il ya seulement l'obscurité; magnus only

[magnus]

you and I both know that the house is haunted
and you and I both know that the ghost is me

As she nuzzles into his side, he feels the ties attaching them as surely as he feels the wind moving through his mane and the grass beneath his hooves and the air expanding his lungs. It is beautiful and bright and for the first time in a long time, Magnus’ aching heart feels some semblance of peace. He closes his gold-flecked eyes and breathes in deeply, taking in the scent of her and the quiet of the Gates, letting this be enough. Letting this moment etch permanently into his memory so that he can forever remember it.

“I love you, Minette,” he murmurs again, pressing his forehead into the sweet curve of her neck, and he smiles against her. “I do not think that I will ever tire of saying that.” He had not thought it possible for him to ever say those words again—to mean them. There is a moment, brief and sharp, where he wonders if this is betrayal to Joelle. (How can he love when she still rests in the saltwater and brine?) But the moment passes. She would want this for him—just as he would have wanted this for her.  Joelle would have wanted him to find whatever joy he could, and he is comforted by this, feeling her blessing.

Pulling away, he looks at Minette, studies her features. “I need to tell you something.” Something that was brewing on the horizon; something that was storming beneath the surface. “There are rumors that war will come once again to Beqanna, and I fear that the Gates will be at the epicenter of it.” Feared for her and her children even as his heart thrilled at the possibility, his warrior-soul singing with pleasure. “Should the battle be brought here, I need you to promise me you will find the children and leave. I need to know that you will be safe.” He glances toward the border. “We are close to the meadow. If you take the children, you should be able to sneak through the fray and find your way there.”

He presses a kiss to her forehead again, this time with more edge, the undercurrent fierce.
“I will find you there. I promise it.”

MAGNUS

once general. once lord. once king.