Rise of Rurik - Chapter 688

[Chapter 689 Regalaf]

The weather is extremely cold, and now in the far east, Princess Mary has her fantasy drifting and her belly that is too big to be bigger.

She was forced to walk staggeringly. In recent days, even walking has become a luxury. The severe contractions were like a tsunami hitting the rocks, and her spirit almost collapsed.

Those maids who Rurik ordered to arrive in Novgorod took on the heavy responsibility of taking care of the Princess of Mercia.

At this point in the matter, it was very obvious that the child in her womb was only one step away from being born.

Rurik was busy with his important career, and objectively alienated the wife and concubine.

Considering his status, he really shouldn’t pay too much attention to her.

She is a prisoner of war, and the treatment she has today is purely a reward from Prince Ross.

She is also a flag, including the child in her womb.

It was indeed his own flesh and blood, and old Otto was also very much looking forward to this grandchild, hoping that it would be a baby boy.

The pain in her stomach had made Mary feel that things were very different since last night.

Those maids panicked and claimed that Princess Mercia was about to give birth to a prince!

Early in the morning Rurik got the news, and he hurried into Marie’s bedroom with mixed emotions.

She was lying on the wooden bed in front of her, covered with a thick blanket.

Her face was covered with sweat, and her whole face always gave people a serious sense of weakness.

“My lord…” A servant who took care of her immediately stood up and retreated when she saw the prince driving.

“No problem.”

Rurik raised his hand to signal them to continue, and he went up.

Weak girls always give people strong sympathy. Although she is a female prisoner and her blood is doubtful, she is indeed the princess of Mercia who once enjoyed the hegemony of Britain.

A generation of strong countries has been reduced to a weak country, and the princess has moved to Novgorod, two thousand kilometers east, and the one she will give birth to will be the heir to the throne of Mercia.

Mary kept clenching her teeth. According to the Europeans of this era, it is normal for a woman of this age to have children.

But in Rurik’s opinion, she was still too young, and the possibility of dystocia was too great for such a woman to be a mother.

He pulled Mary’s hand from the blanket and pressed it to her face: “Are you okay? You are weak…”

Mary slowly opened her eyes, forced a smile, her eyes danced as if she was about to say something.

Rurik hastily brought his ear closer.

Her eyes were full of tears, and her tone was soft: “I… have been in pain for a day. I have tried my best, and I… I am weak and weak. I am an unclean woman, and this must be God’s punishment for me.”

“You…” Rurik straightened up abruptly, and his expression of pity just now was suddenly serious, “Absurd, I am the son of Odin, and you will give birth to the child safely.”

“But I… am not Odin’s servant. The Lord is punishing me and making me suffer this kind of suffering. Everything is fate. I should have died two years ago! I… I am living a joke.”

It became difficult for her to speak, and she became angry after a lengthy speech in front of her.

Rurik hastily patted her face, trying to wake up the confused woman.

Mary opened her eyes again, and it was the same old situation.

Rurik glared at the maids, causing them to kneel down one after another in fright.

“Stand up, all of you! Get me some honey water, if she loses her strength, the baby won’t be born at all!”

They got the order and rushed to prepare honey. Rurik felt the seriousness of the situation more and more. Unexpectedly, Mary stretched out her hand suddenly and grabbed Rurik’s arm.

She clearly has something else to say.

“Rurik, I… this is my destiny. If I really die, burn me… according to your etiquette. I am your woman after all, and maybe Odin will accept my soul. But I Your child, male or female, is the heir of the royal family of Mercia. As you said, you will support this child to be the new King of Mercia.”

“Yes, it is my resolution. It doesn’t matter whether you are really Wiglaf’s daughter or not. Ernred of Northumbria, that fellow knows you are with me. And some of Frank’s The nobles also know that the princess of Mercia is in my hands.”

“Ah, that’s good.” She smiled on her chapped lips, and let out a long sigh of relief: “It’s time to give the child a name.”

“What do you call him?”

“I’ve already figured it out. The boys will be called Regalaf, and the girls will be called Reggrafnis.”

What does such a name mean?

Rurik understood easily.

He looked at Mary’s trembling eyes: “You are indeed taking revenge on those two men.”

She smiled, very relieved: “I am an unclean woman, my child is not. My child is also your child, let my child go to rebuild a kingdom. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Children must be baptized and must receive membership.”

“Is… really necessary? You can still think of this level?” Rurik asked.

“Very necessary!” Her eyes seemed to suddenly grow two knives, “Any king who wants to gain a foothold in Britain must at least believe in the Supreme Lord. Even those nobles are hypocritical and unclean, they must do so. If I really die, Please tell… tell the child. His mother loves him, he is the only heir to the throne of Mercia, and the new Mercia must… form an alliance with Rose. This is not what you hoped for, it is why you have kept me until now.”

The words were so deafening that Rurik couldn’t believe they came from her mouth.

Turning around and thinking about it, she once lived as a man’s toy, and all she thought about was revenge.

