N E F E R T A R I
There is something to be said about the power of an embrace. When one embraces a friend, the strength of that brief hold further solidifies your chosen bond. When one embraces their kin, the compassion that flows between each other soothes the soul. But perhaps there is none so powerful as the embrace of lovers. The strength to hold each other together even when it feels as if all the world has fallen apart, the compassion in each other’s darkest time of need, and the silent, blissful kiss that passes between hearts and breath just to be so near to each other.
It’s not a sensation that many become too familiar with, at least in Nefertari’s experience. One became entangled for one political gain or another. Wealth, power, magic, the possibilities were endless, but pure love was never any of the ones she saw. Perhaps two people could learn to love one another just as one could learn to love the freezing rain, but it always took time and it was never as easy or enjoyable. Her family especially seemed unaccustomed to love for the sake of it. Even her own parents, so low within the Vogelstein hierarchy, had only come together in the hopes of creating beautiful and talented offspring. They had done so, of course- the mare was enough proof of that. She would have been her ticket to glory.
Yet, as she stood at the edge of the desert oasis, curled into a man whom she had barely spoken to, she felt as if she might know that love. It was in the way that his wing folded over her abdomen and pulled her in closely, the way that his whiskers tickled at the base of her audits as his lips whispered into the silken strands of her hair.
”Starfated”
The word held her attention, drawing her mind towards a memory. Her small frame, delicately perched among silk and feathers and the niceties of home. Her parents had never been particularly loving, but her mother, in the short time before the mare’s Sight had started to develope, had enjoyed telling her stories. More often than not, they were slurred and never the same twice- products of overindulgence in revelry and, she suspected now in her aged wisdom, an attempt to run from the truth. Not so unlike herself.
Her favourite had been the one about two lovers. Her mother returned to it over and over again, and of the stories she chose to tell, this one changed the least. Nefertari had always enjoyed listening to her speak of the fates of the world, woven together by sisters whose knowledge was beyond any mortal knowing. It was a thought that comforted her in the late hours when she first started to see things she did not understand, and it was the reason why she sought solace within the stars. She had often pondered if she was not just a product of the great love of the two stars, brought down by Caligo to one day return and tell them of all the wonderful things of the world. Sometimes she still pondered it.
Nefertari sighed into Raglan’s touch, closing her eyes and drinking in his musky scent. It reminded her of warm sunlight and the first sound of birds in spring, triumphant and jovial. She nuzzled his chest, enjoying the caress of his feathers across her back and shoulders.
Her vision started to swim behind her closed lids. Slowly at first, and then rapidly. The mare’s heart began to pound in her chest and ears and for a moment she thought that she might have somehow started drowning in the sand. There was the strange sensation of multiple heartbeats, coupled with the impression of strands of silver and gold braided into each other, splitting apart, and coming together again. Over and over, lifetime upon lifetime, together and apart, and then together again. She was shocked back into herself, her knees buckling and dropping her body like a puppet without its master. The ringing of sharp whinnies in her ears dulled to a roar as the heart beats began to fade to the dull thud of just her own pained muscle straining against her ribs. The mare’s body ached, and she could feel the flood of tears washing down her cheeks.
The clairvoyant was no stranger to sudden onsets of her sight, but this had been different. She had the distinct feeling that this had been triggered, somehow. That it had been prompted by this strange stallion. She took a shaking breath into her lungs and squeezed her eyes shut once more, finding them blessedly clear of swirling colours, though the familiar tingle at her temples told her that a migraine was not far behind. Her legs would not allow her to move just yet.
It’s not a sensation that many become too familiar with, at least in Nefertari’s experience. One became entangled for one political gain or another. Wealth, power, magic, the possibilities were endless, but pure love was never any of the ones she saw. Perhaps two people could learn to love one another just as one could learn to love the freezing rain, but it always took time and it was never as easy or enjoyable. Her family especially seemed unaccustomed to love for the sake of it. Even her own parents, so low within the Vogelstein hierarchy, had only come together in the hopes of creating beautiful and talented offspring. They had done so, of course- the mare was enough proof of that. She would have been her ticket to glory.
Yet, as she stood at the edge of the desert oasis, curled into a man whom she had barely spoken to, she felt as if she might know that love. It was in the way that his wing folded over her abdomen and pulled her in closely, the way that his whiskers tickled at the base of her audits as his lips whispered into the silken strands of her hair.
”Starfated”
The word held her attention, drawing her mind towards a memory. Her small frame, delicately perched among silk and feathers and the niceties of home. Her parents had never been particularly loving, but her mother, in the short time before the mare’s Sight had started to develope, had enjoyed telling her stories. More often than not, they were slurred and never the same twice- products of overindulgence in revelry and, she suspected now in her aged wisdom, an attempt to run from the truth. Not so unlike herself.
Her favourite had been the one about two lovers. Her mother returned to it over and over again, and of the stories she chose to tell, this one changed the least. Nefertari had always enjoyed listening to her speak of the fates of the world, woven together by sisters whose knowledge was beyond any mortal knowing. It was a thought that comforted her in the late hours when she first started to see things she did not understand, and it was the reason why she sought solace within the stars. She had often pondered if she was not just a product of the great love of the two stars, brought down by Caligo to one day return and tell them of all the wonderful things of the world. Sometimes she still pondered it.
Nefertari sighed into Raglan’s touch, closing her eyes and drinking in his musky scent. It reminded her of warm sunlight and the first sound of birds in spring, triumphant and jovial. She nuzzled his chest, enjoying the caress of his feathers across her back and shoulders.
Her vision started to swim behind her closed lids. Slowly at first, and then rapidly. The mare’s heart began to pound in her chest and ears and for a moment she thought that she might have somehow started drowning in the sand. There was the strange sensation of multiple heartbeats, coupled with the impression of strands of silver and gold braided into each other, splitting apart, and coming together again. Over and over, lifetime upon lifetime, together and apart, and then together again. She was shocked back into herself, her knees buckling and dropping her body like a puppet without its master. The ringing of sharp whinnies in her ears dulled to a roar as the heart beats began to fade to the dull thud of just her own pained muscle straining against her ribs. The mare’s body ached, and she could feel the flood of tears washing down her cheeks.
The clairvoyant was no stranger to sudden onsets of her sight, but this had been different. She had the distinct feeling that this had been triggered, somehow. That it had been prompted by this strange stallion. She took a shaking breath into her lungs and squeezed her eyes shut once more, finding them blessedly clear of swirling colours, though the familiar tingle at her temples told her that a migraine was not far behind. Her legs would not allow her to move just yet.
“I… I’m sorry.”
She rasped, her tongue suddenly terribly dry and her throat thick with emotion, though if it was merely from the collapse or from the vision or both, she could not rightly tell.
