard voices inside and thought that Willow may be seeing the mid wife about her impending birth. Not wanting to interrupt she patted Nicholas on the arm and kept walking.

As she walked she ran into a tall, regal woman rushing in the other direction.

"I'm sorry..." Zelda apologized as she caught the lady as she fell.

"Severents are not what they used to be...." the woman muttered and headed off down the hall. The queen shook her head and turned around to follow the womans direction with her eyes. It certainly wasnt one of her ladies in waiting and she knew all the other ladies in waiting by sight, if not by the smell of perfume which preceded most of them.

"Something is not right..." the queen thought and hot footed it back the way the lady had headed. She passed Nicholas looking slightly bewildered and found the woman standing in Willows doorway screaming....

"Is something the matter?" Zelda enquired, stepping around the lady in the doorway and finding another strange woman sitting next to Willow.....

[ 11-27-2001: Message edited by: Zelda ]</p>

[Willow]

It took Nicholas, Zelda, and Lady Olivia all working together to get the Queen of Schoolcraftia to release Willow. Willow, crying and gasping for breath, sank back onto her pillows. She had known that this confrontation was going to happen. It had only been a matter of time. "Your Majesty, you must realize that I did everything I could to prevent Princess Buffy from jumping off the cliff. You should know that I would never want anything bad to happen to her."

Stumbling to the chair next to Willow's bed, the Queen sat down, putting her face in her hands. Queen Zelda came over to her and touched her shoulder. "You should know that your daughter made her own decision, tragic though it was. None of us could have prevented it from occuring." Lady Olivia, lady in waiting to the Queen of Schoolcraftia, fell at the Queen's feet, and taking both of her hands in hers, told the Queen, "My Queen, have you ever known my daughter to be less than faithful and loyal to yours? Willow has been telling me the circumstances that led up to Princess Buffy's decision to leap off the cliff. If you would just let Willow tell you what happened, you would realize the truth. Brother Emmanuel told you a half-truth, as usual."

For a moment, it appeared that the Queen would relent and listen to Willow. She opened her mouth as if to speak. Then, she firmly shut her mouth, and with anger flashing in her eyes, said to Willow, "Why didn't you die with my child? It was your place to go after her, if you could not prevent this! Look at you, laying there, unmarried and pregnant by God knows who. You would apparently rather ***** around than protect my child." Before anyone could say anything or react, she slapped Willow hard across the face.

Nicholas stepped between Willow and the Queen, furious that she would dare to lay a hand on his beloved. "For your information, Willow is engaged to me and the child is mine. Willow is not now, nor has ever been a *****. You have no right to treat her this way. She did everything she possibly could to protect your daughter. She also is as hurt as you are that Buffy jumped from the cliff. You once treated Willow as your own child. Don't let your hurt destroy your soul now."

The Queen of Schoolcraftia backed up a step, looking at Prince Nicholas. Brother Emmanuel had failed to mention him by name. He had simply told her that Willow was with someone that she had known a long time ago. She had never thought it was with a Prince of Marsteria. His words had made some sense to her, however. She turned and looked at Willow. "I know that you would never intentionally let my daughter die. However, it happened while she was under your protection. I thought you were strong enough to protect her!"

Willow, easing her way carefully out of her bed, despite her mother and Nicholas' protests, walked over to the Queen of her former country, the mother of her best friend. Zelda watched from the sidelines, not knowing whether to interfere or not. Taking the Queen's hand in hers, she began to cry. The Queen wound up taking Willow into her arms, crying herself. The contact was electrical. Suddenly, Willow's eyes rolled back in her head. "The Princess is alive somewhere!"

As everyone looked shocked, Willow suddenly came to herself, moaning. Sinking to the floor, she said, "The baby!" Zelda went running out the door, screaming for someone to get the Midwife and Dr. Abernathy.

[Willow]

Queen Joslyn of Schoolcraftia, Queen Zelda of Arconia, Prince Nicholas of Marsteria and Lady Oliva of Schoolcraftia waited anxiously outside Lady Willow's room as Dr. Abernathy and the Midwife attended to Willow. Lady Olivia was crying, worried about her daughter. Nicholas was terrified that if Willow lost the baby, it would be the last straw. She would never recover from the strain of the last several months. Queen Joslyn flinched at every scream and moan that drifted out into the hallway from Willow's room.

