Wolf King and his Fox Consort [BL]

Gu Wei gave Chu Yun a piece of soft leather to bite into, which immediately alarmed him. Even more so when he said, "so you don't bite through your tongue."

Xiao Zai's fingers tightened around Chu Yun's, his palm growing sweaty.

Next, Gu Wei told him to inhale deeply from a pungent smelling vial.

"This will numb the pain somewhat."

At that Chu Yun let out a relieved sigh, already feeling his mind grow syrupy and foggy.

"But it still won't be enough, and you must be prepared for the pain and hold still."

Ah, so much for that, then.

Gu Wei looked up into Xiao Zai's eys, "You must hold his shoulders down and keep him in place, don't let go of him."

Chu Yun swallowed drily, as Xiao Zai moved behind him and knelt behind his head, clamping his hands down on his shoulders, pushing them flush down onto the mattress.

Their eyes met for a moment, an entire silent conversation passing through that single gaze. They were both scared, but they didn't have an alternative.

Like many times before, the only way out was through.

They had weathered worse storms.

Chu Yun smiled up at Xiao Zai, lopsided and slow as a result of the medicine. "Are you ready?"

That got a chuckle out of Xiao Zai. "I'll manage," he said softly, running his knuckles across Chu Yun's cheek.

A servant pulled back Gu Wei's sleeves and tied them up to his upper arms, while Gu Wei pinned all of his long hair tightly on top of his head.

"I sent word to your physicians, but we have to get started without them," Gu Wei said, while washing his hands carefully on a copper basin that same servant brought for him.

A shudder went through Chu Yun the moment Gu Wei picked the sharpest blade. That was going to cut through his abdomen, several layers of skin, and muscle, in the hope of opening a path for the children inside him.

It was as incredible as it was terrifying. Never before was Chu Yun so aware of his own frailty.

"Bite," Gu Wei reminded him.

Chu Yun slipped the piece of leather between his teeth with his free hand and closed his eyes.

But when the blade made the first incision into his skin, the pain was so great that the shock locked up his muscles. He wouldn't have been able to scream even if he'd wanted to.

---

Xiao Zai thought he was prepared for the birth, Gu Wei himself had told him how it would happen, but the truth was that no one was ever ready to see someone sink a hand inside someone else's insides and pull out a child.

It pained him to have to hold Chu Yun steady for what he knew had to be akin to torture. Gu Wei's forearms were coated in a thick layer of Chu Yun's blood. The sight of it made Xiao Zai feel like crying.

Chu Yun's head thrashed back and forth, dark hair scattered over the white mattress like drifting reeds. He was delirious with pain, his eyes rolling back into their sockets, as Gu Wei reached and pulled a second child out of him.

Even the cries of their children, confirming their good health, couldn't relieve Xiao Zai of the anguish of Chu Yun's suffering.

He wanted to prostrate himself at Chu Yun's feet and apologise.

"Stop crying." His dam's voice surprised him, as did the annoyance of his tone. "He's enduring the pain, what makes you think you have a right to cry?"

Xiao Zai didn't have an answer for him, only rage bubbling in his chest.

But now was not the time.

Gu Wei worked fast, even if to Xiao Zai it felt like he'd been watching Chu Yun slowly bleed out for hours. In minutes, the children were born, and Gu Wei running a heated needle and wine soaked thread through the open gash on Chu Yun's lower abdomen.

When the sutures were done, Xiao Zai was shocked at how small the incision had been. In his mind Chu Yun had been cut in half.

Luckily, Chu Yun had been blissfully unconscious for that part of the procedure, his chest now rising and falling slowly.

Gu Wei leaned back on his heels with a deep sigh. "It is done," he wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his wrist, leaving it streaked with blood.

His dam's servant approached Xiao Zai with a squirming bundle in each arm. She had cut the umbilical cord on each child and wiped most of the blood off of them.

"Congratulations, your Majesty," she said, transferring both of them into Xiao Zai's waiting arms.

Twins.

Just like they had joked about.

Xiao Zai looked down into the babies' wrinkled, frowning faces and cried once again. They felt so small and fragile in his arms, he was afraid of holding them too tightly.

Two small, sharp wolf ears peaked from under the blanket the servant had wrapped around their hairless heads. Only those tiny ears had fur on them.

Xiao Zai felt a sudden pang of sadness that both of them were wolves. He would have liked a little fox.

But he banished that thought as soon as it appeared. Chu Yun had given them two beautiful babies, they were perfect just as they were -- he wouldn't want to change anything about them.

"It's going to leave a scar," Gu Wei said, cleaning the blood around the closed stitches on Chu Yun's abdomen. "It won't be too bad, but he might not like it. Many don't."

Xiao Zai swallowed drily. Chu Yun would have a physical reminder of the pain he endured for the rest of his life.

"How will I ever pay him back?" Xiao Zai asked, looking down once again at the babies in his arms. They had just met but he already loved them so much. He couldn't wait for Chu Yun to wake up and meet them too.

Gu Wei let out a little breathy snort, not quite a chuckle.

When their eyes met Gu Wei's gaze was soft, as Xiao Zai had rarely seen it.  "Just remember how you're feeling now, that will make it easy to show your gratitude." He looked down at Chu Yun,  whose sleep now seemed more peaceful. "But I think he already knows."