Bretthera sighs a little, after closing a leather-bound journal and setting a quill down beside it. Sleep sounded as though it were a welcome friend, sure enough. She glances over to the bed, before smiling at the sight of her husband, Tordann, sleeping on the bed already.
She stands up, after a few moments, and meanders over to the bed, where she climbs in and lays down beside him with a small smile on her face. A small yawn left her, and bright blue eyes closed to the world for the night...
---
A few moments later, she wakes up. Was it a few moments? She couldn't tell. It was a bit brighter than usual in here, wasn't it? Rubbing an eye, she gets out of bed and moves to put out some of the candles that were lit... except there weren't any candles. The walls were a bright white, much unlike the home she and her husband lived in.
She glanced at the bed, to see it was much smaller. Half the size of the bed she knew she fell asleep in, that was certain. And her husband wasn't there... where was she? And where was her husband?
A pit started to open in her stomach as she glances down, only to see... she was still in the night-dress she'd put on the night before. And she was still the same height, the same size, and still pregnant--if the way her nightdress draped over the bump in her belly said anything on that matter. But she still wanted to know where she was and what was going on. That wasn't going to change.
Only a few moments later did she peer across the room, to see a table with two chairs, and a woman sitting in one of them. A woman that Awarth had described time and time again. It could only be her mother, there. "Bretthera... come and sit down, dear..."
But Bretthera wasn't buying into it. No, not at all. "I'm sorry... who are you and where am I?"
The woman lets out a small chuckle before shaking her head. "Of all the times Awarth described me, you cannot recognize your own mother? Or the house you often dreamed of living in, if you stayed in Dale?"
Hesitantly, Bretthera steps towards the table, watching the woman with a suspicious look. "I never told anyone of that... Yes, you look as Papa described, but how can I trust that you speak true?" she responds.
The woman frowns. "Because, my daughter, my death ruined what future I had envisioned for you. Odel's knife made a bigger blow than just taking me from you... and you know this too well, yourself."
Bretthera stops in her tracks... before nodding a bit. It was her mother, indeed... "I... forgive me, there is just... too much uncertainty right now..." She glances down and away, frowning. "There is good reason why I do not remember this place... but why am I here?" she asks.
"Bretthera... I know you do not remember this place, and I know why that is, yet I can answer why you are here. You are here because you're worried, and frightened about what, and who, will be joining your family. Come, sit down, dear, I will explain." her mother says, patting the top of the chair next to her.
Bretthera blinks, looking up again, before walking over and sitting down. "Well, not so much the child, but... what will have to be done to bring them into the world. I'm... not so much frightened of it anymore, but I am still worried about that..." she replies. Her mother smiles a bit and nods.
"I know, sweetheart. I was twenty-seven when I brought you and your sister into the world... but you have nothing to truly worry about. It is scary, yes, I will admit that. I worried I would be lost during your arrival, and I worried that if it wasn't your arrival that would do me in, pardon the colloquial, that it would be your sister's arrival... and I was very relieved to know that it was neither of you. It was, and still is, a great relief to me..." her mother states. "... Holding you and your sister, knowing I was still alive... I was never happier... Even though I sent her to a safe place, away from Odel, I was still happy that I'd finally had the family I knew I wanted... You were a bit of a surprise, though, at least to the midwife." Her mother lets out a soft chuckle, before shaking her head. "But I knew you and your sister would be the family I'd wanted for so long... no matter what... Despite the pain, despite the blood... I would do it all over again, were I still living."
Bretthera nods a little. "I... do expect that sort of pain, at least... but... blood?"
"Oh yes... The amount of blood, well... It is not too much, thankfully." Her mother's smile fades, and turns into a frown. "I've always had regrets, regrets that keep my spirit around. That I was forcibly taken from you both so soon... even though I'd sent Malleiya away... that is the biggest regret I will always carry with me. I do not want you to have that same regret, sweetheart... I cannot be there, to help you through this, and I wish I could be..."
Bretthera furrows her brows, confused. Where did that change come from? "That... that is the whole reason why I was frightened so early on... I don't have any sort of a reference level, and from time to time it still scares me..."
"I know..." Her mother sniffs, before adding, "You are doing just fine, though... with or without the reference level... And I am so glad for it... Don't worry yourself over what has yet to happen, sweetheart, you will be alright... I promise..."
"What's brought this change? I'm supposed to be the emotional one right now..." Bretthera says with a small chuckle, before wiping an eye.
Her mother whips her head around to look behind her, before she looks back at Bretthera and says, "Don't forget what I have told you... but you should wake up now, dear one."
"Wake up?..."
"I have to go for now, sweetheart... Your husband, however, is calling for you from beyond your dream. Wake up..."
---
Just a few seconds later, Bretthera jolts awake, sitting up and glancing around. This was the bedroom she knew well. The bed was as it always was, there wasn't a table in the far end of the room, no chairs around that table either. She glances around, before spotting Tordann sitting up next to her. "Wha's wrong? Wha's got ye cryin'?" he asks. Bretthera blinks, before wiping an eye and sighing.
"Sorry, love... This... this dream I had was rather... saddening..." she simply responds. "I'll be alright, I promise."
With a hesitant nod, Tordann lays back down, as did Bretthera, and with the thoughts of her mother's words running through her mind, easing her, they both return to a rather peaceful sort of sleep.
