Her hand was being squeezed, probably more tightly than it had during the entire birth, but still, Adora could barely feel it.

She could hear Glimmer somewhere beside her, but her voice was distant like an echo. Adora stared after her, a cold chill running through her limbs as Marlena was swarmed by the two other healers who had been helping them throughout the labor.Ĭonfused, dread washing over her like a sinking wave, Adora’s world shrunk down to a small tunnel, zeroed in on the backs of the healers as they fussed over the quiet newborn. Marlena, the head healer, took the baby away immediately-also without a word. That’s what she’d read, that’s what she remembered. ‘It’s the sign that their lungs are breathing air for the first time.’ The deafening silence that followed when, after eight strenuous and painful hours, the baby arrived in silence.Īfter all of the studying and preparing she’d done for this moment, Adora was certain babies cried when they were born. Silence was what Adora remembered most about that day.

Wow crown of courage