It happened before the light breached the horizon and shone through thousands of dewdrops hanging on the spider's web. Before the meadowlark began to warble and before the owl closed its eyes. Before the young fawns sleeping by their mother's sides finished their dreams and woke to greet a new day with their sweet bleats and happy prancing, a little prince was born. A forbidden love which had been shaped into something tangible, a tiny, dark, warm ball of fur, perfect in each and every way.

As a first-time mother, Sagacity had been terribly frightened. Gripped by sensations she'd never felt before, her fear had been fueled by the nightmarish tales she'd heard from others, whispers of pain, anguish and death. But for Sagacity came the blessing of a smooth and natural progression of events. She realized now that this had been meant to be, that nature had willed for her to conceive and give birth to this child without any complications. Such mercy had been bestowed upon Sagacity in the dark of the night, hidden away in the Fen so she would not be found.

Two or three fireflies found their way inside her den but she did not snap at them now. They cast an eerie light on her son who was nestled at her side, nursing contently. She welcomed the gentle, dancing light as she proudly looked down upon her son; knowing the pain that she would not receive the same blessing, being considered a mother, as Naira. For it was only now, in the privacy of her den, that she would enjoy moments knowing and admitting to being this child's mother. As soon as they left the den for good, she would no longer be his, and she would no longer be his biological mother.

For now, mercifully, it was so. And in that moment, the child was given his name.

"Mercy."