Iylaine rises

It was the hour when the animals of day and dusk and dawn slept, and only the few creatures that were truly of the night were abroad. The woods were quiet: not hushed and expectant, but slumbering. The leaves hung limp from slack branches, and the tall, heavy-​​headed stems of grass in the yard were silent and swooning with dew.

Only the moon moved, and even she rose ponderously, heavy-​​bodied and full like a pregnant woman – like Iylaine, if she would rise.

For now Iylaine was only lying awake but unmoving, staring out the blue window to occupy her eyes. The moon was rising behind the house, so she could only watch the moonlight advancing over the hills to touch the trees with white.

But she was not truly watching in any case. She was listening. She had heard someone calling her name at long, evenly-​​spaced intervals, like the call of a lonely bird.

“Iylaine!”

But this time there was a variation on the song.

“Iylaine! It’s Vash! I need you!”

Iylaine turned her eyes towards the shadows of the room. She wanted to concentrate on her ears.

“Cough if you hear me! Please!”

She coughed. A cough was not a commitment.

“Iylaine!” His voice sounded relieved, but more desperate than joyous. “Please come outside! I need you!”

These days Iylaine’s mind was mostly turned towards thoughts of her coming baby. She did not think of Vash as often as she ordinarily did.

But she had forgotten how her heart could pound. If he needed her – not only wanted, but needed her… And Vash was not capricious. He would not come without an urgent reason. He did not come nearly as often as he could have. He did not come at all.

Iylaine was an elf, and her talent for sneaking extended to creeping out of bed without waking her sleeping husband, or, if he woke, he would merely grunt and turn over onto his back.

Iylaine rose silently, ponderous and slow as the full moon.