Kena

A young woman from Holmford, somewhere in her twenties, in the last months of pregnancy; in "Goldie" she is resting in the hamlet of the Combes. Calm, plain-spoken. In the Combes they call her "Kena"; the Holmford pet-name is "Tana." She goes back to Holmford before the birth, out of longing, and at parting she names the child to come: "Bren" for a son, "Lena" for a daughter. She bears a healthy boy — the midwife Rycha delivers him, with no help beyond her own two hands: "a healthy heartbeat was enough."