Octavia's POV
From the carriage window, my eyes locked onto the battlefield spread below like a nightmare painted in blood and snow.
The scene was chaos, metal flashing in the weak sunlight, bodies colliding with brutal force, the crimson stain of violence spreading across the pristine white ground. But my gaze stopped on two figures at the center of it all, locked in single combat while the larger battle raged around them. Darius and Leon, fighting like everything depended on it. Like the fate of the world rested on which of them would be left standing when the steel stopped singing.
My heart thundered in my chest as I watched Darius fall, watched Leon raise his sword for what looked like a killing blow. Without thinking, I pushed the carriage door open before the wheels had fully stopped.
"My lady, no!" Margaret shouted from beside me. "Wait for the driver to-"
But I was already out, my boots hitting the frozen ground with a jarring impact that sent pain shooting up through my legs. I had to stop this, I had to reach them before one of them killed the other in this senseless fight over a woman who belonged to neither of them anymore, who belonged only to herself and the child she carried.
They were locked in brutal combat, Darius having somehow transformed back to human form, both men bloodied and desperate. I tried to run toward them, my heavy cloak tangling around my legs as I called out their names.
"Stop!" I screamed, my voice carrying across the battlefield. "Please, both of you, just stop!"
But then everything changed. A sharp pain cut through my lower back like a blade, so intense and sudden that it drove the breath from my lungs. My breath caught in my throat as I stumbled, one hand reaching out to steady myself against empty air.
Then came the rush of warm liquid between my legs, soaking through my heavy skirts and running down my thighs in a flow that meant only one thing. My knees buckled beneath me as the realization hit. The baby, it was time.
Margaret caught me just before I could hit the frozen ground, her arms going around my waist as she struggled to support my weight. "My lady!" she cried, her voice high with panic.
I clutched my swollen stomach as another wave of pain surged through me, more intense than anything I had ever experienced. This wasn't the dull ache I'd been feeling for days, this was sharp, demanding, urgent in a way that made my vision blur at the edges.
"The baby," I whispered, my voice strained and barely audible. "Margaret, the baby is coming."
On the battlefield, both men froze as my scream echoed across the snow. Leon turned first, his sword still raised but forgotten as he saw me collapsed and writhing in pain. Darius followed a heartbeat later, his dark eyes going wide with shock and terror as he took in the scene.
Their weapons clattered to the ground as they abandoned their fight, both of them starting toward me with identical expressions of horror. The war that had brought us all to this place suddenly seemed insignificant compared to the new life trying to force its way into the world.
"Get her to the carriage," someone shouted, I couldn't tell who through the haze of pain that was consuming me. Strong hands lifted me, half-carrying, half-dragging me back toward the shelter of the vehicle.
I doubled over as another contraction gripped me, my hands clawing at my belly as I cried out. The pain was unlike anything I had imagined, rolling through me in waves that seemed to steal pieces of my consciousness with each surge.
Around us, the battlefield had fallen into an eerie silence. Soldiers from both armies stood frozen, weapons lowered, as they watched their commanders' conflict transform into something entirely different. For a moment, nothing existed but me, the blood staining my skirts, and the unstoppable force of birth that would not be denied.
"How long?" I heard Darius's voice, rough with fear, as he appeared beside the carriage.
"The pains started this morning," Margaret replied, her hands shaking as she tried to make me comfortable on the carriage seat. "But she wouldn't rest, wouldn't listen-"
Another contraction cut off her words as I screamed again, the sound tearing from my throat without conscious thought. Through the haze of pain, I was dimly aware of Leon standing a few feet away, his face pale as parchment, his sword forgotten in the snow.
"We need to get her back to the castle," Darius said, his voice taking on the commanding tone I'd heard him use with his soldiers. "The physician, the midwives-"
"No time," Margaret said, her voice steadier now as she fell back on training I hadn't known she possessed. "The baby's coming now, whether we're ready or not."
I gripped the edge of the carriage seat as another wave of pain crashed over me, stronger than the last. Through my tears, I could see both men hovering nearby, Darius with his face etched in lines of desperate concern, Leon with an expression of dawning understanding.
The war they had been fighting suddenly seemed like a distant memory. All that mattered now was the child fighting to be born, the future struggling to emerge from the ruins of our complicated past. And in that moment of absolute vulnerability, as my body prepared to bring new life into a world torn by conflict, I realized that everything was about to change once again.