CHAPTER 1.5

(6 months later)

TYTOS BLACKWOOD POV

It has been three years since he had married his lovely wife. She was too proud and headstrong, but also one of the smartest women he had ever known. Finally, he was ready to meet his firstborn. The maester of his house had again proved himself wrong, and Tytos had listened to his advisors' suggestions to get a new maester when the old one had predicted that his wife would have the child in two months. This was the sixth time he was wrong, and Tytos had been fed up with the arrogance exhibited by the maester, with none of the actual skill to back it up. He had requested Oldtown for a new and competent maester, and the Citadel, feeling snubbed, had sent someone called Marwyn the Mage as his new maester. At least he admitted he had no clue whatsoever about what was happening with his wife's pregnancy.

The maester had confessed that he had engaged in some forbidden trials and experiments, and the Citadel, fed up with him destroying yet another tower, had punished him by sending him here to serve at Raventree Hall. He was once considered for the position of Archmaester, but he preferred traveling and was fascinated by the mystic arts since he was an acolyte in Oldtown. The maester had been too honest when he said the only reason he accepted to come here was because of Bloodraven, or Brynden Rivers, who intrigued him, and he hoped to find something about the last known sorcerer in Westeros.

Magic was a bit of an uncomfortable subject among the Blackwoods. They had records that dated back to the Warg King in the North, who was a Blackwood, and Bloodraven had been recorded with the same abilities as the Warg King. The ability to control a large number of animals came naturally to Bloodraven even as a child. To see through the eyes of ravens is how he was so successful as a military commander and how he used those same ravens to spy on his enemies when he was Hand of the King. The Blackwoods were proud of their magical heritage, as Tytos personally believed magic to be a blessing from the Old Gods. But after the fall of the dragons from the sky, magic was said to have vanished from the rest of Westeros, and hence he even understood where Marwyn came from.

When he was a child, Tytos had gone through all of the records of his ancestors possessing mysterious abilities, and he wished he was blessed with them too, but alas, he had grown up and found that he was not so lucky. He and Marwyn bonded over their evening drinks, where they talked about magic until it was dark outside. Marwyn had traveled the world and had gone all the way to Asshai and the Summer Islands in search of the last traces of magic left in Planetos, but all he found were some charlatans and some mysterious things that defied explanation, with nothing concrete in his travels.

Marwyn had a lot of tales of peoples in faraway lands, and Tytos found himself considering Marwyn as less of a Maester and more of a friend. Lords have few friends and fewer true ones, but he appreciated the Maester as he had come to know him as an honest man—a weird, eccentric, outspoken, funny, and disrespectful son of a bitch, but an honest one nonetheless.

He had taken a small retinue of loyal household guards and even Marwyn, who almost made him fall off his horse laughing when he saw the Maester ride the horse so awkwardly that even some soldiers had let out a laugh. They stopped in the village of Cairns, the place where all Blackwoods are laid to rest, and they had a tradition where, if possible, most of the Blackwoods are born here too. Their ancestors believed that they came from the earth and would go back to it when they die, so most Blackwood births happen in Cairns, and it seems that his firstborn would share his birthplace with most of the Blackwoods.

The guards guarding the mansion relaxed when they saw him, and he met his in-laws who waited outside and greeted him before inviting him in. "Old Martha and all the maids are with your wife, Lord Tytos," his father-in-law said, attempting to not show his nervousness and failing miserably. "She has delivered two generations of Blackwoods, and I believe this is her third. You need not worry about anything; the birth has gone on for a day, and both mother and child are still healthy. My grandson is still not leaving my daughter, so I think he would definitely be a mama's boy."

"Marwyn, can you take a look, please?" he begged, trying his level best to not show the same anxious expression as his father-in-law and failing just as miserably. Marwyn went into the room when he heard a huge scream from his wife, and Tytos followed him. He heard his wife swearing, and her voice dropping, betraying her tiredness. She screamed again, the volume decreasing as they rushed to the delivery room.

