The Child Born of Women (A novel)

[Galadria]

All right, by request, I shall now post the first part (there are three) of my book The Child Born of Women. Part One is entitlled, "The Babe Born of Women." [img]smile.gif[/img] The previous novel about these characters is The Burned Drow

Well, if you want to tead Episode I, you'll just have to e-mail me. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-26-2002, 03:13 PM: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

*shudder* now I see what you meant by the title... great begining.. seems slightly "odd" tho... still... post more?

incest... uuugh... :| lol, still post more

[ 10-23-2002, 03:55 PM: Message edited by: Calaethis Dragonsbane ]

[Galadria]

Thanks, CD, don't worry, that's as odd as it gets. Some more.

This was made manifest two months later when Noemi again stole into Galadria's study. "Gal, we gotta talk," she whispered. Galadria, who was in a good mood that day, looked up at her pleasantly. Noemi, she noticed to her surprise, looked horribly worried.
She put down her quill. "Certainly, Em," she said cautiously. "What is it this time?"
Noemi, unlike her usual chipper self, was very serious. She sat down next to her sibling. "Gal, I just got back from the physician. I'm pregnant." She made a rueful face.
Galadria was concerned but puzzled. "Well, you don't seem too happy about it, so I'm sorry. But, don't worry, you can raise it right here. Strange, you always said that you would never have children, and here you are pregnant before any of us. Who's the father?"
"Well," Noemi replied with a curious expression on her face, "I don't know quite how to put this, but you are." Seeing the disbelief on her sister's face, she added. "No, really. I went to the diviner and had her cast its horoscope. She said that the father was tall, dark, and slender, and loved me very much." She got the ghost of her old impish expression on her face. "Besides, I haven't had sex with a man in well over a year. Do you know, the diviner advised me to tell 'him,' because 'he' loved me enough to marry me. I told her that you were already married, and she said what a pity that was, but that was what I got for fooling around with a married man.
"So, you cad, what are we going to do about this? Do you want me to visit the abortionist? Because, I tell you frankly, I'm scared, but, somehow, I don't want to. Anyway, I'll do what you say, 'cause you are the wisest of us all."
Galadria got a troubled look on her face and arose to get a book from the shelf. She opened it to a marked passage and read aloud:
"For, make no mistake, when divine essence calls to its like, it will not be denied, be the walls ever so high and the guards fierce and vigilant. The product of this union shall prosper, never mind all the world and heaven arrayed against it. The lord's two daughters shall witness a marvel the like the land has never seen. Woe be unto its foes, be they never so strong or well-meaning at first, they shall inevitably turn to evil at the last, and end the end, for naught."
She turned to her sister. "That," she whispered, "was the passage that I was reading the night that we...got you pregnant. This is no small matter for the abortionist. We must consult the goddess. Tonight, if the skies are clear, we must perform the Cremony of Tres. But first, let's go and talk to Chorania."
Chorania was the drow elf that served as their chaplain, maintaining the small altars to Tres, the Goddess of Female Wisdom, and Helm, the Vigilant God of Good. She was also a close friend and confidante of them both. As usual, they found her in the chapel, chanting a service to Helm. She was most faithful in these, as Helm had directly intervened once on her behalf, protecting her from the wrath of Lolth, the Spider Goddess of the Drow, whom she had once served and then renounced. They waited respectfully for the chant to end.
When she had completed the service, Chorania turned to them with a smile on her beautiful face. She was, like all drow, ebon-skinned with pure white hair, though her eyes were unusual, being dark purple instead of black. This had been noted with disapproval by her family, who had, often enough, accused her of not being "pure drow," and, indeed, she did not have the stereotypical drow viciousness, being kindly and humorous, which had gotten her exiled from the Underdark at a fairly early age. Galadria had befriended her long before and now was delighted that she chose to live with her, fairly safe from the surface world that generally hated her race.
"Good day to you, abbil," she addressed her Mistress, "and you, m'zint to." her nickname for Noemi. "What brings you to the chapel on this sunny day? Do you have sins to confess, so early on?"
Galadria answered her seriously. "Sin enough, perhaps, Cho. Sit down. I have a tale for you and I need your advice." She then told her of the night that she had ill-advisedly attempted to comfort Noemi, and what situation they now faced. Chorania listened intently, with none of her usual interjections. At last, when Galadria stopped, she considered a bit, then replied.
"Abbil, I do not think that sin can be described as an attempt, however misguided, to comfort your sister. As you know, Noemi has done me the honor of confiding that she wanted you in a physical sense, and I have often wondered at it, but never before have I thought that she might be under some compulsion. I should have thought that I would have sensed some force beyond her, but all I ever thought was that she was wholly devoted to you. Now, I wonder.

