She leans against Hototo's tree, as though seeking some comfort from her absentee friend through this, the birth of her sin. "Fuck," she moans against the pain, her breath rising in a sea of embers that flutters and fades in the black of night. She has labored since dusk and it is now nearly dawn; sweat beads on her copper brow, soaking silver mane and stinging onyx eyes. Her jaw hurts from clenching her teeth, her sides hurt, her flanks hurt, the small of her back hurts - everything is pain, so much more so than the last time she bore a child, so much more so than anything she has faced before. It is tempting to quit, to let them die in her womb, and she with them, to bury this shame at the bottom of the sea, but of course she does not. It is not the babies' fault for their conception. It is not their fault for her weakness.
At least they will not be alone. Not far away her brother stands alert, his small body tense and tired as he waits, sending encouragement through their bond. He is the guard of two perfect eggs, both round and porcelain, both containing an unhatched bond. She discovered them not far from here, and together the pair dragged the nest to the Veins. The Fire Dancer knows she will not love her children as well as she ought; there is some comfort, then, in knowing someone else will.
The clouds are lined with silver, and the beginning of light has appeared in the east, when the first of her children comes. She winces and cries out against the pressure, dark eyes pushed tight against each other - but in the end she comes out easily, sliding silently onto the ground, her small body dark and wet and, of course, winged. Despite her trepidation the copper child breathes a sigh, the slightest hint of warmth returning to her gaze. She gets to work cleaning the first while waiting for the second, who is decidedly disinterested in leaving the comfort of her mother's womb. "Neaera," she dubs her oldest daughter wearily, her lips pressed against a flaxen forelock, "Please tell your twin it's time to come out."
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