Norman sat with his forearms braced on his knees, his gaze fixed on Ainsley’s still face. He knew there wasn’t long. He knew Katelyn Ashowan was nearing her limits, and that when she was no longer keeping his wife with them amongst the living, it was unlikely she would wake up.

“Your majesty?” Ruby’s voice broke the quiet.

Forcing Norman to turn his bleary stare to look at her.

“The Prince is outside the chamber as you requested.” The Head of Housekeeping watched her King, and felt sorrow twist her innards. He looked near death’s carriage himself. He had barely ate, slept, or drank in two days, and the light in his eyes had been completely extinguished... She wondered if it really was a good idea for the young Prince to see his father in such a state.

“Thank you, that will be all.” Norman dismissed her as he stood, sensing that the woman was fighting the urge to say something unnecessary.

Ruby curtsied with her lips pursed, and dutifully exited the room, giving the King another moment to pull himself together.

With a deep breath, the monarch crossed over to the door, and pulled it open to see his son standing waiting with two armed guards on either side of him. The Prince looked uneasy, and were it not for his formal education, he most likely would’ve been fidgeting rigorously.

“Eric, I’m going to let you see your mother-”

“Really?!” The little boy’s face broke out into a relieved grin, and Norman found himself cursing the fact that Fin was locked up for the night.

Kneeling down before his son, he reached out and gently brushed the boy’s golden curls. Ainsley had once told him that she had been blonde as a child…

As the King searched Eric's small face, he realized how much the Prince took after himself instead of the Queen, and was grateful for it in that moment.

“Eric, your mother isn’t… well. So when you go in you have to be very quiet alright? She is asleep, and we need to let her rest.”

The child’s smile dimmed. “When will she wake up?”

“I… don’t know. But I want you to see her right now, alright?”

The boy’s lips trembled. “Do I… Do I have to say goodbye?”

Norman’s heart shattered. He didn’t think there had been anything left to break, but as he drew his son in and hugged him, he found the pain in his chest intensified.

“Just say what you feel,” he replied before quietly waiting as Eric tried to calm down enough to go in to see his mother without being loud. It took a few moments, but eventually the Prince had regained control, and Norman set to explaining about Katelyn’s presence before taking him inside. Fin’s mother had fallen asleep nearly an hour earlier, and so it was the perfect time for a more private family moment...

The only sound in the room was their footfalls as they entered, but when Eric laid eyes on his mother, the King immediately worried that he was going to start crying loudly. However at the last moment, he seemed to remember that he needed to not disturb the healer or the Queen, and bit down on his lip quietly. His small hands balled into fists at his sides, and he walked stiffly over to his mother’s side of the bed with his father’s hands guiding him from behind.

Norman gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder, before taking a seat in the chair he had been in before getting up.

“C-Can mom hear me?” Eric whispered, his voice warbling.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Slowly, the boy reached up, and with trembling fingers grasped his mother’s hand. Her skin was cool to the touch, and made him give a small sniffle.

“M-Mum, I… I want you to wake up, please. I made a mess earlier, but Fin helped me clean it, but I’m sorry anyway. I scared Farrah, but I already apologized, I swear.” Eric wiped his nose using the back of his sleeve before he moved closer to his mother. “I named my sister, I think you’ll like it too. I named her-”

“That’s enough Eric.” Norman’s stern voice made the boy jump.

Bending down and planting a hasty kiss on his mother’s forehead, the Prince paused by her ear, and whispered something that the King wasn’t able to hear.

Then, he stepped back, and said, “I love you mom. Please come back soon.”

When the boy turned back to his father, his eyes filled with tears and his lip quivering, he threw his arms around him. The father and son shared a long embrace, each of them unable to properly say what they were both thinking and feeling in that moment.

When the time came for the King to finally escort his son from the room, Eric turned to him, his face tear stained.

“Alina should get to say goodbye too.”

Norman froze and his insides clenched painfully.

“Is that what you named…”

“My sister?” Eric supplied helpfully. “Yes. That’s what mom’s mom was called, right?”

Norman nodded slowly, unknowingly his hand clamped down a little more firmly on his son’s shoulder as he steered him to the door. Once the guards had taken charge of the Prince once more, the King returned to the room. His eyes cast to the floor as a deafening white noise blared in his head.

“Your highness?”

Turning wearily, the monarch saw Katelyn Ashowan sitting up slowly, the woman’s drawn face was somber. For a moment he feared she was about to tell him that he’d missed Ainsley’s last breath.

“What is it?”

“The Princess should meet her mother. It might be her only chance.” The healer’s voice was quiet.

Norman felt anger surge in him. He knew there were matters beyond anyone’s control, but Katelyn Ashowan was supposed to save everyone…

“Later,” he answered tersely.

Surprisingly, the healer didn’t even bat an eye. There was a calm stoniness to her that showed beneath her bubbly personality, lay a seasoned Physician…

One who had dealt with death and the turmoil it wrecked more times than she could count.

“Your majesty,” Katelyn began speaking again, but Norman exploded before she could finish her thought.

“No! There is no reason to bring her in here! We continue on. Besides, she will not remember the exchange. There is no reason to-”

“When she is older, you will see just how important it is,” Katelyn cut in, her voice quiet yet firm.

The King shook his head, his hazel eyes beginning to glare at the witch.

“No. I have said it is not what matters right now. You will perform the duties I have asked of you without your unsolicited opinion,” he snapped, stepping closer to the bed where she sat, still looking completely unflappable.

“Say the Queen does awaken. What will her first question be?” Kate asked evenly, her eyes filled with knowing.

Norman’s face drained of what little color it had left.

He knew exactly what Ainsley would ask...

She would want to know how their daughter was…

And he wouldn’t be able to answer.