She is indeed forbearing enough, so she is not a cowardly idiot.

It’s just that this body is inherently weak, if she were a man, she would definitely become a tough figure who is good at power.

Rurik blamed himself for what he had done to her. If she hadn’t been pregnant now, she wouldn’t have faced a life-and-death dilemma.

Do not!

it’s not that serious

“Don’t be discouraged. You are too weak. Drink some honey water in a while, and everything will be fine. I want you to be the Queen of Mercia.”

“I hope so. If I… Rurik.” Mary squeezed out another word: “Do you know Caesarche?”

“Caesar cut? You?! No, it’s not so extreme.”

“In any case, you must protect the child, it is your flesh and blood. You must know, since you know, I hope you will do it at that time. You are… my only man.”

She was weak and fainted after that, leaving Rurik scratching his head.

Where is this “tossing all day”?

Rurik reckoned that she didn’t want to expose her dystocia, and had endured it for two days or longer.

Enduring extreme pain all the time, no matter how strong they are, they can die of exhaustion!

The honey water finally came, and Mary was forced to drink some, but the effect was limited. Rurik hoped that there would be a bottle and a hose to deliver glucose directly to her blood vessels.

With this experience, Mary’s dystocia could not be hidden.

Rurik has no idea about this kind of thing, but fortunately there is a stable woman here in Novgorod, and his old lady Niya has also done it herself.

Mary has been working hard with the help of a group of so-called experienced old women, but everything seems to be in vain.

Niya couldn’t understand at all, the woman didn’t change when she opened two fingers, as if an invisible force was blocking the window for new life to come into the world.

Only then did Niya realize that the noblewoman spared by her only son Rurik from the battlefield was originally an unclean person, but the child in her womb was sacred.

Or the evil power is doing stubborn resistance, trying to strangle the child and the mother together.

This was a decisive battle, and Niya hurriedly called the concubine and maid under Rurik, hoping to use them to sing the prayer mantra passed down by the Ross people since ancient times, praying for the god of fertility, Freya, to disperse the evil, and pray for the safety of the mother and child.

The girls sang with tears as they watched their eldest sister, whom they were all familiar with, suffer here.

She is a good sister, naturally dignified, understands Latin, and teaches everyone how to please a man (Rurik), and now…

Mary still didn’t give up, her face turned red and pale at times.

The more than twenty women gathered in the room had no clue, and the men waiting outside the door were even more helpless.

Rurik and Otto waited with pale faces. It was quite cold outdoors, and a clay pot was placed in front of them with burning wood to keep warm.

John Invar was ordered to pray for Mary, and to tell the truth he despised this unclean woman, who, willingly or not, had had a very bad relationship with her father and brother.

According to the law, he should be sentenced to death, and even the most gentle punishment is to be sent to a monastery for the rest of his life to do asceticism.

Mary has been whining, and the women have been encouraging.

Caesar’s cut was a caesarean section. In Mary’s current condition, only one such operation would allow her to give birth safely.

But wait!

Can this kind of medical technology be available in the whole of Europe?

Even if the child can be successfully cut out, the mother will undoubtedly die.

Rurik thought back to what Mary had said to himself, and it was clearly the last words on his deathbed.

Another whole day of tossing, immersed in all kinds of pain, the child still hasn’t come out.

Things are already very dangerous. Maybe the child will suffocate to death in the mother’s stomach.

At night, Rurik didn’t want to sleep peacefully, so he curled up in the cubicle and took a nap with his bloodshot eyes.

It was very late at night, and a few crazy noises woke him up.

A maid broke into Rurik’s couch and yelled, “Blood! Lots of blood! Mary…”

Misfortune struck, and when Rurik finally broke into Princess Mary’s room, she was covered in blood.

The oil lamps in the room made the room very bright, and also highlighted the horror of blood.

Dystocia caused massive hemorrhage?

Do not!

Rurik rushed up, knelt down beside her, put his fingers against her nose and lost his breath.

He was startled for a moment, his right hand hastily reached into the bedding, and his big hand directly covered her heart, but there was no movement…

Niya was trembling with fright, and the maids who insisted on chanting the mantra were also huddled together in fright.

“What happened?” Otto burst in.

Rurik turned his head hastily, trying to suppress his emotions: “She’s dead.”

“Ah?! No! Where is the child? Both mother and child are dead.”

“The child is still alive for the time being, it must be. It’s just…” Rurik clenched his teeth, “this is her fate. She is unclean, but the child is innocent. She expected all this and entrusted me to do it no matter what. Save this kid. Daddy, you should know what that is.”

Otto was surprised by this sudden situation, and while heartbroken, he did not lose the bearing of an old leader.

Otto ordered all the female relatives to evacuate with an old voice, and the wooden door was closed immediately.

Mary was as calm as if she had fallen asleep. She worked hard, but she didn’t die from exhaustion, but from the most terrifying hemorrhage during dystocia.

Amniotic fluid embolism?