He opened the room, and there was so much blood. All the maids inside had a grim expression that betrayed the mood in the room. He rushed to his wife instantly and found her grip weakening as she held him. She seemed to be falling unconscious while trying her best to remain awake. She was blabbering now, and most of her words were slurred, and his expression darkened.

"Do something, Marwyn!" he screamed as he heard it start raining outside. When lightning struck, he saw his wife's face much more clearly, and it seemed she was not long for this world, and his heart broke.

"There is too much blood, Tytos. I'm sorry, but we have to take the child out forcefully, or we could lose both the mother and child," said Marwyn. Tytos would have personally executed him for even suggesting such a thing. The only thing stopping him from killing Marwyn was his wife's continuously loosening grip that weakened by the hour.

(6 hours later)

TYTOS BLACKWOOD POV

His wife had fallen unconscious, but he still felt her light breathing, even through the sound of the storm that had increased to a fever pitch. The maids had given up, their faces etched with defeat. Tytos felt as if the gods themselves despised him, forcing him to watch as his wife's life ebbed away slowly and painfully. He prayed to the Old Gods, begging and pleading for the lives of his wife and child.

Marwyn placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, a gesture Tytos appreciated amidst the sorrow that had broken his in-laws, who were shattered by the sight of their only daughter's demise. His father-in-law, with a face full of despair, implored him to save the child. "I will not lose everything today. I am losing my daughter, but I will not lose my grandchild too. You are the Lord of Blackwood; act like it," he screamed.

Tytos, feeling the weight of his title, asked Marwyn desperately, "Is there anything you can do to save her?" 

"No, my lord. I wish there was, but unfortunately, there is no other choice now. We can still save the child, but the mother is lost to us, I'm afraid," Marwyn replied with a heavy heart.

Tytos steeled himself, giving the go-ahead for the operation. He watched, heart in throat, as Marwyn cut open his wife's belly to deliver his child.

MARWYN'S POV

Marwyn the Mage, they called him with derision, and never more than now had he wished it to be true. Watching his new friend break down next to his slowly dying wife made him feel more terrible than ever. The baby cried when he took him out, a healthy and surprisingly heavy newborn. He placed the child in the mother's arms and announced, "It's a boy."

The mother's breathing grew heavier, and Tytos broke down, lamenting that she would break their promise. "We had a deal; you would name him if he was a boy, and I would name her if she was a girl. It's your duty now to name the heir of Blackwood. Please don't go," he begged.

Marwyn felt the cruelty of the gods. Tytos was an honorable, just, and well-liked lord who had never shirked his duty to his people and the realm. And yet, the gods chose to take away the love of his life. Good lords were rare, and good couples even rarer. Their marriage was one of love and devotion, and it showed in Tytos's broken demeanor.

As Marwyn moved to take the baby from the mother, the infant clung to her arms, refusing to let go. The young one cried into his dead mother's chest, with the lord on the other side crying too. A family that truly deserved happiness was torn apart before his eyes.

Then, the baby stopped crying, and Marwyn instructed the maids to take him to a wet nurse. As one maid reached for the baby, Marwyn witnessed the first real piece of sorcery in his life. A golden light emerged from the baby, enveloping the mother and the bed around her. A sound unlike any he had heard before—a mix of crushing glass and steel—originated from the baby, and he watched in awe as the wounds on Lady Blackwood closed themselves. Her gaunt cheeks and blue-tinged skin turned rosy and healthy with each passing second.

Lord Tytos, jaw agape, stepped back to witness the miracle. Some maids fainted at the sight, while Marwyn checked Lady Blackwood's heartbeat, finding it strong and healthy. She appeared to be in a deep, peaceful sleep, with the baby making happy gurgling noises beside her.

Magic was real, and Marwyn had seen it with his own eyes, more wondrous than he could have ever imagined. He was certain the baby had done something miraculous to bring his mother back from the brink of death. Pinching himself to ensure it wasn't a dream, he found it to be reality. Overcome with joy, he hugged Tytos, who returned the embrace fiercely. Then Tytos hugged the now peacefully sleeping mother and child, both wearing expressions of contentment.