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

hmm, it gets interesting, its still a slightly disturbing concept, lol, anyway... [img]tongue.gif[/img] keep posting please

[Mouse]

Hmmmmm - far be it for me to try and curb the creative impulse, but looking at part one of this story, it may well be just the wrong side of PG13 for this Forum.

Personally, I've no problem with it, and I wish you well with your literary endeavours, but in future, you might consider posting the full text on another forum such as OUAP or on your own webpage and putting a link here with a content warning.

Please don't take my suggestion as a reflection on the merits of your pieces, but I would ask you to give it consideration.

[Galadria]

Point well-taken, Mousey. I have done so. Some more (no naughty bits, I promise) [img]tongue.gif[/img]

"What was it that....the man that we do not name did to her? She has often enough described the torments that she endured at his hands, but I have thought that some of the things were not simple sadism, but direct manipulation of her divine essence." Here she shot a sly look at Noemi. "Small enough as that soul might be."
Noemi almost smiled again. "Oh, Cho," she sighed, "be serious for once. My soul is apparantly big enough to have caused us a lot of trouble. How is it possible, do you think, that Gal impregnated me? All she did was touch me...down there. But we both had an intense orgasm, all at once."
Chorania took Galadria's hands and looked deeply at them. They were not pampered hands. The nails were short and untinted, the skin rather rough and stained in one place by some chemical. Two rings she had, one crudely worked mithril, carved with runes, the other more subtle, gold with an elaborate setting, but the stone seemed to be a common pebble. To the drow woman, they seemed to shine with a faint light that could only be seen when you looked slightly away.
She chuckled. "Just the touch of her hands, m'zint to? Little did you think what you were asking for. Did you never think that you sister, my Mistress' hands are not mere appendages for sticking food into her mouth? They are mighty wielders of magic. Small wonder that the mere touch of them to your generative area let loose the long yearning that you have held for her. What happened in that instant? Do you think that your love and need were able to reach inside of her to take a piece of her very soul? That is how it seems to me. For, you have your own magic, little enough that you apply yourself to it." She put her Mistress' hands back onto her lap, and patted them. "So, are we to ask the Goddess what to do? It seems fitting to me. But, I will hazard that the brat will be more than others her age." At their inquiring looks, she answered. "Of course it will be a girl. How else? Trust Chorania for this."

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

lol; erm, it looks good, just had a distribing though. [img]tongue.gif[/img] hehe, a) what are they gonna tell At, b) what are they gonna tell the child...

[Galadria]

You'll see. Read on.

