Winds of Change

Dominic chuckled, "We put your rooms right next to your parents, in fact you have a communal eating hall and kitchen." He explained. "The rooms were finished a year ago but the builders went straight back to work shortly after we appeared in the great hall. See it was breakfast service and Sage jumped on the nearest table and said, and I quote her, 'Alanna's preggers.' They have spent the last week reworking the room next to the master bedroom to make it into a nursery."

"The wood carvers say the crib will be ready in a few weeks," Sage explained. "Da asked for a rocking chair to be made but the hardwood needed to make it has to be cut, dried and prepared, so he said you can borrow ma's rocking chair until the carvers have made you one."

"Dominic you didn't..."

"I know I didn't," Dominic interrupted, "but Bianca would have wanted you to borrow it, at the moment it is just gathering dust. I remember rocking Sage to sleep in it, she loved the rocking motion." He continued with a faraway look in his eyes. "Bianca had it specially made so that people with wings and without them could use the chair."

"Thank you," Alanna said as they finally came to a double set of doors, on one half of the doors was Alanna's mark, a sword piercing a heart, on the other was Tarval's mark, four white feathers and between them was the green crest of her mother on the chest of a phoenix. Tarval pushed one of the large doors open and gestured for Alanna to go in first.

Alanna walked in followed by the others, Iron-arm tagging along as he had nothing better to do and he was curious about these rooms and how they were laid out. She looked around at the entrance hall which had copies of certain renders on them including the one of Alanna and Tarval together.

Alanna led the way down the short hallway which opened into a large open plan area which had doors coming off it, the largest Alanna assumed were the connecting doors. Another hallway led off this room and went further back which would hold the bulk of the rooms. The heavy long table dominated the room, its wood was dark but with a satin smooth finish.

Sage grabbed Alanna's hand and pulled her over to the second set of double doors on the right hand side of the room. "This is the master bedroom, I helped to design it." She pushed open the door and dragged her sister into the large room. Tarval followed with a grin as Iron-arm studied the table. Dominic leant on the door jamb and watched as Sage showed her sister the room. It had a large bed which would have put the custom ones Amy and Wolfgang had made look small.

At the foot of the bed was a foot locker which held spare blankets for cold nights and was a convenient place to sit and do up boots. A thick rug was near the bed, a place for Alanna's wolf to rest if she shifted in the night. The bathroom door was to the right of the room and beside it was a large set of drawers. Armour racks and weapon racks were near the entrance, other than that the room had very little furnishing. This was a room for sleeping, bathing and dressing, nothing more nothing less.

"There is a balcony, in fact this whole wall of wood," Sage released Alanna and opened the bi-folding screens, they slid away with a gentle push, "is actually just to shut out light."

Alanna walked out, surprised by just how deep the balcony was, the afternoon sun didn't even come near the small table setting, there were a few plants and a large day bed and the afternoon breeze kept this area just perfect.

"Luna... I hope our room is like this." Susan said as she looked around.

"I don't care about the room, I hope we have a bath like this one." Destiny said as she walked out of the bathroom. "It's fucking huge!" She told Susan as Susan walked passed her to see.

Sage chuckled and grabbed the two women, "Come on and there is only one size of tub that is made here and that is it." She walked them from the room to show them where they would be sleeping.

Tarval frowned as he walked back into the room from the balcony, he was positive his and Alanna's armour was still on its racks back on earth, they hadn't packed them because Alanna could just will the racks here. "What's this?" He asked Dominic as Iron-arm finally walked in to look around.

"Your new armour," Iron-arm answered for Dominic before he wandered over to the bathroom.

"There wasn't anything wrong with our old armour." Alanna said as she walked back into the bedroom and over to the bed.

"There were a lot of things wrong with your old armour." Dominic replied, "Alanna your amour was hastily designed so that it was ready for use, the blacksmiths have refined the design, your parents have new armour as well."

"Well Tarval didn't need new armour." Alanna stated, "his armour hasn't changed in hundreds of years..."

"Thousands..." Tarval corrected.

"Thousands of years, why the change now?" She moved away from the bed and over to the armour.

"Because Tarval's armour needed to be upgraded." Dominic stated, "Go on see what's been done."

