| This was not the change Jezanna had been expecting. She had been looking for a revelation, not a reckoning. She had been standing on the southern shores of Denocte, looking out over the sea when it had begun pulling away from the land. At first she thought perhaps the tide was moving out, and yet the water never came back, drawn along by the moon as the tides were. In the end, it had come crashing back to the earth with a thunderous roar. The wave had risen so high she could see it coming over the walls of the court, and she could not say if any had been lost to the water as it swallowed the ground and anything else in its path, but it would be important in the coming hours to make sure families and loved ones were together. She had prepared herself for the water to rush the court, to break the walls and fill homes, but in the end it came only part way up her legs, about a foot. There would still be damage. Market stalls would lose their integrity and rooms and halls all across the court would be soaked but for those who were within the court walls, they were at least safe from the water. She thought perhaps that would be all, until the lighting started, accompanied by no rain to temper the ferocity of it. There was electricity in the air, her hair standing on end in response. Jezanna hoped there was nobody trapped out in the prairie or by the lake. From here to the mountains there was no cover. Then there were the beasts, huge and filling the skies, blotting out the light as their shadows chased the vulnerable across the ground. The midnight woman didn’t know exactly what had happened on that mountain when the regime had gone and then never come back, but she feared this would be destruction of her home. All the while she checked on the citizens, all the while she led lost, frightened children back to their parents or guided the wet and the cold to the side of a fire in order to the warm them she thought that there had to be more they could do. She was not a fighter, had never once stepped into a battle or a spar, but she would give her life for her court if it would save these people she had come to know and to call family. If it would save this place she called home, she would do whatever necessary. She was a lot of things, but she was not afraid. Jezanna heard the planning of others around her, the intentions of fending versus sheltering. She watched horses gather at the gateway to the court, prepared to face head on the dangers outside the walls, no doubt growing closer with every passing moment. She had noticed Araxes earlier tending to the people and offering comfort where she could, had seen Isra gathering the injured around her to heal. She steeled herself and made her way toward the entrance to the court, toward the three bodies standing there preparing to face whatever danger that might come. Her silver eyes were narrowed slightly, her dark mane swinging with each forceful step against the cobblestone road. When she stepped up next to the trio, she glanced at them each for a moment, allowing herself to remember their faces. Moira, Calliope and the man of red she had seen around but not met yet. “I will stand for this court regardless of what we face.” |
