Golden Fantasies Chapter 2
By Jupiterstar
The King paced outside his room. Inside were the wails of labor and the shouting of anxious midwives. He paused for a moment to listen to his daughters in the room next door singing old folk songs that had been passed down by generations.
They were huddled on Nina’s bed singing songs that made them feel happy and trying to block out their mother’s cries of pain. Jewel did not yet understand that the pain was good and would often break down in tears, but Nina knew that soon she would have a baby brother or sister.
The King wished he shared Nina’s faith. With the demon’s curse he may have a young monster instead of a son or daughter and the thought chilled him to the bone.
A midwife hurried out frantically.
"It’s coming!" she shouted to the King. They both ran back inside to see the Queen and the soon to be born baby. The King went straight to his wife’s side and picked up her hand. Her golden hair was half in her face and tangled. Her gown was slipping from her shoulders and sticking to her chest. She breathed in great gasps and cried out in pain.
"One more push, Your Majesty, just one more!"
The Queen closed her eyes, scrunched up her face, and screamed as in one agonizing contraction her child slipped out into the world. The midwife’s cheered until they saw the baby.
The King and the Queen both leaned forward. There, on the dresser, lay a perfect Winden baby, with beautiful wings and a red, squealing face. The only difference was that instead of the white wings Winden’s citizens all carried, the baby’s wings were golden. They glinted in the dim light of the bedroom.
The Queen went right over and picked up the baby.
"It’s a girl, honey, it’s a girl," she told her husband with a smile. She cooed at the baby and laughed when her new daughter grabbed her finger. The King stayed at the end of the bed and glanced over at the door where Jewel and Nina stood.
The Queen noticed too and motioned them inside. They immediately rushed over to their mother and grinned at their new sister.
"Oh, pirty wings!" Jewel crowed as the baby made a baby smile at her. Nina just looked happily at the beautiful child’s shining face and bounced up and down with excitement.
"What shall we name her?" the Queen asked the King. The King still had not moved from his place at the side of the bed. He just stared at his daughter’s golden wings and knew the demon’s curse had indeed come true. But why had it not produced a monster?
"Honey?" the Queen asked, concerned. She cradled the baby in her arms and touched her husband’s face with worry. He pushed her hand off and backed away. The Queen stared at him in horror.
"No! My baby is not a monster!" she cried as she hugged the little child. "Her wings are a sign of beauty, not of evil!" The King turned his back on his wife and left the room swiftly and quietly. Jewel and Nina both ran once again to their mother’s side.
"No," the Queen whispered as she looked down on the baby’s face. Her daughter smiled up at her and squealed. The Queen smiled too and tickled one of her feet.
"Charity. My little Charity."
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