Alanna pulled the covers from her armour and stared at it, the design was a little more form fitting, less bulky then her original, although still with a polished silver finish; the etchings were the same as the door only the Phoenix was clutching the sword pierced heart. The back plate hadn't changed; it was still quite plain except for the randomly raised lines placed across the metal. She wished they would stop putting these marks on her armour but she knew they would forever be on her armour even if her skin no longer bore the scars. Those marks were how she became known in this world, for getting up and walking twelve steps after receiving thirty lashes from a nerve whip, a painful weapon from which five lashes rendered a strong Nephalim unconscious. The lines on the back plate matched the slowly fading scars still present on her back down to the millimetre. A new thing was the gold trim on the shoulder guards and around the neck.

Tarval turned to his armour and removed the cover, it was still mat black with the signature four white feathers only etched behind them was two swords crossed on a Phoenix's chest. He too now sported gold trim around the shoulder guards and neck. But other than a slight re-work of the design his armour was essentially the same.

"What's with the gold?" Tarval asked.

"It means you are high ranking, Warlord or other," Iron-arm explained, "Flight leaders get blue trim, Wing leaders get red trim, craft masters get green. It is to help differentiate the warriors ranks, all Nephalim are using this system, you'll also notice you have a gold band in your mail around the biceps."

"Then why do I have gold?" Alanna asked.

Dominic chuckled, Alanna's insistence that there was nothing special about her really made him laugh. He had told Amy and Wolfgang that Alanna really needed to spend time in Sogol to truly understand that she was important regardless of how she viewed herself. Amy had countered, she's modest and a good leader doesn't show off.

"That is simple," Iron-arm said, "for starters you are a sword master and second you are Alanna Brave-heart."

Alanna rolled her eyes and put the cover back on to keep the dust off. She smiled at Dominic, "This place is awesome."

Sage chose this moment to come back into the room, grabbing her sister's arm she almost dragged Alanna to a door she hadn't noticed before. Sage opened it and walked Alanna into the nursery. "I know it looks a little plain but we generally don't furnish a nursery until after the first month, because if you haven't miscarried by then it is unlikely that you will. Michelle is organising the baby shower."

"That sounds like fun," Alanna said as she looked around, Sage chuckled knowing her sister didn't really mean it. There were a few things in the room, a changing table, chest of drawers and some other furniture but the room was essentially bare. Sage walked Alanna over to the rocking chair and opened the shutters which brightened the room.

"Give it a try." Sage urged and Alanna complied; moving over to the chair, the wood was glossy and smooth and was a delight to sit in. Alanna leant back and the chair started to do a gentle rocking motion. "Your chair will basically be the same; only the carvings will be different because it will be your chair."

Alanna closed her eyes as the chair continued to rock.

"Bianca used to rock herself to sleep in that chair all the time," Dominic said gently.

Sage wrapped an arm around her father, "She'll come back."

"I know... I just miss her." He replied.

"So is there anything else we need to know about?" Tarval asked as he glanced around the nursery.

"No, you can explore all you want. Travis and Jewel are in charge of keeping these rooms; they will be taking care of your needs." Dominic explained, "and you can eat here or go to the great hall."

Jewel entered the room and smiled at Alanna, "I have set up tea at the table." She told the room before she turned and left.

"Tea... Luna I want coffee." Alanna complained but walked out of the room. Susan and Destiny were already at the table and examining the food on offer. Everyone sat and took cups as Jewel finished preparing the tea; once it was ready she poured it out then left the room.

Iron-arm studied Destiny and Susan, "So... what kind of women are you, are your fighters or..."

"We can kick your arse," Destiny interrupted which raised a chuckle out of Iron-arm.

"Prove it," Iron-arm said once he stopped chuckling, "early morning training, be there."

"Oh we'll be there, I will even promise not to humiliate you." Destiny said sweetly but there was steel in her voice. It gave the warning that she was dangerous.

Iron-arm studied her for a moment, "you know... before I met Alanna I may have laughed at that and dismissed your comment. I now know better." He finished and everyone chuckled.

"Good," Destiny replied before she sipped at her tea.

Iron-arm turned to Susan, "hey... I was trained by Amy." Susan stated.

