BUFFY Fic: For Always -- B/S
Title: For Always
Author: Magz
Rating: R
Pairing: Not!Buffy/Not!Spike
Summary: Once upon a time, as all good tales begin, there was a lovely dale where rain never dared to fall during daylight hours. All-human AU.
PROLOGUE
Once upon a time, as all good tales begin, there was a lovely dale where rain never dared to fall during daylight hours. Above the village, there was an old stone keep, and in that keep there lived a wealthy lord and his lady, watching over the town below. A clear, freshwater stream ran along the edge of the little town, and tall, ancient pines were scattered amongst the farms and shops.
Now it came to pass that on the same day, two women in the little sunny dale found themselves with child. One of these women was the lady Geniveve, wife of Lord Rupert, who lived in the keep. This was to be their first child, and they were thrilled beyond words about the babe's impending arrival.
The other of the two women was Lady Genivieve's midwife, a kindly farmer's wife named Jocelyn. Jocelyn and her husband, Henry, had a three-year-old daughter named Tara, who was very happy to have a new little brother or sister on the way. Tara couldn't wait to teach the new baby everything there was to know about the village.
Jocelyn had been training an apprentice named Drusilla, a dark-haired, flighty girl of seventeen. When the midwife became pregnant, she'd immediately begun teaching the girl how to birth a child, for she knew that she'd be unable to deliver her own and Lady Geniveve's babe within weeks of each other. If the Lady had her child first, Jocelyn would be too weak and unsteady to deliver, and if Jocelyn birthed first, then she'd need a few weeks to heal before being able to help others.
Months passed. The two women's bellies swelled with their babes, while their husbands doted on them as well as they were able.
On a night when strong summer thunderstorms rumbled overhead, both babes announced to their mothers that they wished to be born.
Jocelyn immediately sent for Drusilla. Lord Rupert ushered Genivieve to the midwife's cottage beside the keep. The deliveries went well. Jocelyn's child was born first, a new sister for Tara that she named Buffy.
A few long moments later, Drusilla placed a slippery baby boy, crying lustily, next to the quiet, clean girl-child. The infants squirmed and latched onto each other, still mewling, their little toothless mouths suckling on each other's shoulders.
The midwife's apprentice watched the babies embrace. She had a sudden fit of inspiration as she observed them clinging to one another, the highborn infant and the baby girl who would likely become a servant in his keep.
Your hearts I bind, forever and always...
It had been widely spoken that Drusilla possessed magical powers. Her father was a Gypsy, long-dead of la grippe, his body dissolved in lime. Her mother had raised her, and at the age of fifteen she'd been sent to Jocelyn to learn the arts of healing. Now, two years later, she had twisted fate with a simple, whispered incantation.
The silence from the infants, lying on a separate bed atop the woolen blanket, alerted the midwife's apprentice's attention. They were snuggled close together for warmth, asleep.
Author: Magz
Rating: R
Pairing: Not!Buffy/Not!Spike
Summary: Once upon a time, as all good tales begin, there was a lovely dale where rain never dared to fall during daylight hours. All-human AU.
PROLOGUE
Once upon a time, as all good tales begin, there was a lovely dale where rain never dared to fall during daylight hours. Above the village, there was an old stone keep, and in that keep there lived a wealthy lord and his lady, watching over the town below. A clear, freshwater stream ran along the edge of the little town, and tall, ancient pines were scattered amongst the farms and shops.
Now it came to pass that on the same day, two women in the little sunny dale found themselves with child. One of these women was the lady Geniveve, wife of Lord Rupert, who lived in the keep. This was to be their first child, and they were thrilled beyond words about the babe's impending arrival.
The other of the two women was Lady Genivieve's midwife, a kindly farmer's wife named Jocelyn. Jocelyn and her husband, Henry, had a three-year-old daughter named Tara, who was very happy to have a new little brother or sister on the way. Tara couldn't wait to teach the new baby everything there was to know about the village.
Jocelyn had been training an apprentice named Drusilla, a dark-haired, flighty girl of seventeen. When the midwife became pregnant, she'd immediately begun teaching the girl how to birth a child, for she knew that she'd be unable to deliver her own and Lady Geniveve's babe within weeks of each other. If the Lady had her child first, Jocelyn would be too weak and unsteady to deliver, and if Jocelyn birthed first, then she'd need a few weeks to heal before being able to help others.
Months passed. The two women's bellies swelled with their babes, while their husbands doted on them as well as they were able.
On a night when strong summer thunderstorms rumbled overhead, both babes announced to their mothers that they wished to be born.
Jocelyn immediately sent for Drusilla. Lord Rupert ushered Genivieve to the midwife's cottage beside the keep. The deliveries went well. Jocelyn's child was born first, a new sister for Tara that she named Buffy.
A few long moments later, Drusilla placed a slippery baby boy, crying lustily, next to the quiet, clean girl-child. The infants squirmed and latched onto each other, still mewling, their little toothless mouths suckling on each other's shoulders.
The midwife's apprentice watched the babies embrace. She had a sudden fit of inspiration as she observed them clinging to one another, the highborn infant and the baby girl who would likely become a servant in his keep.
Your hearts I bind, forever and always...
It had been widely spoken that Drusilla possessed magical powers. Her father was a Gypsy, long-dead of la grippe, his body dissolved in lime. Her mother had raised her, and at the age of fifteen she'd been sent to Jocelyn to learn the arts of healing. Now, two years later, she had twisted fate with a simple, whispered incantation.
The silence from the infants, lying on a separate bed atop the woolen blanket, alerted the midwife's apprentice's attention. They were snuggled close together for warmth, asleep.