Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

Savannah need rich soil to aid them in strengthening their bodies.\"
    \"Oh, my God!\" Shea spun around, wide-eyed, her gaze meeting Francesca\'s. \"We\'ve checked the women, but men determine the sex of the child, both in human and in Carpathian. We didn\'t check the men. Our problems started with a disproportionate number of male children.\"
    Francesca obviously tried to suppress her own excitement, opting for caution after so many disappointments.
    \"Maybe. It\'s logical, but we have to continue to explore every avenue open to us.\"
    Shea nodded her head several times, but squeezed Raven\'s hand. \"We\'re going to help Syndil and the others make this the best soil possible for you and Savannah,\" she said. \"And then I\'m going to my laboratory and figure this out. All you have to do is hold on a little longer.\"
    Raven nodded, but there were white lines around her mouth and desperation in her eyes. Lara had to look away from the open grief on her face.
    Some of the other women must have seen Raven\'s face. They once again formed their loose semi circle. A fire in the corner held a large pot and Francesca put several large stones of various composition into the water along with bunches of the small blue flowers and the bitterroot mandragora. While she added other herbs and ingredients, several other women lit aromatic candles. At once the scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air.
    The women began to sing the Carpathian lullaby.
    Lara found herself joining them, lifting her voice, feeling the overwhelming sense of love for the unborn children, calling to them to stay in the womb, safe and protected, waiting until the moment they were born and could be held in loving arms.
    Power surged in the room and it held a subtle difference. Feminine energy was every bit as potent as male, but it held roots of nurturing and compassion. Part mage as she was, Lara was very sensitive to the differences, sorting through individual threads and finding that the layers being woven around Raven and Savannah held genuine love and absolute harmony. The women had come together with one purpose-to save the babies-and no matter how each was different, from different backgrounds, their minds and hearts held the exact same objective and intent.
    The strength of the combined women was amazing. She felt bolstered by it and encouraged not just to be part of the amazing sisterhood, but to feel balanced and confident in herself and the others as a whole.
    Lara looked around the cavern at all the women, drinking in the sight, soaking in the feeling of unity. Power lived in each of them, as it did in all living things and they gathered that positive energy and used it for the best of all purposes-saving lives.
    She added her voice, a soft melodious plea, a soothing comfort to the unborn children. The women connected, so that they could feel each other, close in their minds, and they also felt Raven and Savannah, and through them, the children.
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    Savannah\'s two daughters were nestled close, listening intently and trying to ignore the spasms that occasionally clamped down on them. Raven\'s child was a boy. Her body was desperately trying to abort, laboring hard to rid itself of the intruder. The boy was in great distress, torn between fighting to stay with his mother, and gaining peace by leaving. Raven crooned softly to him, rocking gently, her empty arms folded over him as if she was cradling him.
    Syndil signaled to Skyler to take her position at the corner of the immense bed of soil prepared for the two pregnant women. Natalya and Lara took the lower corners. A hush fell over the cave until the only sound heard was Raven\'s labored breathing.
    Syndil\'s arms rose into the air and the other three women followed suit. Her feet began a pattern of dancing, her body swaying gracefully as her hands flowed in elegant lines. Skyler waited several heartbeats, humming the melody in perfect tune with Syndil until her feet took up the rhythm and she started the first line of the chant two lines behind Syndil. Lara took her cue from Skyler, waiting instinctively until her feet and hands, of their own volition, began to move. She felt the song of healing rising from inside to burst out. The air shimmered with power. And then Natalya joined them.
    Their voices rose in song and they danced an intricate pattern to the sound of their bare feet patting the dirt as if drawing music from the very center of the earth. Lara