Morrighan screamed when she set the monster on fire. There was so much behind the sound! Not just anger or rage but love, too. I heard in her voice what it means to be a mother, a protector and a benefactor. As I watched the corpse being consumed by flames, I wondered if I would ever know firsthand what that feels like. Maybe that is why I always felt so quiet, so calm, in the face of battle: I was always fighting for myself, or sometimes my friends, but never a daughter or lover or son. And I knew I was supposed to want those things… but I liked my serenity.
Morrighan thanked me, to which I only nodded my head. It was just as much Bram and Furfur as me and Morrighan. I realized then how foolhardy I had been to approach the throne room alone, and I probably should have thanked the other mare in return… but I didn’t. I couldn’t. Some dark magic had taken seed in my heart and it whispered that I should have come alone and I should have arrived first- and if I had, I would have found something different at the heart of the island. Waiting for me, just for me.
“You will make an excellent soldier one day.” I shook my head gently,brushing off my wayward thoughts just as well as the compliment, with a small smile. I softened as soon as the beast was dead; even covered in black sludge I must have seemed soft and gentle as a dandelion in bloom. A soldier? I had never even considered such a path before. I was not like my father, or my sister, or even my mother in that way. “Thank you,” I said hesitantly, unsure if I really deserved the praise. “I was just defending Maeve.”
(But I would continue to come back to her words… was it true? Would I really make a good soldier? Not just that, but an excellent one?)
I looked behind Morrighan to where Maeve stood outside the room with wide eyes. The poor thing. When the three of them turned to leave I lingered behind. Furfur paced, still in wraith form, and for a few long seconds I took in the beautiful, terrifying sight of him. “Thank you,” I stepped forward and breathed into his shoulder. “Let’s go home.”
We trotted to catch up to the little family, and-- for now-- we let the island be.
@Morrighan thank you for another lovely thread! <3
