I stopped pacing. 'Del says men make their wives keep having babies until they get a son, even if their wives don't want to.'
'That may be true of some men,' Alric agreed equably, 'but I'll have sons enough when my daughters marry.'
If I had a daughter … if I had a daughter, men would think of her as they did of all women. Even as I had, before Del trained me out of it.
Well, mostly.
'I'll kill them,' I said.
Alric's brows ran up beneath the fair hair hanging over his forehead. 'Kill who?'
'The men who try to get my daughter into bed.'
The big Northerner laughed. 'She's not even born yet, Tiger—and she may be a he!'
'I need to think about it, though. What I might face. Because, you know, if it is a girl, and she looks like Del …'
'Let's hope so. I'd rather a daughter look like Del than a big, slow danjac such as her father.'
'I can't do this,' I said abruptly. 'I can't just wait out here. What if Del wants me with her?'
'Trust me, Tiger, Del doesn't want you with her. Best you stay out here—unless you like having her curse you.'
'I'm going.' I started toward the house, taking huge, long strides to get me there the faster. Then Lena appeared in the doorway and I began to run. 'Is she all right? Is she all right?'
Lena was smiling as I arrived. 'She's well, Tiger. So is the baby.'
I stopped dead. 'The baby? It's here?'
'Yes, the baby is here. Go in, Tiger. You've been waiting long enough.'
But suddenly I couldn't make myself move. 'Maybe I shouldn't. Del will be tired. She'll want to rest.'
Lena laughed. 'Go on, Tiger.'
I felt a hand come down on my shoulder. Alric's. 'She won't curse you now. They never do once the baby's born.'
I took a deep, steadying breath, then a second one. And I went in to see what the Northern bascha and I had wrought.
The old woman of Mehmet's aketni was helping Del drink a cup of something that smelled slightly astringent. When she saw me come into the bedroom, she smiled, set the cup down, and waved me in. Staring at Del, I didn't notice her departure.
I couldn't see any baby. Just Del, lying beneath the covers. She was propped up against pillows. Lines of exhaustion were in her face, but there was also a contentment that outshone everything else.
I lingered in the doorway until she saw me. Her hair, wet with perspiration, was pulled back, braided out of the way. Her smile was weary, but happy.
'Where is it?' I asked.
'Where is she, Tiger. A baby is not an it.'
Ah, good. She sounded normal.
Then it struck me. 'It's a girl?'
'That's what 'she' usually means. And she's right here.'
I saw then that they had wrapped the baby in so many layers that she looked more like a lump of bedclothes than a person. Del lifted that lump from beside her. I heard a muffled noise that sounded suspiciously like a sandconey warning of predators.
'Come see your daughter.'
I didn't move. 'You don't want to do this again, do you? Ten or twelve more times?'
Del looked horrified. 'No! Why do you ask me such a thing?'
'Alric said you could have ten or twelve more . . . and he and Lena are already headed in that direction.'
She laughed. 'Tiger, stop putting it off and come and see your daughter.'
When I reached the bed, Del put up a hand and urged me to sit. I did, very carefully. And then she peeled back the wrappings and I saw the face.
I was aghast. 'What's wrong with her?'– . '
'There's nothing wrong with her.'
'She's all red and wrinkled! And she has no hair!'
Del's smile bloomed. 'The red will fade, the wrinkles will go, and the hair will grow. But she does have some hair, Tiger. It's baby fuzz. See?'
To please Del, I said that yes, I could see the wisps of something that approximated hair. But if that's all she was going to have the rest of her life, I wouldn't have to worry about what men might think.
'Hold her, Tiger. She's yours, too.'
I recoiled. 'I'd drop her!'
'You won't drop her. Have you ever dropped a sword?'
I refused. 'You can hold her. I'll just look at her.'
'I'm very tired,' Del said. 'I'm very weak. I need you to hold her.'
I cocked an eyebrow at her. 'You aren't any better at lying now than you were before she was born.'
Del was aggrieved. 'I am tired, Tiger.'
She was. Some of the animation in her face had faded. 'Are you all right? I mean, will you be all right?'
'I will be fine just as soon as you hold your daughter.'
I scowled. She always did drive a hard bargain. 'All right. What do I do?'
'Just take her in your arms and cradle her. Put her head in the crook of your elbow.'
'What if she cries?'
'Just hold her.'
'What if she's hungry?'
'Then give her back to me.'
I leaned forward, grasped the lump, lifted. Discovered she weighed nearly nothing.
Del's tone was appalled. 'Don't just clutch her in midair, Tiger! Hold her against your chest.'
Apparently I got it sorted out, because Del quit giving me advice. She lay there smiling at us both.
I ventured, 'Does she have any arms and legs, or is she just a lump with a head attached?'
Del sighed. 'I should have known you wouldn't appreciate the moment.'
I grinned. 'It's not a moment, bascha. It's a baby.'
She reached out a hand and stroked the wrappings. 'I thought maybe we could call her Sula.'
It shocked me. I could think of nothing to say.
'That woman gave you your freedom,' Del said. 'As much as there was to be found in the Salset. Not enough, I know—but more than you might have had otherwise.'
After a moment, when I had my emotions under control, I nodded. 'Take her,' I said. 'Bascha—take her.'
She heard the tone in my voice. 'What is it? What's wrong?'
'Nothing's wrong. Nothing, bascha.' I leaned forward, steadied the little bundle as she was taken from me, then bent down and kissed Del's forehead. 'Rest. I'll come back later.'
I waited until she had settled the baby beside her. As her eyes drifted closed, I left the room.
Alric saw my face as I came out of the house. 'What's wrong?'
'Nothing's wrong.'
'You look—odd.'
'I'm fine.'
'Then why are you in harness?'
'There's something I need to do.'
'Tiger—something's wrong.'
'Nothing's wrong,' I repeated. 'There's just something I need to do.' I paused. 'Alone.'
Alric was troubled. He and Lena were sitting outside the house on the wooden bench I'd built. The chickens
