Raven let out her breath. «Thank you, Natalya.»
Savannah's long lashes lifted. Her eyes were swimming with tears. «My daughters thank you as well. They're trying to hold on, but my body is rejecting them.» She wrapped both arms around her middle and rocked gently. «I tell them I want them to stay with me, but they feel my body attacking them.»
Raven nodded. «I can't bear to lose another child.»
The naked sorrow in her voice tore at Lara's heart. A tall, elegant woman with waist-length thick black hair immediately knelt between the two pregnant women, laying a hand on either of them.
«Francesca,» Natalya supplied. «Lifemate to Gabriel, healer, and adopted mother to Skyler. She's an amazing woman. Now tell me what you want me to do.»
Lara was happy to have her there. She didn't know any of the women, and looking at Skyler was like looking at herself as a young girl. A little lost. Very much alone. Traumatized. The teenager made her feel exposed. Natalya was clearly a puzzle to the women, although it was obvious they admired her.
«This is about healing the earth first,» Syndil explained. «We've found the richest soil we could and have coaxed more minerals in it, but we have to heal it from all toxins.»
«And parasites,» Lara muttered under her breath.
Shea spun around. «What did you say?»
Lara wished she hadn't spoken, but they were all looking at her expectantly. She pressed her fingers against her suddenly throbbing temple. «I'm sorry. I was thinking out loud.»
«No, I need to know what you said,» Shea insisted.
Lara shrugged. She didn't want to talk about her childhood, or even think about it. «Xavier always experimented with parasites. He was never satisfied with them and always looked for ways to use them. He once said they had been more useful than any of his most gifted mages. I can't imagine that he would do anything without that being his first thought. He could create toxins for the soil, but what if he created a parasite that entered the host body and prevented pregnancy?»
Francesca stood up slowly, her eyes meeting Shea's over the tops of both Raven's and Savannah's heads.
«We checked for foreign microbes. We scan the bodies of the women all the time,» Shea said. «Gregori would never miss something like that.»
«Maybe,» Lara said, «but Xavier is a master at working with microscopic amoebas. And when you're dancing to heal the earth, you're looking for modern-day toxins.»
Shea frowned. «Do you have any idea how many toxins are found in a newborn's umbilical cord or in breast milk? The soil is what we live in, what rejuvenates us, yet our children can't go to ground with us or use the most perfect nutritious milk nature can provide. I could name every chemical we've found in the soil, most of which cause cancer and…»
Raven laid a restraining hand on her sister-kin's arm. «Lara, our water supply and our soil are fed from the purest of sources, the glacier. Even with that, Syndil has to heal the earth.»
«I'm just saying maybe your glacier isn't the purest of sources. Xavier owns the ice caves. The caves run for miles beneath the mountains, an entire city really. His mountain is above your homes and his glacier feeds your water supply and seeps into your soil. You've discounted him because you think he's dead. Well, he's not. No one is going to kill him. And he hates the Carpathian people. If he could have, he would have found a way to introduce something into your systems to make your bodies reject a pregnancy.»
Lara ran a hand through her hair. «I'm not saying it isn't modern toxins, I'm only saying you might want to look to your past for answers as well.»
She couldn't believe she was voicing her opinion to the circle of women. Growing up outside the ice caves, she had stayed under the radar by remaining as quiet and meek as possible. She had learned that if she wanted to remain with a family or in a camp, she had to keep from being noticed-not too easy when her hair banded with color and her eyes changed as well. The gypsies she had been with had been kind to her, but they were superstitious and her strange appearance along with her psychic abilities often made her unwelcome.
«Don't be uncomfortable,» Francesca encouraged. «We need as many new ideas as possible.»
«Well, Xavier isn't just a possibility as far as I'm concerned, he's done something to cause this. He might be spreading toxins to the land, and the water, but I would bet my life that he introduced something to Carpathian women that cause them to reject their children.»
«We checked the women thoroughly,» Francesca said. «And not everyone has the problem.»
«Let's get this started again,» Syndil said. «Raven and 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.
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.