Inside the room, that atmosphere was very strained. "The baby can't come," Willow moaned, "it's not time, yet. I have almost 3 more months to go." Dr. Abernathy looked at Willow carefully over his glasses. "I have a theory. I think that you are having contractions because of all the stress that you are under. Perhaps if we can get you to relax and get some rest, the contractions will stop. With your permission, I would like to give you some herbs that will put you to sleep for the next day. Perhaps if you are asleep and resting, then we can stop you from having the baby too early."

Willow, in the midst of a horribly painful contraction, nodded her head. "Do whatever you have to. I beg you to stop the baby from coming now. I'll take whatever you give me." Dr. Abernathy turned to the Midwife. He asked her to bring him several herbs from his bag, and he rang for a kettle of boiling water. Placing the herbs into a cup, he poured the water over them, steeping them for several minutes. Taking the brew over to Willow, he helped her sip it down.

Grimacing over the bitter taste, Willow began to feel very drowsy. Holding her belly in her hands, Willow barely had time to say to the baby within, "Please, stay inside....wait and come when it's the right time," before she slid into a deep sleep. The doctor and midwife took turns checking Willow's belly, seeing if the contractions would begin to stop. Dr. Abernathy paid careful attention to Willow's breathing, also, to make sure that he had not given her too much medication. As the hours passed, they never left Willow's side.

The next morning, a very weary Dr. Abernathy and Midwife Cruff left Willow's room. They were immediately pounced on by several equally exhausted people in the hallway who were anxious to hear news about the woman and child whom they all loved. Looking into the worried eyes surrounding him, Dr. Abernathy smiled. "Willow and the baby are fine right now. She will sleep another 12 hours or so. I tried something new on her and it seems to have worked. The contractions have stopped and Willow is resting comfortably."

Lady Olivia burst into fresh tears, grabbing onto Nicholas. Nicholas had tears in his eyes, as well. The two Queens looked so relieved at the news. The group had managed to really talk about what had happened over the past several months. Understandings had been come to, misunderstandings had been cleared up. Now, at this good news, everyone felt overwhelming happiness in the face of the overwhelming tragedy that had befallen them.

Dr. Abernathy knew that he had to warn the group, however. "Lady Willow is not totally out of the woods, yet. She must not have ANY stress and turmoil for as long as it takes her to have this baby. When she wakes up, she needs to rest and perhaps stay in bed until it's time to deliver the baby. I need to know that none of you are going to upset her or cause her grief now."

[Zelda]

Zelda grinned at Abernathys directive.

"Julius....you know we wouldnt do it delibrately....but Willow has a tendency to take things on."

"I know my Queen, but we have to prevent it."

"Short of putting an armed guard outside her door I dont think we can!" the queen replied.

Lady Oliva and the Queen of Schoolcraftia (does she have a name??) stood thunderstruck at this woman. She was dressed like a man, yet the Doctor called her Queen, as did Willow. They couldnt quite put it all together, or know what to make of her.

Thankfully at that moment a serving boy called Harold Weasly ran up to the Queen to tell her that Latenight was somewhere in town and would be with her shortly.

[Lord Tellurine]

A worn-out and tired Dr. Abernathy started on his way home. Morning in Arconia was always beautiful and Aberthany sleepily took it all in as he made the journey. He contemplated all of the recent emergency trips to the royal residence and said to himself, "I have GOT to get a place closer to the castle..."

[ed. note] I've got gigs out of town for the next few days so feel free to use my dozens of characters as you feel fit!

[Iwant2bafencer]

A few minutes later two queens, a prince, and a mother stood outside of Willows door. Not really wanting to move away.
Rosaline ,turning the corner with Latenight, examined the group very closely. It seemed that everyone had been crying . . . even Nicholas. She was bewildered at this, but desided not to inquire on it for a little while.
Latenight, and Rosaline stood ackwardly waiting for the conversation to slow, but it never did.
Eventualy Rosaline cleared her throat to get their attention.
Queen Zelda along with everyone else turned to see who had interupted them.