Then, she would look at him in such a way that would bring all sense back to him and he would immediately…

“I don’t want her here.” The monarch’s voice was hoarse.

Katelyn stared at him wisely for several more moments before then turning her attention back to the Queen's sleeping form. She didn’t say a word as she resumed her position with her hands extended over the ruler, and once again bolstered the golden glow around her.

“If I… If I see her…” Norman's voice was cracked and it broke off as he tried to speak.

Reaching out with shaking hands, he touched his wife’s feet that were covered by their quilt. Her large feet that had trodden on his toes more times than he could count, and each time he’d tease her… make her laugh until he’d hear her snort…

“If I see our daughter, I’m frightened that I will fall in love with her, and that I…” Norman blinked and turned his gaze to the chamber window, unable to say the words.

“That you won’t regret how having her meant losing the Queen?”

Norman nodded. Unable to speak past the lump in his throat for several painful moments.

“Ainsley doesn’t deserve to die alone. Or me thinking even for a second that her death was…”

Giving his head a violent shake after a long quiet moment, the monarch stalked over once more to the chamber door, flung it open, and barked to the nearest guard that he was to fetch the Princess.

When he returned to the foot of the bed, he was visibly shaking, but he was staring with great intensity at Ainsley’s face. His own features a mask of stoicism.

Norman thought his heartbeat could be heard around the room, but Katelyn said nothing as she continued weaving her magic over the Queen.

So consumed in his own mind and emotions in the short span of time that felt like years, the King jumped at the sound of the door latch being lifted.

He immediately strode over to the window, his back facing the room as Physician Durand stepped in with a pile of blankets in his arms. Buried deep within their softness, was the Princess who was once again awake and staring around herself, though her eyes were struggling to focus on anything.

After closing the door behind himself and stepping further into the room, Physician Durand shared a meaningful nod with Katelyn before turning to the King.

“You summoned the Princess, your majesty?”

“Yes, show her Ainsley’s face, then be gone.”

“Sire, perhaps you can rest the Princess on the Queen. She has been listening to her majesty’s heartbeat for many months now and it might-” Physician Durand started patiently.

“Do whatever you deem fit,” Norman's thin grasp of his emotions was quickly slipping.

“Your highness, could you please take the Princess and position her? Physician Durand is not strong enough to do so.” Katelyn offered softly.

“I don’t believe that for a second, but if you both are going to try and convince me of more nonsense I’ll do it,” the King snapped while turning around and striding over to the Physician who was more than a little startled at the harshness of his tone.

Without looking down, the King scooped his daughter up into his arms. The movement so swift however, that he managed to startle her into crying.

Her weak cries followed by an immediate cough made Norman freeze. All pain and fury in his face disappeared in an instant as he laid eyes on his daughter for the first time.

The tension visibly left his shoulders, and instead he began gently rocking the child to try and soothe her on instinct.

“She coughed, is she alright?” His voice had softened considerably, and the Princess’ cries immediately faded away as she suddenly turned towards the sound of his voice.

“The lungs are underdeveloped when a child is born so early, but thus far she seems to be in otherwise good health,” Physician Durand explained kindly.

Norman unconsciously moved closer to Ainsley’s bedside, his gaze fixed on the baby in his arms as she began to squirm.

“She’s much smaller than when Eric was born.” Norman’s voice was gaining a small croak.

Despite her eyes being unable to focus, the Princess stilled once again when he spoke.

“She recognizes your voice,” Katelyn observed with a small smile.

Norman’s cheek began to quake, as he continued staring down at his daughter who had pulled her arm free of the blankets and was experimenting with making a fist.

Reaching with a trembling hand, Norman planted his thumb in her palm, and watched as the tiny fingers failed to be able to fully wrap her grip around it.

His heart leapt to his throat, and then…

Then, he succumbed to the tears he had kept at bay for far too long.

Staring down into his daughter's face Norman sobbed, and slowly, planted a watery kiss on her forehead, his beard tickling her face.

As he gradually knelt down beside the bed, he carefully moved the Princess to his wife’s chest. He set her small head so that her tiny ear was pressed close to Ainsley’s heart, and he watched through his tears as the baby once again stilled, and let out a contented sigh.

“It’s our girl, Ainsley,” he whispered as he then reached and stroked away the hair from the Queen’s forehead.

The room was quiet as Norman wept, and gently held his wife and daughter, unable to stop the flood of love and sorrow that rushed through him.

He gazed at them for as long as he could, trying to burn the image into his brain for the rest of his life.

“Eric named her after your mum. I think we’ll keep it, yeah? Alina. Maybe Lina for short, hm?” He asked brokenly as he then began rubbing soothing circles on the baby’s back. “Don’t worry, right now her feet look perfectly small.” He tried to laugh, but failed. Instead, he tried to content himself with watching Alina’s eyes move over him, and her fingers brush against Ainsley’s exposed skin.

As much as everyone in the room wished they could hold on to the moment forever, the baby began to fuss.

Her head had begun turning to try and find a source of food.

Norman didn’t move at first, his cry growing worse as he resisted taking back his daughter.

Dissatisfied and hungry, Alina began to cry, and he knew he couldn’t wait much longer. Norman lifted Ainsley’s hand, kissed it, then gently picked his daughter back up.

Leaning his forehead against hers, listening to her cry, Norman finally turned to Katelyn who was staring intently at the Queen.

“If you can’t go on much longer Mrs. Ashowan, it’s alright.” He whispered defeatedly as his daughter continued to flail about in his arms.

Katelyn didn’t say anything for a moment, but when she did turn to him, her face was completely serene before saying:

“I don’t need to continue.”

Norman’s eyes dropped to Ainsley’s face, and watched with bated breath, as her eyebrows twitched ever so slightly into a frown, and her brown eyes then ever so slowly, opened.