and when i breathed
my breath was lightning
Tyrna chimes in about the Falls. Rhy had never spent any great length of time in the Falls, though her family had ruled there for generations. Not anymore, she knows, but Naitlyn and Kellan were her cousins, Alysanne and Nylee her aunts. She had plenty of history in the kingdom, and knew the stories from her father. He had never ruled, but lived a quiet life in the Dale with Rayelle. She couldn’t really imagine her father ruling. He’d be good at it, certainly, but miserable in the process.
Well, he would have been. Past tense. She keeps slipping.
But now is not the time to think of her father or her mother. She’s not sure she could ever live in the Falls, even now when the powers of Beqanna had shifted. Before, she couldn’t stay because of the electric in her veins. Now, she simply couldn’t imagine life outside the Jungle. Though she sometimes wonders if any of her family lurks in the Falls. Perhaps she’d have to visit one day.
Nebibi is kind enough to answer her question, mentioning her father. Rhy is vaguely tempted to ask, but it seems too personal and prying. At least for a field conversation. Perhaps later, if Nebibi chose to try the Jungle. Rhy smiles at the answer though. “I can see many ways your trait could be quite handy.” Which is true. She’s only just discovering the use herself.
The girl goes on to ask what Rhy’s favorite thing about the Jungle is. Everything. Everything is her favorite thing. But that’s not the right answer. The right is answer is why she stayed. “When I was younger, I had little control of my power,” her skin crackles with electricity then, making it clear what power she’s referring to. At this point, Rhy has a multitude of them. But the electric was the one she was born with, and it’s the one that is most of part of her. “The sisters welcomed me into their kingdom with open arms, even when my own family was afraid of me. The Khaleesi of the time was the first to ever help me understand my trait could be good. I love the Jungle for the strength of the Sisters, and the strength of the bond that holds us together.”
She falls silent then. It’s a personal story, but she doesn’t mind sharing. For Rhy, the choice had always been easy. She didn’t belong in the Dale, even though she was born there. She couldn’t have gone to the Falls then. But the Jungle. Her grandmother’s legacy was that kingdom, and Rhy spent every day trying to serve her grandmother’s memory well. Trying to pay back a kingdom that had given her a life that wasn’t simply one of being sent away.
rhy
the electric lioness of riagan and rayelle
