The Baby

It had been five days since her contact in the lower city finally delivered on his promise to get the potion she needed. It had been five days since she closed the door to her apartment, and drank the potion as soon as she got home. It had been five days since the first cramping had started. It had been five days since she first heard the cries of the small newborn baby girl in the Lower City Clinic. They had wanted to keep her and the baby a few extra days as the baby was early, but after five days the baby and Cyannah were both doing well. They finally allowed her to leave.

She hadn’t named the baby in those five days so she was allowed to take the paperwork home. They told her that she would have to send it to one of the addresses at the top. The Dalaran address had been crossed off, leaving just the Shattrath and Silvermoon addresses to choose from. She had given a fake last name at the clinic, and it, along with the rest of her fake identity, filled in one side of the top. Her first name remained the same. She hoped the baby’s father would recognize it. She left her name the same so that he’d know where the baby was from, and hopefully accept that she was his daughter. Cyannah thought the baby looked like him, so that should help. The rest of her information was falsified so that he wouldn’t be able to find her. On the other side of the top of the paper, she had penned in what she knew of the father; his name and where he lived was all. He’d have to fill in the rest.

She looked at the infant as she tucked the paper in the blankets in the basket she had put the baby girl in. The baby had just fallen asleep, and judging from her experience in the past five days, she guessed she had at least an hour or two before the baby would wake again. She touched one of the baby’s wispy curls lightly. She felt a little guilty about what she was about to do. She wanted children, just not this child. She regretted that day in the library with the baby’s father more than anything else. There was no way for her to keep this child, not now. She had already written home earlier during the day to let her parents know that she would be home soon, very soon, to meet the man they had arranged for her to marry. They weren’t even aware she had been pregnant. She had already spoken with the landlord, apologizing for the very short notice, as her rent would be due in a few days. She had been packing over the past couple of months, leaving out only what she needed. She was ready to go home, and leave this all behind her.

Cyannah got up and went to the bathroom. She had a bit of a trip ahead of her. She caught a glimpse of the mirror. She was looking okay. The weight that had come with the baby had mostly went with the baby, which she was thankful for as she had heard otherwise. Perhaps it was because she was early. Still, she thought she’d be best off wearing loose clothes for the next few weeks, and allowing her parents to believe she had a few too many sweets. She was feeling okay too, mostly. At least the wedding wouldn’t be for a few months. She could play the prude for a month or two.

She went back to her other room, and threw her cloak over her shoulders. She knew how to make a portal to Tranquillien, but she would have to walk to the father’s house. The Ghostlands were usually a bit chilly at this time of the year. She placed a warm blanket over the baby, then draped another blanket over the basket. She opened a portal to the town, and, taking the basket with her, stepped through.

It was more than chilly. It was freezing. She looked up and down the street. It was late in the day, and the sun had just dipped below the horizon, but there were still a few people out. She noticed a couple of new buildings had been added to the town. One of them was a clinic. She walked by it, toting the baby in the basket along with her as she headed south out of town.

The path leading off into the woods was long and winding. It started getting dark as she walked along. There weren’t many inhabited houses out this way. She was beginning to think she had taken the wrong path when she saw a bit of light through the trees. The undergrowth was heavy along this part of the path, and she had trouble keeping the light in sight. Then she spotted it again, through a small path off the main path that cut through the underbrush. She followed the path off the main path to discover a clearing with a house sitting in the middle of it. The house was built on a hill, with a steep incline covered with trees rising up behind it. The light was coming from one of the windows on the second floor of the home. Cyannah took a few steps closer before stopping to pull back the blanket to take one last look at her daughter. The baby slept, snuggled warmly in all the blankets. Cyannah bit her lip, and pulled the blanket back over the basket. She hurried towards the door of the small house.

She hesitated about halfway across the clearing, not because she was having second thoughts, but because she felt something. Her ears tingled. What was it? A ward? It was a weak one, not meant to keep anyone out. A proximity ward. That’s what it was, and that meant at least one of the inhabitants knew someone was outside. She hurried to the door, leaving the basket with the baby inside on the doorstep. She knocked loudly, just in case the ward wasn’t truly functional, and ran off back towards the main path.

She hid amongst the underbrush near a large tree at the edge of the path where she could still see the house. She had no sooner found her hiding spot when the door opened. She recognized the father’s boyfriend, even though she had met him only a couple of times. He looked around as he stooped to pick up the basket. He called out a hello, while he continued to look about the clearing. After a moment, he shrugged, and then carried the basket inside, shutting the door behind him.

Cyannah didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until after he closed the door. She took a deep breath followed by a sigh, and cast her teleport spell to return to Shattrath. It was done. She laid down on her couch, which doubled as her bed for now, and cried.

