A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Claire visits Marsali for the first time since her return. Her face and stomach are bruised, but she’s otherwise fine. The baby, however, is not. It barely moves, and Claire detects a weak and irregular heartbeat. Fergus hasn’t been home in days. Germain takes his little sisters to play, and Claire takes Marsali back to her house; Claire will have to get the baby out as soon as possible. They run into Ian and tell him to find Fergus immediately. Claire calls for Brianna and Malva to assist her.

Claire decides to use laminaria, a seaweed, to open Marsali’s cervix and gently induce labor. Malva arrives to help, and Marsali writes a letter to her mother and children, just in case she doesn’t make it. Jamie brings Fergus to the house; Fergus embraces Marsali tenderly. He was raised in a brothel in Paris, so he knows tricks and techniques about giving birth. He suckles at Marsali’s breasts to help induce labor, to Claire’s shock. When she leaves to give them privacy, they shut the door and have sex, another trick to help induce. It works: Marsali goes quickly into labor, and the baby is born without incident an hour later.