Mint and Honey

[heartofcourage]

Yasmine looked over the little cub as if he were her own. She soothed him when he fussed and rocked him in sleep, allowing Alex to work undisturbed to solve the mystery of why the little cub was so ill. When he woke up hungry, she didn't give him the goat's milk that had been his diet for so long. Instead, she had a mild broth of beef broth and barley made, feeding the little prince as he fussed and cried. Once he had a full belly, he seemed a little more content to be held.

 

[KieranSoares]

Alex and Yasmine finally got some sleep come dawn, resting in Alex's spare room in the keep surrounded by drying herbs Valentina had hung up. Around noon, Alex woke and set back to work quietly, but it became clearer the longer he spoke to Mariko Varno that no on had ever encountered this issue.

 

[heartofcourage]

Shortly after the morning meal, Yasmine followed down the hallway behind Alex, the little prince still in her arms. Alex had a list of questions he wanted to ask of Kate and Kell, but when they opened the door to the room, she could see that it might not happen.

It was very clear that Kate was fading away. Her green gaze was listless, her skin pale, and she was staring blankly into the fire just in front of her. A dark haired woman that neither of them had ever seen before was there speaking softly to Kate, her hand tenderly touching her cheek.

When the door opened, the woman looked towards who was entering and gave Kate a small smile. "He's back, love."

Kate turned her attention towards her son, so confused as Yasmine gently placed the squirming cub in Kate's arms. "He's not crying." Kate said softly, her brow crinkled with concern as Brogan looked up at her with his mixed eyes, a calm look in his gaze that she hadn't seen in the entire time since he had been born.

"Trust me. He has been." Yasmine said with a chuckle, trying to cheer Kate up. "I fed him something new for his breakfast. It seems to have settled his stomach slightly."

"I told you there was nothing to worry about." The woman said as she looked towards Alex and Yasmine. "I'm sorry. I'm Rissa McClure. Her majesty's lady in waiting."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Alex Irons," Alex nodded to her. "And this is Yasmine al-Zariq."

Alex knelt beside Kate, laying a hand on her arm. "I think we ought to have a long chat very soon, Kate. For your sake and his. Starting with you taking care of yourself while I worry about this cub for a while."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm just tired, Alex. Nothing more." Kate said softly as Alex knelt at her side. "And caring for the baby has taken a lot out of me."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Constant exhaustion leads to illness. Don't fight with me on this one. You're going to start getting plenty of sleep and eating properly. And if anything happens, you'll be the first to know. But your little prince needs a mother who can keep her eyes open and not drift off at any moment." Alex kissed her forehead. "I swear to you he'll come out the other side of this happier and healthier."

 

[heartofcourage]

"All he does is cry all the time." Kate muttered as Alex insisted that she would be getting more sleep to be able to take care of her child better. "It makes me feel so guilty when I leave him to others because I can't stand the crying any longer."

"There's nothing you can do about that, your majesty. Even the strongest among us needs help." Rissa said softly. "Kell called me into service from Edinburgh in order to try and make her majesty more comfortable."

"I'm his Ma. I'm the one that should be taking care of him." Kate said with a fierce protectiveness.

 

[KieranSoares]

"You are his mother, and you've done everything you can. But sometimes it's not enough," Alex explained gently but bluntly. "If you insist on being his only caretaker, you'll kill yourself and make things worse for him, not to mention everyone who loves you. You're a good mother, Kate. But be a smart mother too and accept all the help you can get. There's a lot to be done, a lot that can't be put on hold for this little one no matter how much we want it to be. You need your strength. You have people dedicated to helping you, people whose profession it is to help you, and you aren't utilizing them. It doesn't mean you'll have less time with your cub, it will just mean that someone with energy to give will be there for him when you need to rest. And in the meantime, my family and the tribal healers will try our damnedest to get Brogan through this."

 

[heartofcourage]

"When you have your own children, then you can come back and give me pretty little speeches like that. In the meantime, you can leave me and my cub the hell alone." Kate said, angry and upset as she gathered up Brogan and pushed past them all, deeper into her apartments and away from them.

"Qira, go and get Kell, please." Rissa said softly, looking towards the black panther who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

 

[KieranSoares]

Qira watched Kate go for a moment, the dark panther caught somewhat off-guard that Kate would push away the help she and her cub so desperately needed in such a dire time. At Rissa's request, he turned instantly and disappeared into the hall.

Kell turned up only minutes later, looking exhausted and deeply worried but also a bit incredulous at what Qira had told him. He stepped into the room Kate had retreated to, closing the door behind him but asking Rissa and Qira to stay near.

"Kate," Kell murmured, taking a few steps into the room.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was standing by the windows, her head resting against Brogan's as he whimpered. It seemed that his little peace would be short lived and soon he would be back to his painful crying. Kate turned to look at Kell as he called her name gently.