Iron-arm turned to Dominic, "Why didn't we see Bianca in the ring?" He asked as besides Bianca every other Were female he had met was a warrior, proud of it and ready to prove themselves the equal to any warrior they met. Bianca however had been nothing like that.

"Because Bianca was a normal ranked Were, an Omega or general pack member. Nothing like the other Were you've met, who are Enforcers and higher, she was never trained to fight in ring, she knew how defend herself but nothing more until she came here. Then I began to train her in private. She wanted it to remain private, to be a secret weapon so to speak." Dominic explained as he picked up a piece of cake.

Alanna woke slowly the next morning, Tarval stroked her back as he waited for her to leave the land of nod. She stretched, "what time is it?"

"Just on dawn," he answered, "you slept like the dead last night." He added a little concerned.

Alanna shrugged, "I guess I needed to sleep. I'll talk to Susan it might be a part of being pregnant."

"Come we have a lot to do today," he prompted.

"Can't we just stay in bed all day?" She asked.

Thinking about it for a minute he sighed, "not today." He gently slid out from under her and stood, stretching for several moments before he turned and smiled at her. "Come on, up."

She sighed and crawled out of bed, she followed him into the bathroom and into the large shower stall. Tarval turned the taps on and the two shower heads started to spray hot water. Alanna had wondered how they had hot water plumbing, Sage had explained the whole process of aqueducts, thermal heating and more but Alanna hadn't quite understood it all.

The hot water was heavenly against her body but she had to wash and get out so that her day could start. She grabbed a towel as Tarval turned the taps off, after a quick dry off she wrapped a towel around her hair and another around her body before leaving.

Jewel was bustling around the room, laying out clothes.

"Do you sleep?" Alanna asked as she joined Jewel at the bed, unwrapping the towel around her head she willed her hair to dry or it would still be wet later that day.

"Yes, I just get up earlier." Jewel replied with a grin, "Travis has gone to wake Susan and Destiny." She continued as she finished laying out a shirt for Tarval.

Tarval walked into the room, a towel hung low on his hips as beads of water slowly trickled down his body. He didn't notice Alanna lick her lips as he dried. Jewel slipped from the room with a grin, shutting the door on her way out. Alanna walked over to her mate and wrapped her arms around him, she licked at a bead of water on his firmly built chest.

His arms wrapped around her tightly, he shuddered as he felt her teeth gently bite him. Desire coursed through his body and he started to rise to the occasion, he took a deep breath and caught her chin, lifting it he gently brushed his lips against hers. "We will be late." He told her and stepped out of her arms.

Alanna stood still for several moments; normally Tarval didn't mind being a little late and she knew he wanted her. Shrugging it off she started to dress.

"Can you do my laces?" He asked as he turned his back.

She snorted; he asked the same question every time he got dressed. "Always," she teased trying to lighten the mood; as she could feel slight tension coming through their bond. Her fingers quickly laced the back of his shirt together and left simple bows just in case he took his shirt off. "Done," she told him as she rested a hand on his back, "is something wrong?"

"No..." He answered almost too quickly.

"Tarval..."

He turned and pressed his fingers to her lips, "nothing is wrong." Turning he sat on the foot locker that was at the foot of their bed and pulled on his boots. Alanna sat next to him and pulled her own boots on, tucking her pants into the boots and lacing them up as she wondered what was bothering her mate.

Walking over to her weapon rack she grabbed her first belt and threaded it through the loops at her hips. Her sword belt went on just above it, grabbing her dagger she went back to the foot locker and popped her left foot on the lid so she could strap the dagger to her left calf. Finally a small dagger was hidden in her clothes, as Crystal always told her when she was teaching Alanna to fight with daggers, always have a spare, one they don't know about, it might just win the battle.

"I could do with a coffee," Alanna said.

"But you will settle for tea." Tarval said with a grin as he led her from the room, Nathanael had been strict when he told her what she couldn't have while pregnant, coffee and alcohol were on the top.

Destiny yawned and stretched as she walked into the main room followed by Susan who was holding a brush. Alanna sat and grabbed a piece of bread and dipped it into honey, this was a very light meal just to wake the mind and body up a little before early training. Once the warm ups were done they would break for a bigger meal then go straight back out to training and duties.

