The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

22. Lena

     "Are we really about to deliver a baby?!" I exclaim as I, along with all twenty maids and Edith, am hurrying down the halls to Princess Tadia's room.

     Nellie nods. "And it isn't going to be easy. You're lucky you weren't there when Princess Genevieve was born, it was as if all Hell has broken loose. Princess Tadia is, what one would call, a drama queen."

     "I've never delivered a baby before," I huff, nearly out of breath. "How long is this going to take?"

     "It depends," Nellie answers. "This could take the whole night, we might not be able to get any sleep for a long time. Then again, it could only take an hour."

     "I hope it doesn't take too long," I admit. "I'm already exhausted."

     We finally reach the room and Edith runs in ahead of us. Nellie and I are the last ones to enter the room, and I gasp at what I see.

     The whole room is in havoc, with maids and nurses running around and Princess Tadia laying on her bed. I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle this. Maybe I can talk to Edith about letting me leave, there are at least thirty people in this room right now. There's no way it takes that many people to deliver a baby. In the village, a woman would be lucky to have more than one person by her side during labor.

     "Edith," I whisper to her as she frantically searches for something. "You don't need everyone here, do you?"

     She freezes for a moment before looking at me and saying, "You're absolutely right, this many people would just make her more uncomfortable," she turns to everyone. "Girls! I need fifteen of you to leave this room and go back to the maids' room."

     I sigh in relief and begin walking along with the rest of them until Edith pulls me back.

     "Lena, you'll stay here with me," she says, and I huff.

     "Why?" I ask. "Why do I need to stay?"

     "Well, I need at least a few of you to stay here and help," she explains. "Nearly everyone has left."

     "Well, there are more than enough nurses here," I point out. Before she can respond, we hear a loud scream coming from the Princess.

     "There's no time to talk, Lena," she urgently states, grabbing my arm and leading me to where the Princess is laying. I cringe and try not to look directly at her as she winces in pain. She has her legs bent and is squeezing the life out of Nellie's hand, and she hurriedly grabs my hand with her free hand before I can step away.

     She winces and lets out a loud yell, stopping the blood flow in my hand. The nurses are all standing by her legs with towels and one of them hands me a bucket of water.

     "Use this to wet a cloth and dab her forehead if she starts sweating," one of them tells me, putting a small cloth in my hand.

     "She's already sweating!" I frantically exclaim.

     This is insane, I can't believe I'm actually going to help deliver a baby. I try to pull my hand out of the Princess's death grip, and dunk the cloth in the water bucket, wringing it out.

     "What the fuck is taking this baby so long?" The Princess shouts.

     "You've only been in labor for an hour, Princess," one of the nurses timidly responds, earning a nasty glare from the Princess. I fold the cloth and lightly dab her forehead, trying to ignore her anxiety-inducing screams. This is going to be a long night.

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     "You," the Princess suddenly turns to me after nearly six hours of labor. "Who are you?"