"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Noellen has chosen to ignore the event preceding her newborn son. It had been the same with Zabini. They hadn’t meant to overwhelm her and hurt her; they had simply not been in their right state of mind. She was prone to easy forgiveness and she would place her damaged trust in his hands once again.
She had chosen to take refuge within a relatively small cave that lay nestled within the cliff that faced the sea. This was where she would shelter her young child from now on. It was important for her to have a sense of belonging, something she could finally say was hers. And this cave would do nicely for her.
She had taken the leggy, black colt to the shore to explore with a typical childish wonder. She remembered being an overly curious child herself and so she remained infinitely patient with his many questions. Kaspian was only several days old but already he seemed quite independent of his mother. He would frequently venture closer to reassure himself that she remained within sight, but he was content to chase the scuttling crabs and to splash about the waves without her hovering over him.
But he was aware of her tactile longing and always made an effort to brush against her side and to give her those lovely soft baby kisses that only small children could manage. He helped stave off some of her centuries old depression and Noellen greedily accepted his efforts. Their mother-son bond continued to grow stronger over the days and she was finally beginning to find some small part of the happiness she had once known.
She felt that he would also remain forever with her and she was glad to know that both of her children would continue to grow with her long after others of their age have perished of old age. She smiled gently as she watched the boy traipse the sandy shore in eager curiosity.
n o e l l e n right now I feel just like a leaf on a breeze
who knows where it's blowin', who knows where it's goin'
There is one child in his herd that he has yet to meet. And he is tired of waiting.
He hunts her down, using the scent trail that she has left through the territory - it’s not hard to find. He’s ultimately surprised to find her on the beach of all places. He’d begun to wonder if she was trying to hide, trying to ‘shield’ the child from him.
He watches for a moment, iron eyes watching in stony silence as the boy rushes about over the sand. The child seems entirely … unremarkable. But, he will try to withhold judgement for the moment. He is well aware of the hidden nature of some gifts - the telekinesis that both his mother and grandmother use is an excellent example. Not all are so blessed to wear their gifts for all the world to see.
He is not entirely hopeful. So far, the vast majority of his children have been disappointments, with the exception of Fraktyr and the newborn Kirin of course. It does not seem that luck would be likely to give him two gifted children in one season.
Grimacing slightly, he heads down the cliff to the beach, so that he can assess Noellen, and get a better impression of the boy. He reaches them in a matter of minutes, standing close so that he can get a better look at the child. So far he is seeing nothing that he missed from the cliff. Still completely normal. Such a shame. “Hello Noellen. Are you going to introduce me?”
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
It wasn’t difficult to spot the shiny herd stallion making his way towards her and she immediately becomes less open and more rigid. She glances worriedly towards her son and hopes that he would remain free of any of the cruelty that Khaos was happy to dish out. Noellen had overhead some of the other herd mares speaking of his wish for traited children and she was afraid that Kaspian would fail to meet the iron giant’s standards.
She couldn’t be completely certain until her son grew a little older and showed less aging, but that same feeling lingered within her heart that Kaspian shared her own trait. She felt blessed that she could spend all the time in the world with both of her beautiful children. But her worry was certainly warranted for this trait was not as blatantly obvious as the purple, winged child she had seen traipsing about from afar.
Kaspian had also noticed the iron stallion approaching his mother and his play came to an abrupt halt. He’d never seen his mother look so anxious before and he began to mirror that anxiousness. He hurriedly made his way across the sand and back to his mother’s side. Curious, yet hesitant, grey eyes glance up at the iron giant standing before him.
Noellen acknowledges his request with a small nod and she murmurs in a small, beaten voice. "This is Kaspian." Her eyes warm upon contact with her son’s and she gently nudges him to stand between both of them. She was uncertain of how Khaos would react to the boy, but she would be damned if that viciousness would be turned upon her precious son.
Noellen
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He notices her stiffen at his approach, but he pays it no mind. He has earned that respect from her, that fear. He’s glad that she remembers it. While he would have no issue teaching it to her again, he’d rather avoid doing do in front of their son. For now at least.
He leans forward, his iron eyes peering in close at the boy. He’s disappointed to say the least, though of course he’s unsurprised. “Hmm. Quite ordinary aren’t you.” Why is it that so few of his own children have developed traits? He comes from a rather superior bloodline - both his mother and father have produced many talented children. But, out of a total of eleven children, he has so far only produced two special ones. He’s beginning to wonder if it’s the mothers he’s been choosing. Too many sad, pathetic creatures, with nothing of their own to make them special. They must be diluting his blood.
But, at least this one is a son, he’ll give Noellen that much. Sons are far better at carrying on the bloodline than daughters, so this one will at least be more likely to go out and propagate the family line. Small favours.
He raises his head again, still staring down at the boy. He must cut quite the imposing figure. Good. It’s good for a child to respect their father. “Tell me about yourself Kaspian.” Maybe there’s something beneath the entirely plain exterior.
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