Cyannah’s Letter

Cyannah stared at her paper. She had written no more than the greeting, ‘Dear Father and Mother,’ but how was the rest supposed to go? She couldn’t tell them the truth. Especially after the letter she had just received. They had been talking with a man who would like to meet her, and they had invited him to a supper over the holidays. She was supposed to be there. She looked down. There was no way she could hide it now. As if on cue, the baby kicked. She couldn’t go home, not like this.

She had already gone to the lower city clinic to see if they could do anything about it. Months ago, on her first visit there, they had given her a vile-tasting potion. She had cramped and bled after ingesting it. She had thought that was it, but a few months later, it became very apparent that it had not worked. Now, they refused to do anything, saying she was too far along. The same potion would just cause the baby to be born early, and while she didn’t want a baby, the healers were adamant about not causing a premature baby to be born. They told her that she would have to wait, and give the baby to the orphanage if she or the father didn’t want it.

She did get the name of the potion and was exploring other avenues of obtaining it. None of them had turned up anything yet.

Of course, there was the problem of getting rid of the baby after it was born, and the time it might take to recover from the birth. Perhaps the father would want the baby, or maybe she could just leave it on his doorstep. It would be fitting. After all, she wasn’t being given any choice in carrying it. Why give him a choice in the matter?

She already knew that he had moved. There was someone else living in the home where he had said he lived. She had talked to them. He was renting it out, and was now living in the Ghostlands. She had gotten the new address from the current occupants as well. She had originally planned to write him to let him know, but she felt there would be a good chance of him denying everything. Had he even told his boyfriend about her? Probably not, and in that case, the baby showing up on the doorstep would be a perfect revenge.

She frowned again at the paper. Telling her parents the truth was out of the question. She picked up her pen and began to write.

I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it to Silvermoon for Winter Veil this year. I am very excited that you’ve found someone who wishes to meet with me, but there’s a ton of work to finish up in the library here before I return home. I hope he’ll consider rescheduling our meeting, possibly in early spring. I’m sorry it might be that long. If I had known ahead of time, I would have told you, but it’s rather sudden. I may not be in Shattrath much either. Some of the books are in other cities here in Outland, and I’ll need to travel frequently.

She paused thoughtfully. It was all made up, of course. She had already quit her job at the library, as she knew people would talk. Now she wore a hat and sunglasses when she went out so that no one would recognize her. She would hide here long enough to have the baby, drop it off in the Ghostlands, then go get married in Silvermoon. The travel was a good cover, as they wouldn’t be able to visit her in Shattrath. She smiled sadly as she closed her letter.

Your Loving Daughter,
Cyannah

Cyannah’s Diary

I’ve finally wrote home.  Mother is right.  I’m not getting any younger.  She and father have been taking turns writing me weekly to remind me.  As if I’ve forgotten!  I’ve agreed to let them arrange something for me.  I keep coming close to finding someone on my own, but nothing has worked out.  First there was that new guy who started working in the library.  Of course, he fell for Tywae over me.  He even cancelled our date to go have drinks just because she asked him somewhere instead.  Then she ditched him a month later, and he still thought he had a chance with me.  Like really? Then there was that blood knight captain.  Luckily, I found out he was married before anything happened.  He was very good at flirting.  Then a few months after that was when I met the fire mage, whose friend was actually his boyfriend.

That last one was a big mistake.  I don’t know why I have to be so desperate.  I didn’t know about the boyfriend.  They didn’t tell me.  Was I supposed to guess?  Of course, then he comes into the library, alone and goes upstairs to one of the rooms up there.  I followed him up, thinking I actually had a chance.  Things happened.  Then he told me about the boyfriend.

I was drinking that tea at the time, even though he was the first man I’ve been with in a few years.  It doesn’t taste bad, and it’s just easy to drink it every morning.  I was in the habit of having it.  I guess my body has gotten used to it or something.  At least I noticed early enough that it had no effect on the things it was supposed to be preventing.  The clinic in the lower city was able to give me some nasty tasting potion to take care of that.  I’m still cramping from it.

I guess that’s why I’ve written home.  I’m tired of looking, and always finding the wrong guy.  Maybe my parents have more experience to draw from that they won’t choose some lying jerk or idiot.  Even if they do, at least I can blame it on them, and if I get pregnant again because I guess the tea doesn’t work for me, well, at least I won’t have to have some nasty potion to get rid of it.

Other than that, things are rather dull and boring as usual.  I’m a fire mage working in a library, I don’t know how exciting that can get.  I did have some strange requests for books over the past month.  There was one guy who kept bugging me for books about Nagrand and stones or something.  I had no clue what he was talking about half the time.  Then there was another guy who kept asking about lizards.  Then he wanted to know if magic lizards could be caught with enchanted traps.  Like I would know?  I’m sure there’s something about enchanted traps in one of the enchantment books I found for him, but then he started asking about what moths eat.

The more I think about it, the more I can’t wait to get back to Silvermoon.