[open] with baited breath

[Kagerus]

and in my dreams...

i've kissed your lips a thousand times

Her beam alights upon my shoulders just as the babes awaken from their afternoon nap. I bask in the tender blue for a moment as I try to decipher its meaning, bleary from my own little nap (motherhood sans queenhood leads me to softer and softer habits, not that I'm complaining) until, all at once, the meaning becomes apparent. Oriash! I jostle the twins to their hooves without much ceremony, poking and prodding their growing bodies until they move enough for me to lurch to my own, larger hooves. Indius, huge compared to his younger siblings but still tiny and adorable by my standards, takes no such jostling and instead bounces on his tip toes, his excitement tantamount.

Please mother, let's go! come the cries from my three youngest children as I tease them with a biiiiig stretch in the name of flexibility and youthfulness, first with forelegs way out in front of me and then with back legs pressing towards the earth. I give out with a hearty laugh at long last, wanting just as much as they to get to the place where Solace's light shon. And yes, before I shake the last remnants of the nap's dream, I wish Iridian goodbye and promise to bring her tales and pictures of her big sister Oriash as soon as I can.

With that, we are off! The boys woop their joy and alight into the air, Indius with great shows of acrobatics and agility, Oberyn with some more concentration but no less delight. Little Olena must travel alongside me, weak as she is, but I make this mode of travel as fun as I can for the sweet angel. Pops of coloured sparks and the skittering of small tropical animals appear with some frequency as we journey to the border of Tephra; though Olena's weakness pains my heart, the expression on her face when I treat her to little gifts like this when no one else watches brings me a special kind of joy that I know I will only ever share with her.

Soon enough, however, we emerge from the treeline. The boys zoom towards the three adult horses we can now see with a good deal of clarity; the elder alights with skill while the younger fumbles due to the speed of his landing but manages to save himself at the last. Good boy! I cheer to him from within myself. A minute or two later, my daughter and I arrive upon the scene, the shy girl pressed into my side. I bathe her in vibrating particles, warming her cool skin in the hopes of bolstering her confidence in front of these two strangers.

Before Indius launches into a passionate monologue in which he references his dreamlocked sister (this being a practical unavoidability with the star-clad lad), I take up Oriash's gaze with tenderness.

"Hello, Oriash," I say "I am so glad you came." I step forward to press my nose to her cheek. Not quite an embrace yet but a step closer to that intimacy, given that when last we met we but exchanged breaths. After breathing in her scent and exhaling warmth back upon her, I step back to brush sides with Solace, my wife. "Thank you for the summons," I murmur to her, the twinkle in my eye quite apparent.

"I'm Indius!" explodes the black-and-white overo boy, his skin vibrating with excitement. "My twin sister Iridian and I have been dying to meet you and well, all of our siblings, but you especially since mother just found you! Not to be weird but you are very beautiful and I am glad we got to meet even if you can't stay, but I hope you can stay, I--"

"Indius," I say not unkindly and with a chuckle, "Let your sister breathe." Kissing his teenaged and well-intentioned cheek from overtop of little Olena, I bring him to heel, eyes sent heavenward for a moment as I pray for the development of the boy's waggling tongue. Such a sweet boy; he speaks for himself and his sister, I suppose.

I then listen to the younger two introduce themselves, a soft smile adorning my features. With that accomplished, I look then to the strange stallion who stands astride, having noticed him earlier but having had greater concerns on my mind, including the wellbeing and manners of my three youngest. Despite what I believed in my youth, motherhood is a full time job. Hah!

My head lowers to him in polite deference. "And hello to you, sir. I am Kagerus. Well-intentioned strangers are granted free passage into this land, if you are interested in seeing more than sentimental family gatherings." I smile at him, tone kind and well-meaning, before turning back to the situation at hand.

kagerus

Enjoying Middle-Age in Tephra | Lover of Solace | Immortal, Dreamweaving Fantasist

Turns out that writing four characters in one post involves many words, lol. Lav and Radar will take over their respective characters henceforth! Let me know if anything needs changing!
@[Oriash]