Dirty amniotic fluid entered the circulatory system, causing the heart to stop beating in a very short time.

The death is so sudden, and the unborn child who has lost the supply of the mother can persist for a short time, and if he hesitates for a while, the child is really hopeless.

A sackcloth covered Mary’s face, and at the same time Rurik drew a sharp steel sword…

“Reglav, the true king of Mercia. Your mother has done her best. Now, my father will save you!”

Rurik completed the Caesar cut without a word, and a baby boy was held out for his father with trembling hands. After a while, there was a continuous howling of the baby in the closed room, and the sound was heart-piercing.

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…

It was over, Mary’s young life was over.

Maybe this is fate!

Near Hanukkah and the winter solstice of the Slavs, one of his wives and concubines died unexpectedly.

Mary’s body was properly cared for, and she was completely wrapped in a colorful linen cloth. Rurik decided to follow her last wish and cremate her according to Viking customs, so that Paradis would not accept her unclean soul. , perhaps Odin’s Asgard is willing to accept.

Rurik washed his hands, and he was in a trance.

The newborn Reglaf was temporarily held by his grandmother Niya, and Medved also rushed to the sleeping house immediately to find a wet nurse for the child.

Rurik wiped his face with snow, and the cold barely calmed his spirit.

He found John Invar who was on call and slapped the frightened boy on the face.

“My lord, she is Princess Mercia. You actually…”

“This is Caesarche, you should know very well. You see, your gods punished unclean souls, but spared Regalaf. This child is Regalaf, and heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Mercia. You were appointed by Mary Baptist, tell me, is it permissible according to your rules and conditions?”

John Ingvar faltered for a while.

“Give me a good word.”

“Yes. I am a northern priest appointed by my teacher, and I am qualified to baptize.”

“Then do it quickly! Do it tomorrow!”

“As ordered.”

Neither the Rus nor the Slavs pay much attention to the three-day funeral, and neither of the two ethnic groups care about the funeral form.

The incident happened very suddenly, but the Russians and local Slavs who lived in Novgorod were not concerned about the death of a woman.

In fact, many Vikings, including the Ross, felt that the dead was just a captured slave, who was originally a kind of toy of the duke, and he died as soon as he died.

This is indeed the case, so Mary was very low-key when she was alive.

The next day, Rurik, who hadn’t slept all night, tried his best to stay awake.

A baptism ceremony is being held in the room where the simple cross is hung. John Ingvar, a Dane who belongs to the Frankish Diocese of Hamburg, personally baptizes the newborn Reglaf.

When the well water was blessed, it became holy water, and the water was boiled warm, and John Ingvar completed the ceremony amid the yelling of children.

Maids from Britain became temporary nuns, and some were taken captive from the kingdom of Mercia.

They witnessed the birth of a little prince like the legendary Caesar, and perhaps this child will indeed become a future figure in Mercia because of his Viking blood.

The maids lamented his poor birth and hoped that all would be well.

For John Ingvar, he must personally write a letter to the teacher Eskill to make a truthful report.

Now this matter is not difficult. The teacher relies on the free Hedeby to build a monastery for his great cause. The Duchy of Ross happens to have shops there, and the letters will be delivered smoothly.

In the end, when Reglaf’s identity was recognized by the Diocese of Hamburg, his membership was granted.

If the child has the opportunity to go to Rome to obtain official witnesses when he grows up, he is the irrefutable King of Mercia, even if he does not control a clear territory, he is also the legitimate King of Mercia.

As for things after baptism, it is not within the authority of a little priest like John Invar.

Also on this afternoon, a small fire tower was erected on the shore of the frozen lake.

The cross pendant made of Mary’s silver and the brown hair that was cut off are the holy relics left by Mary to her son.

Rurik intends to leave these objects to his son Regraf, so that he can remind his future heirs with these objects: Your eldest brother is the King of Mercia, and will not compete with you for the power of Rus .

More than 3,000 people gathered at the princess’s funeral. Whether it was a funeral or a happy event, it was indeed a big event. The locals lacked entertainment, and even regarded participation in the funeral as a form of entertainment.

Neither the king nor the prince of Mercia enjoyed such a funeral after their death in battle.

Many people chewed their tongues, saying that the Duke took too much care of a female slave in such a way, and some people said that this woman is a nobleman who gave birth to the Duke, so she should be honored.

The largest number of Slavs are simply watching the fun. They see it fresh, thinking that the funerals of the Varyag nobles are no different from the Slavic funerals. Burn the dust and return to the ashes, and the soul will go to a beautiful place. The place.

Rurik held the torch in public, looking at the man wrapped in cloth on the top of the tower.

“Mary, it’s all over. I hope you will be reborn and live happily in a new world.”

The torch was thrown into the firewood, and slowly the entire wooden tower began to burn.

People watched all this solemnly, and a burst of crying babies attracted everyone’s attention.

It was none other than the infant Reglaf who was crying.

He was hugged by his grandmother Niya, and Niya was also in tears.

[End of this Chapter]