Benders: Web of Lies

Third Time

Cinwe smiled at her husband, taking his hand in his and holding it tight. Her slender build and high cheekbones made her a beautiful woman, with honey blonde hair and dark eyes.

"I will be all right," she said, her voice soft and languid. "If I can tame you, I can carry any child of ours." Her eyes sparkled.

"But you look so pale," Thranduil argued, looking with concern at his wife's pale cheeks. His free hand felt Cinwe's round belly, large and protruding with pregnancy.

Cinwe patted her husband's hand. "Well, the baby is due to come in no less then a week, you know."

"Perhaps you should stay in bed and rest," Thranduil suggested. "So short a time . . . it cannot be good for you to be on your feet."

His wife looked appalled. "Valar, no! If I have stood on my feet from the beginning, I intend to until the end! I am not as weak as all that, Thrandy."

A smile spread across Thranduil's face. He leaned forward to kiss his wife on the lips before he sat down on the low bench behind her. The bench stood on soft grass, under a stand of oak trees off the path leading back to the palace. It was a short walk and the warm air and bright sun made it irresistible.

Cinwe sat down beside Thranduil, her loose gown rippling, and one hand on her belly. Thranduil looked up at the sky, full of the many worries of a soon parent to be.

"Now, Thrandy, there is no need to worry," Cinwe said. "The baby is strong and healthy within me, and my body is supple. I am sure there will be no trouble. The Healers will take good care of me, when the time comes."

Thranduil pushed a lock of hair out of his face. "If you are not worried, I will try to control my feelings."

Cinwe sat back with a small smile, remembering the stir of excitement the announcement of her pregnancy had created in Mirkwood. Naturally, the elves were eager to see who Thranduil's heir would be.

Thranduil stood up. "I dare say we should return to the palace now. The time for dinner nears."

Cinwe placed a hand on her husband's arm as she drew herself to her feet. She walked slowly on the return journey to the palace. Thranduil matched her pace. It took twenty minutes to reach the palace, twenty minutes spent in the silence of unspoken love.

The guards outside the entrance nodded a greeting, casting curious looks at the Queen. Cinwe nodded and smiled before she continued her slow pace to the dining hall. She sat down with a small sigh in the padded armchair at the small table. Thranduil sat opposite her.

"We will need a bigger table soon," Cinwe said, her hand on her belly, and the thought of her child gleaming in her eyes. "After all, this table is for two."

Thranduil smiled. "The woodworkers are already working on it." He turned his head as two servants entered the room holding trays of food. He started to speak a greeting but the words froze on his lips as he heard his wife gasp. He sprang to his feet as Cinwe said, her face going a shade paler, "I think it is time . . ."

"Fetch the healers!" Thranduil screamed, giving one of the servants a shove. The tray of food crashed to the ground as the elf departed at a run.

Cinwe reached for her husband's hand and squeezed it tight, smiling with some force. "I will be all right, Thranduil. We women are made to bare this—oh." She let out a small moan.

Thranduil bit his lip as two elves entered the room carrying a stretcher between them. Cinwe allowed herself to be lifted onto it and carried away. Thranduil followed close behind her.

"Please wait here."

Thranduil stared at the elf standing before him. She was dressed in a healer's robe. "But my wife—"

"Your wife is fine, hir nin," the woman said firmly. "But it is best you stay outside of the birthing chamber while the midwives help her deliver."

Thranduil frowned, not at all pleased with the idea. But the woman remained firm and at last Thranduil allowed himself to be shoved into a seat outside the birthing chamber. He buried his face in his hands and waited.

The shriek of a newborn elfling sent Thranduil flying to his feet. He opened the door to the birthing chamber, entering the room beyond. A bundle wrapped in white was put into his arms by a smiling elleth.

Thranduil cradled the baby to his chest, looking down at the big blue eyes of his son. As he looked up to see his wife, one of the midwives let out a shriek. "There is another one coming!"

The elleth dashed away from Thranduil, leaving him to hold his son as the baby began to try out his lungs, wailing lustily. Thranduil rocked the boy, hoping to keep him quiet. The baby quieted as he continued to be rocked.

The elleth returned with another tiny bundle. "My lord, it is with great pleasure that I announce the birth of twins." She started to hand him the second bundle, wide smile on her face, but from behind her a quiet voice said, "There is a third child coming."

Thranduil caught his second son in an embrace as the elleth rushed back to Cinwe with a small exclamation. The baby gurgled, looking up at him with big eyes. Thranduil smiled, forgetting to wonder about the surprise of having triplets. He watched the head midwife hand his third child to one of her apprentices with a small sigh, but his arms were full with two babies and he could not possibly manage a third.

The elleth turned her head toward Thranduil with a small smile. "It is not very day triplets are born, my lord. You should be proud." She wiped a hand across her forehead.

"I am no more proud to be a father of one than I am three," Thranduil said.

"Quadruplets, my lord," said the midwife as she produced a forth child.

The head midwife put out a hand to steady herself, touching a hand to her brow. "What can the valar be thinking? Four children?"

Cinwe raised herself up on the pillows, holding out her arms to Thranduil. "I do not know how I can feed them all but I better start now or they will be hungry. Give me the ones that came first."

Thranduil deposited the two elflings in his arms to his wife and, as she nestled them to her breasts, he turned to take the other two from the woman holding them. As for the head midwife, he noticed her calm demeanor looked rather frazzled.

OoOoOoO

Cinwe lay in her bed, propped up against pillows, her hair in two braids, a baby clasped in each arm to her breast. The other two elflings lay beside her, asleep. Her eyes were shining and her cheeks were rosy as she smiled at Thranduil sitting on the edge of the bed, gently stroking the soft cheek of his closest son.

"One thing is for sure," Thranduil said thoughtfully, looking up to meet the eyes of his wife, "They will be a handful to raise."

Cinwe waved her hand. "But it will be fun. We will do it together. Now, what will be a handful is picking out names for them."

"Now that will be fun," Thranduil said, brightening. "What will we call them?"