EVIE
His soft, insistent noise of objection is too late, but when her magic finds no purchase she pauses, tired and flustered. “Oh. I forgot,” she says lamely, and tries to ignore the empty feeling she gets over her inability to heal and cure him. She knows it’s a fair exchange, his power for this, but she longs to fix it anyway.
She laughs because she doesn’t know what else to do, and tears are not an option. “No, she was too small to ride, though I kept her pinned beneath me for enough time to consider her a bucking bronco I reckon.” The Queen had certainly fought and struggled as valiantly as an unbroken horse. His pride makes her wilt, for though she treasures it, the failures still sting. “We lost so many, it feels. But I know it could have been so much worse.” Unaware that so many other lands did indeed have it worse. That the Banshee could have gotten deeper in, the dragons could have been more numerous and more destructive. Still, it hurts.
And what hurts worse is the news she has to share. “Everyone is alive.” At least, everyone she knows he would be concerned about. “But…Deimos, I have to warn you. Hotaru…her son died. I don’t know how, one of the healers told me in the Infirmary that he was among the count. She’s with her daughter now - they aren’t taking visitors until the funeral I think.” And as much as she would love to keep it from him until he has eaten, slept, showered…he asks, and she cannot keep it from him. Wouldn’t dare lie even for his own sake.
She laughs because she doesn’t know what else to do, and tears are not an option. “No, she was too small to ride, though I kept her pinned beneath me for enough time to consider her a bucking bronco I reckon.” The Queen had certainly fought and struggled as valiantly as an unbroken horse. His pride makes her wilt, for though she treasures it, the failures still sting. “We lost so many, it feels. But I know it could have been so much worse.” Unaware that so many other lands did indeed have it worse. That the Banshee could have gotten deeper in, the dragons could have been more numerous and more destructive. Still, it hurts.
And what hurts worse is the news she has to share. “Everyone is alive.” At least, everyone she knows he would be concerned about. “But…Deimos, I have to warn you. Hotaru…her son died. I don’t know how, one of the healers told me in the Infirmary that he was among the count. She’s with her daughter now - they aren’t taking visitors until the funeral I think.” And as much as she would love to keep it from him until he has eaten, slept, showered…he asks, and she cannot keep it from him. Wouldn’t dare lie even for his own sake.
Don't look up, just let them think
There's no place else you'd rather be
There's no place else you'd rather be
