Chapter 58: Finally the Day!

Nonetheless, she would keep the King's offer in mind, and she would wait until such a day came. Perhaps she actually would be Lady Ellaria Uller of Hellholt sometime in the future.

What really mattered was that Obara and Nymeria now had their father's name. When this winter ended, Oberyn would discuss the idea of betrothal with his eldest, and Gregor would send a raven to Clegane's Keep to proposition his brother. Then they would finally know whether or not a marriage contract between Obara and Sandor was truly on the table.

Robert Baratheon was not the only highborn who wrote to Moat Cailin during that winter.

Two weeks after the king's letter arrived, two more ravens arrived from Winterfell and Highgarden. Lady Catelyn Stark and Lady Alerie Tyrell had finally answered the missives sent to them by her uncle and her brother respectively.

The reason they had taken so long to respond was not due to lack of interest. Quite the contrary; the idea of uniting the North and the Reach through marriage had caught their fancy. They had spent the last eleven weeks going over that concept with their husbands (and goodmother in Alerie's case).

After discussing this topic amongst themselves, the two Great Families decided to exchange some correspondence with each other, as well. Recently, a number of ravens had flown back and forth from Winterfell and Highgarden. More letters had been sent between those two fortresses in the last three months than they ever had in history

Robb Stark and Margaery Tyrell were still too young to speak for themselves, but their parents were raising them to be dutiful children. When they were old enough, they would consent to whatever matches their parents chose for them, and they would fulfill their obligations without protest.

After a great deal of deliberation, Lord Eddard Stark and Lord Mace Tyrell agreed to entertain the notion of a betrothal between the former's son and the latter's daughter. No marriage contracts had been drawn up just yet, but one was being heavily considered.

So for the present, it appeared as though the wolf and the rose just might be joined together in the near future.

Now that the issues of Obara's legimization and Robb and Margaery's betrothal had been resolved, Gregor was able to better focus on problems closer to home. Mainly getting his people through winter and caring for Dacey for the duration of her pregnancy.

Incredibly, not one person at Moat Cailin died during this winter. The improved housing arrangements ensured that everyone stayed warm and comfortable.

In spite of the unfriendly weather conditions, many of the moat's residents could often be found frolicking out in the snow. That crowd was not limited to the children at the moat. There were grown men and women who partook in activities typically reserved by a younger group. These activities included snowball fights, making impressions in the snow, and snowmen building.

When he had a bit of leisure time, Gregor would join his fellow Legionnaires out in the courtyard for a bit of amusement in the snow. He packed a decent snowball and designed a fair snow angel, but his snowmen were larger than anyone else's.

Whenever he built one, Gregor liked to whistle the melody to "Let's Build a Snowman"from 'Cannibal: The Musical.'

Every now and then, one of his men would look at him in astonishment. That was not too surprising; they had never heard that tune or anything like it before. Even so, Gregor never told anyone the lyrics to that song. That was mostly because of how goofy and ridiculous the song was (just like the musical it was from). All the same, he rather liked that song (and the musical itself).

Dacey was able to accompany her husband in the snow for the first half of her pregnancy. She even joined in some of the activities.

The Bear Islander proved to be much better at snowball fights than the Mountain. Whenever two teams were designated, Dacey often commanded one of them, and her team was usually the one that won.

Then again, many of the people on the opposing team were reluctant to chuck snowballs at her. Not only was she the lady of Moat Cailin, but she also carried the heir to the moat inside her.

Dacey was quick to notice this, and she adamantly asserted that neither she nor her babe was a weakling, and that she could take a few blows. Not wishing to displease their lady, the other combatants agreed not to treat her any differently in a snowball fight.

This went on until the fifth month of Dacey's pregnancy. At that time, in the midst of a particularly heated battle, Dacey took a snowball to her lower chest. It had not struck anyplace close to her abdomen, but the force had been enough to knock the wind out of her. After she collapsed, Gregor promptly came to his wife's aid and carried her inside. Maester Kennick confirmed that she was merely short of breath. Gregor suspected that the other team had been hiding rocks in their snowballs, but he never found any evidence substantiating that theory.

At any rate, after much insistence (and begging) on the part of her husband, Dacey agreed to withdraw from the snowball wars until after their child was born.

One thing Gregor really admired about Dacey was how gracefully she handled her pregnancy.

Gregor could vividly recall his first mother's last two pregnancies. Gregory Welch's mother had been a very king and compassionate woman by nature, but whenever she was expecting, she could become very impatient, irritable, and sometimes unpleasant to be around.

Dacey was nothing like that. She was susceptible to mood swings, but those never lasted long. They actually seemed to be under her control. She had impressive discipline over her mind and emotions. Gregor wondered how she came to possess that feat. Maybe it was because the residents of Bear Island were accustomed to hardship, even more so than most of the other Northern houses.

Dacey still experienced many of the other symptoms that traditionally complemented pregnancy. The first three months were plagued morning sickness. She was more susceptible to changes in temperature, and she rose from bed at least once a night to use the privy.

She tried not to allow the symptoms to impact her everyday life. Still, in the seventh month, she voluntarily agreed to stop sparring in the training yard. By then, her reflexes and her range of motion had been severely reduced by the swell in her abdomen. Even so, she did not relinquish her duties as the Lady of Moat Cailin.

Finally, the day came.

In the early morning near the start of the ninth month of 287 A.C., Gregor was awoken very abruptly by his wife. As the Mountain regained his senses, Dacey complained about a sharp pain in her lower body. She appeared to be having contractions. They quickly discovered that her water had broken.

Gregor jumped out of bed and got dressed as quickly as he could. Dacey could not be bothered to dress. That was a bit of a problem; she was clad only in her smallclothes. So Gregor wrapped her in a thick robe of wolfskin, and he placed soft sheepskin slippers on her feet.

After that, Gregor carried Dacey down the stairs of the Lord's Tower, and he brought her all the way to Maester Kennick's chambers. To their good fortune, the maester was an early riser. He had already eaten his breakfast and he was preparing for the day.

When his lord arrived with his wife in arms, Kennick snapped to attention. One glance at Dacey was enough for Kennick to understand what was going on. He had already assembled a birthing chamber in the adjoining room. He had Gregor bring Dacey to that room. The Mountain took Dacey over to the bed and set her down gently.

As the maester tended to Dacey, Gregor went to fetch the midwife. He found her in one of the villages north of the moat. It took a few minutes to get her out of bed, but once she was apprised of the situation, she hastily and compliantly followed her lord back to the moat.

The midwife was a middle-aged woman named Vera. She and her family had been among the first of the smallfolk to move into the towns north of Moat Cailin. Vera had three children of her own, and she had assisted dozens of other women with the delivery of their babes.

Shortly after Dacey's pregnancy became known, Vera had offered her services in the birthing chamber. Since she had ample qualifications for the part, Gregor was quick to grant her that request.

When they returned to the birthing chamber, they found that Dacey and Maester Kennick were not alone. Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand had joined them. Somehow, the Red Viper and his paramour had caught word of what was happening. They must have seen Gregor carrying Dacey to the maester's quarters. That was the only reasonable explanation.

How they knew mattered little to Gregor. What was important was that they were there to help. Ellaria wished to assist Vera with the delivery, and Oberyn planned to provide moral support for Gregor.

Once Dacey was comfortably settled, Gregor and Oberyn were shooed out of the room by Vera and Ellaria.

They claimed that other than maesters, men had no place in the birthing chamber. Gregor tried to protest, but Vera was deaf to his pleas and demands.

For his wife's sake, he did not make a scene. Reluctantly, he joined Oberyn out in the corridor.