Jewel picked up her own hair brush and approached Alanna. Alanna held as still as possible as Jewel started to brush her hair, once the tangles were out Jewel braided Alanna's hair, before carefully lashing the union feather in place. Alanna stood as she popped a piece of cold meat into her mouth; wiping her hands on a cloth she willed a brush into her hand and started to brush Tarval's hair and willed it to dry in the process. Wetting a leather thong she put his hair into a low ponytail then plaited the excess so that it wouldn't hinder him.

Turning she noticed that Jewel had taken care of Destiny's hair and was working on Susan's hair. Susan slid a bottle of pills to Alanna, "go on, you know the drill."

"What's that?" Jewel asked nodding at the bottle.

"A multi vitamin designed for pregnant women, it gives both mother and child all the nutrients they need. That supplement is designed specifically for Were, because we have higher metabolic rates which are accelerated further when pregnant." Susan explained.

"And how often does she need to take them?" Jewel asked.

"Two morning and night until the child is born then she goes onto a different multi vitamin until the child is weened." Susan replied, "Alanna has a bad habit of forgetting."

"I forgot once!" Alanna complained as she palmed the required two tablets.

Jewel grinned and took the bottle, "I'll keep on top of it," she said as she tucked the bottle into a pocket.

"I have a couple of months supply in my things and Amy said she would send through more when I need it." Susan added and watched as Alanna swallowed the pills.

"So she'll only need to take these for five months," Jewel said as she tapped her pocket.

Alanna coughed as she had inhaled her drink, "five months?"

Jewel nodded, "Da'Vaila pregnancies only last five months, the children are born small, it is as much to protect the mother as to protect the delicate wings."

"How small?" Susan asked her medical mind thinking about possible medical problems with such a small child with an accelerated birth cycle.

"Generally no more than four pounds," Jewel replied.

"How developed is the child?" Susan asked as four pounds to her mind was tiny.

"Bianca asked the same question, Da'Vaila pregnancies are accelerated, the child will be fully formed just like a pregnancy that lasts nine months." Jewel answered.

"Man I wish electronic devices worked here, then I would have brought an ultra sound..."

"Ultra sound? What is that?" Jewel asked.

Susan thought for a moment, "it shoots sound into the body and makes a picture, we use it to monitor pregnancies, we can track development, even determine sex."

"Sounds like a good device." Jewel replied.

"It is but electronic devices don't work here." Susan said a little frustrated, she was a healer yes but having access to the Ancient labs made her much more curious of everything. Jewel nodded.

Alanna thought for a moment then clicked her fingers as she sent out a mental request, she waited a few moments before a portal opened. Taylor bounced through followed by Rhun. "Hi Rhun, hey Taylor," Alanna said.

"You wanted to see me?" He queried as he glanced around.

"Yeah... do you think you could get around the fact that electronic devices can't work here." She asked.

Rhun thought about it carefully, "what kind of device?"

"Ultra sound," she answered.

Rhun sat and started to think as Taylor looked around. "Modern ultra sounds won't work." He mused to himself then grinned, "but an Atlantian one will," he turned to Alanna, "I can have this done by the end of the day." He turned to his mate, "stay with one of them and stay out of trouble." He told her before he stood and walked through a new portal.

Susan rubbed her hands together pleased, "excellent," she got up just as a bell started to toll. "What's that?"

"Quarter toll," Sage said as she walked in, "hey Taylor when did you get here?"

"Just then," she replied. "So what are we doing?"

"Early training." Sage replied and gestured that they needed to get going.

Everyone but Jewel left the room and followed Sage down to the warrior training fields. The area was split into sections, each flight got a section to train in and there was a central area where people from different flights could fight each other, Travis left them to join his flight and wing. Dominic was waiting near the central section. Susan and Destiny started to stretch and were followed by everyone else. Iron-arm joined them just as they finished.

"So... who am I fighting?" He asked.

Destiny paced around him then chuckled, "sorry I can't... I will humiliate you and I promised I wouldn't."

Iron-arm frowned, "I am faster than I look."

"Not that fast." Destiny replied.