Chapter 23: Clara Sertu’s Backstory
The skies were hushed the night as the child was born as if the stars themselves delighted by her birth.
The wind stilled, and the moon seemed unnaturally large, casting silver light through the open windows of a modest merchant home nestled within the outskirts of Okstin.
The midwife gasped as the child cried for the first time as she said, "A beautiful girl."
Mother Sertu, sweat-drenched and breathless, blinked open heavy eyelids. Her vivid red hair clung to her pale cheeks, matted with the strain of labor.
She turned her head toward the sound of her daughter’s cry, her gaze unfocused but full of instinctive love.
"Let me see her," she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.
The midwife hurried over, kneeling by her side and gently placing the newborn into her arms.
And in that quiet moment, the world faded.
Her mother’s lips trembled as she looked down. "Clara..." she murmured.
Clara blink up at her and a tiny hand reached out, gasping her mother’s finger.
"You’re perfect," Mirea whispered, a tear slipping down her temple.