"I don't need you lecturing me, Khelt." Kate said softly. "I don't need someone telling me all of the things that I'm doing wrong. I don't need someone to tell me that things are going to get better when they obviously haven't. I just want my son to be happy and healthy like a little boy should be."

She glanced down as the little cub nuzzled against her shoulder, squeaking as if trying to tell her not to be sad. "I've been such an utter failure as a mother."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You've done everything you possibly can," Kell murmured, remaining where he was for the moment. "We both have. But we aren't enough with the condition he's in. And you haven't done anything wrong. But please, for his sake... Don't be stubborn about having help. He needs all he can get. We aren't healers, it's just not our profession... But we are parents. And part of being a parent is doing what's best for our child. I don't want to lecture you... But you can't risk his health on pride. He can't take it. We can't take it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know you brought Rissa here because you're worried about me." Kate said softly as he tried to make her see reason. "I've also come to realize that I probably should never have been a mother. I can't even feed my son properly. I can't stand the sounds of his crying. I just thought that this would all be so much easier. None of this has been easy."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Vincenzo warned us that there might be complications... But I know we never expected anything of this caliber." There had been long consultations with the old doctor, warning Kate of issues with her petite frame and with the possibility that her child, cub or human, would not be very robust. And with the immense stress she had been through carrying him, Vincenzo had continually warned her that it might cause more problems. And in the end, it seemed all the risk factors had birthed a sickly, too-small, frail cub who hadn't completely developed yet despite a late birth and a good bloodline with few illnesses.

Kell stepped closer. "I brought Rissa to help, because I know outside our family, we trust her and Qira more than anyone else. I want you and Brogan both to be healthy and happy... You can't keep going like this... I know it's selfish, but it's killing me, Kate."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's killing me too." She said softly as she hugged her little cub tighter. "I just wish I had the answers that would make this all better. I don't want him to suffer."

 

[KieranSoares]

"No one has the answers yet, eldere," he murmured, finally coming to wrap his arms around her and their cub. "But we have an army of people trying to find them. Not because we asked, but because they love us and want Brogan to be able to grow into a fine Wolf to make everyone proud. But they can't help if we don't help them... And you can help by keeping yourself healthy... Because I don't want to raise a cub alone. And if you push too much more, I'll have to."

 

[heartofcourage]

“I feel so alone.” Kate murmured, relaxing against her husband as the tears finally came. “I want to be the one to soothe his tears. He’s just a baby, Kell. He doesn’t deserve any of this.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"He doesn't... But you will soothe him in the end. It will be the love of his mother that sees him through, no matter what or who supports you on the way." Kell pressed a kiss to her temple. "Times may be hard now... But he's going to come out stronger than both of us for it. I swear to you that we're going to teach him to walk and talk, we'll see him grow and learn and be there for all the cuts and scrapes, and we'll see him become the man he wants to be. It won't end here. Not if our family has anything to say about it."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We have to defend Scotland too." Kate said softly as he promised that their cub would not fade away there in Inverness. "On top of all of this, we have to defend our home against a mad man. I know I haven't given as much attention to everything as I should. I feel like I'm being torn apart between needing to be with him and needing to attend to my duties. I want to sleep all day long, but then he cries and as soon as I get him to sleep, someone is at the door needed something from me."

Neither parent had noticed that little Brogan had drifted off to sleep in the warmth between both of his parents. The little cub had managed to sleep in spite of the pain that was slowly building up in his body again, his little face pressed against his mother's chest while his father's fur soothed him.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Defense is my job foremost. I'll still need your input... But I need you to focus on things here at home. I'll focus abroad, and we'll each help one another as needed. But we can't do everything. That's what advisors and officers and my men are for. We delegate. We can be more active later when we have the energy and Brogan is healthier. We need to use our resources, or else we're paying a lot of people to stand around being helpless and useless."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was quiet after that for a long moment, simply letting her husband support her. Kell would be there through everything, no matter what happened. He loved their cub just as much as she did and felt the same sorrow that he wasn't the happy, healthy baby that they had dreamed of.

"You didn't have to send for Rissa, though I'm sure Qira is happy to see her." Kate muttered, her head resting heavily on his shoulder.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I think we all needed her. She tends to keep up morale." Kell offered her a gentle smile. "And she'll take care of Brogan like he's her own."

 

[heartofcourage]

“Let’s go put Brogan down. Then we can talk things through with Alex. I’m sure he’s not very happy with me right now.” She said softly, pulling away from Kell as he helped to dry her eyes.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I doubt he's terribly bothered," Kell assured her softly. "He understands more than we give him credit for." He drew Kate along to put Brogan in his crib. Meanwhile, Alex had chosen to wait in the hall with Yasmine.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate got the cub settled in his crib, slumbering peacefully which was very rare for him. As long as he would sleep on his own, she would allow him to slumber. Once she was settled back in front of the fire, a tray of food in her lap and a warm blanket around her legs, she allowed Kell to bring Alex back into the room.

“I’m sorry for what I said.” She said softly, looking at her cousin with the weary expression of a person on their last nerve.