When Brienna was conceived, it was a joyous occasion in O\u2019orn. \u00a0The first child of Tiban and Branlei was the first princess O\u2019orn had known in many generations. \u00a0When the pregnancy was announced to the people, it was as if a new sun had risen on the world. \u00a0All of O\u2019orn celebrated the miracle. \u00a0O\u2019orn would have a new sister.<\/p>\n
Branlei had always been healthy and strong, but something strange happened during the first few months of her pregnancy. \u00a0She became young again. \u00a0At 41, she was not considered old, not even too old to bear a child, but a good, healthy middle age. \u00a0She became 21 again. \u00a0The few gray streaks in her hair faded away, and the glowing golden hair of her youth returned. \u00a0The few wrinkles she had around her eyes and neck completely left her body, and her skin became smooth and tight and creamy. \u00a0She had the energy of ten boys. \u00a0Other women looked at her in wonder. \u00a0Not only did she continue doing the work she had always done, but she took on new duties\u2013physical labor, reading, sewing, cooking. \u00a0She was a new woman.<\/p>\n
The baby came at the proper time, healthy and strong, with powerful lungs. \u00a0The hundred O\u2019orn waiting breathlessly outside the home of Tiban and Branlei all heard Brienna\u2019s welcoming cry. \u00a0Then, the cord was cut and Brienna\u2019s life-blood was ripped away from Branlei. \u00a0Suddenly, Branlei began to fade. \u00a0Her skin turned gray. \u00a0The light in her eyes faded. \u00a0Her strength waned, and her milk quickly dried up. \u00a0Tiban called for the healers, but there was nothing they could do. \u00a0Branlei was dying. \u00a0The light that had grown inside her for nine months was gone. \u00a0It had not been Branlei giving life to her daughter. \u00a0It had been the daughter giving life to her mother.<\/p>\n
Late that night, Tiban crept into Brienna\u2019s nursery, gathered her into his arms, and took her into her mothers room. \u00a0Branlei was sleeping, her breathing rough and ragged, as Tiban sat down on the bed next to her, and lay Brienna on her mother\u2019s breast. \u00a0The tiny babe looked into her mothers weak, sleeping face, and smiled. \u00a0Branlei\u2019s eyes flickered open and the two women stared into each others souls for many minutes. \u00a0Branlei reached out and laid her hand on top of Brienna\u2019s smooth head, and began to cry. \u00a0The light returned to her eyes.<\/p>\n
From that moment, all of O\u2019orn knew that their new princess was truly a gift and a miracle. \u00a0She was their greatest treasure.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Brienna was conceived, it was a joyous occasion in O\u2019orn. \u00a0The first child of Tiban and Branlei was the first princess O\u2019orn had known in many generations. \u00a0When the pregnancy was announced to the people, it was as if a new sun had risen on the world. \u00a0All of O\u2019orn celebrated the miracle. \u00a0O\u2019orn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-epic-fantasy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102,"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions\/102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azenaria.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}