"My Queen?
"Yes?" Two women asked at the same time. Rosaline glanced at the second woman in confusment.
"Oh, she's talking to me." Zelda said to the woman.
"Of course! How silly of me!" She laughed in reply.
Rosaline shook her head.
"er Sir Latenight, as you asked for."
"Oh Yes! Latenight I have a few things to discuse with you."

Rosaline stepped to Nicholas, and turning from the two strange women (to her that is.). Whispered in his ear.
"Who are these women?"
Nicholas laughed. "Oh of course! Where are my manors? Lady Rosaline this is Lady Olivia, and the Queen of Schoolcraftia. Ladies this is Lady Rosaline head of the Arconian Military."

Rosaline inclined her head to Lady Olivia, and bowed to the Queen.
"Head of the Military? How interesting." Lady Olivia replied. "How did you come about your position?"
Rosaline smiled at the slight shock from the two women.
"Well, . . .it's kind of a long story, but to sum it up. Just really hard work, and dedication." she replied.
"hmmm well I'm glad to hear that it is a women behind the military for once." The queen of Schoolcraftia laughed. (Yes, I think this queen needs a name!)
"and you seem to know Prince Nicholas." Lady Olivia noted.
"Yes, I was traveling through his kingdom, our paths crossed, and he became my 'director' I guess you could say." She said smiling at her friend.
"Director? In what?"
"Oh, I tought her to fight with her fists. It seemed that she was already skilled in the sword. So I desided to give her a little side advantage." Nicholas replied.
The group chatted for a few more minutes, and then it wandered to many small conversations.

-----------------
Carpe Diem

[lochinvar]

[Ed. note: the Queen of Schoolcraftia HAS a name--her name is Joslyn. Read Willow's post three or four before this one.]

[ 11-28-2001: Message edited by: lochinvar ]</p>

[Willow]

Willow slept almost as one dead. Her sleep was deep and it was heavy, dreamless for hours. Queen Joslyn, Lady Olivia and Nicholas all stayed by her side, wanting to insure themselves that she and the baby were fine. Queen Joslyn desperately wanted to know what Willow meant when she had said, "The Princess is alive." Did this mean her daughter was alive somewhere? Was there hope?

As the hours passed, Willow began to slowly emerge from sleep. She began to dream. In this dream, she saw two young children playing together. There was a little girl with sparkling green eyes and auburn hair, and a young boy with big hazel eyes and dark blonde hair. The two seemed inseperable, holding hands as they ran through the garden. It seemed that Willow knew both children. Who were they? The dream began to slip away.

Willow slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. It was sometime during the night. She could make out the forms of her mother, Queen Joslyn and Nicholas, sleeping in chairs around her bed. She reached down to feel her belly, relieved to feel the kick of the baby within. She had not lost the baby. For this, she was extremely grateful. Her eyes closed and she fell back asleep.

<img src="graemlins/freak4.gif" border="0" alt="[Freak2]" />

[Swordsman]

Nothing stressful for another twelve hours? Here in Arconia? Yeah, right...

[Willow]

Willow was getting a bit sick and tired of having to stay in bed. No one would even let her FOOT touch the ground. Her mother, Lady Olivia, and fiance, Prince Nicholas, hovered and smothered with love until Willow thought she was going to go mad. Would it hurt her to at least go and sit in the window and look out at the gardens? Queen Joslyn was making up for the way she had treated Willow when she first arrived by going into the kitchen and cooking nourishing meals for her. The kitchen staff were NOT amused. They didn't like someone invading their territory. Also, the Queen wasn't the best cook in the world, so the staff feared for Willow and the unborn child. However, even they could tell that much love was put into every mess the Queen prepared.

Willow knew that something was going to have to be done. She couldn't be kept in this bed for another 3 months. She would lose her mind before then. Perhaps, just perhaps, a distraction would be needed. Hmmmmm. What should she do? Willow smiled. She knew what she could do to get out of this bed.