The night, in the event, showed the stars handsomely. The three women , having cleared the men out of the house for the evening, gathered on the roof with Galadria's apprentice, Sefa, a curly-headed former street waif whose magical prowness was beginning to flower. Indeed, Sefa thought that she was ready to take a place in the Ceremony, but Galadria had judged the time unripe. She still stumbled on some of the more intricate chants, and the last thing that the dark mage wanted to do was to offend the Goddess at this critical juncture.
As usual, they all stripped naked and cleansed themselves. Chorania watched covertly as Noemi washed her sister's back. Was there just a suspicion of a bulge in her usually flat stomach? Maybe not. It was early days, yet. She allowed her gaze to wander over the nighttime panorama of Baldur's Gate, knowing that their nakedness was perfectly unapparant to any watching eyes. For, from the outside, the house appeared to be surmounted by an enormous dome of the same stone as the house, which was in reality a force field, impenetrable to any but the strongest magics and to no physical force whatsoever.
When they had finished, they seated themselves on the three curiously carved wooden stools arranged around to the altar of Tres, covered with a lovingly embroidered altar cloth with Her holy symbol surrounded by birds, flowers, and mystical symbols. They began the chants, weaving in and out with hymns of praise, thanks, and entreaty.
The goddess Tres, patron of female magics, was at once aware of them. The chants and the smell of incense conveyed to Her the supplicants' hopes, guesses, and fears, and she chose to answer them with a Manifestation.
To Her worshippers, there seemed to come a glow at the center of the altar, which became the head of an inhumanly beautiful woman. Though they surrounded the altar from different vantages, it seemed to each that the Goddess was regarding them, only.
"So, Galadria," the supernatural voice began, "the event that the Gods themselves have awaited has occured, but not as any of us anticipated. The grandchild of Gaetan, which was to have been yours, will be borne by Noemi. And, yet, it is yours, also. Ah, the irony is deep, and the laughter of those Gods and Goddesses friendly to you has rung down the halls of heaven.
"Know, child of Gaetan, that the moment has come, as was prophesied, for yours and Noemi's parentage to be revealed to you. Know also, that certain of the gods who are less than kindly disposed to you have been working for long to assure that it would never happen. Gaetan's grandchild, Galadria's child will now enter the stage of mortal life. Her name, it should be told to you, is Uriel. Her soul is as old as your own. Guard her well, for many hopes are residing in her.
"Noemi, I am particularly pleased with you. The love that you bear your sister is so great that it has managed to leap beyond the bounds of possibility to cause this miracle to be. I know that you are not ashamed of loving her, and so it should be. It is too great a thing to hide under a bushel. Continue to love her, for therein lies your salvation. No one loves you or will love you as much as she does. She has a husband, but I tell you now that you two are far more closely attuned, and so this has happened.
"Chorania, I leave you to third, but not because of unimporance. Your fate, too, is closely bound with this child. I must tell you that you are as central to Uriel attaining her destiny as any here. Your race has a longer life than these others, and you are relatively young for an elf. Remember that, and meditate upon it.
"And, finally, Sefa, do not think that I have not seen you here. I have a task for you, also. There will come a time when all seems lost, the dark will surround you, and only you can guide Uriel to safety. Remember this, and all may yet be well."
The Goddess ceased speaking, and seemed likely to disappear, but Galadria blurted out, "Mistress, tell me one thing. Gaetan is known to me only as a shadowy figure in the early stories of the Realms. What can You tell me about my father, and why He had mortal progeny?"
The beautiful lips seemed to smile. "Galadria, Gaetan is part and parcel of all magic. He supplies the beauty of it, the mystical and the eternal. He is my father, too, so I may bid you, for the first time, Hail!, mortal sibling! He hates the ugly part of magic, the crabbed sorcerer, the insane necromancer, the sacrifice, the torture. Blood on the grass at midnight is anathema to Him. Where did you think yours and Noemi's lovely magic comes from? But, about him no more is permitted to be said. The rest, I leave to your own researches. So, again, I bid you hail and farewell, sisters." The figure vanished
The erstwhile celebrants exchanged amazed glances. Noemi broke the silence as she patted her abdomen. "Well," she stated whimsically, "my own child, and my only one by the look of it, and I don't even get to name her. Uriel! Pretty enough, though I'm sure that I would have chosen differently." She looked down at her belly fondly. "Hello, little Uriel. I am sure that I love you already. What color hair will you have, red or black? Or, maybe, something not like Gal or I?" She then focussed on her sister. "Gal, what in the world are we going to tell Attalus? Or, rather, you? Because I sure am not going to. He can always tell when I'm lying, but maybe you will have better luck."
Galadria smiled in reply. "Em, I have no intention of lying to Attalus. I shall simply tell him the truth, that you are pregnant, and are unable to marry the father. All you shall need to do is refuse to answer any questions. He will never guess the whole truth. Indeed, I can hardly credit it, myself."
Chorania shook her head in frustration. "Once again, we are involved in the affairs of the gods. Truth to tell, I should have rather that they settle their problems among themselves without involving us poor mortals. But, that seems to be what gods are for, because what use are sheep herders without sheep? Uriel! A name of omen, methinks. But, this means no adventuring for a while. Did you hear what Tres said about gods that do not love us? One or two names suggest themselves. We need to have a care for the next few months, and I shall redouble my prayers and wards. The Vigilant One shall have no peace from His humble servant, in my implorings for His aid."
"Indeed, Cho," Galadria responded, "we shall all pray for the aid of whatever gods that are inclined to help us. Tres mentioned that, also. Well, goodnight, all. I am going to send for Cyth and Odo. They will want, and need, to know as quickly as possible."

[Memnoch]

Just to support what Mouse said - not to discourage your creativity, Galadria, but please be aware of your audience here and err on the side of CAUTION when deciding if something should be published here. Just because something doesn't contain offensive language does not mean that it is suitable for the age brackets that visit here.

We're pretty openminded and relaxed here, but there are limits - and we expect our members to be tactful enough to know what those are.

Cheers. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Calaethis Dragonsbane]

keep posting, interesting read.