Adelric

The bravery from his sister rings out loudly, assaulting Tranduil for saying such things, and he smiles. He is proud to call such a strong individual family. She knows what she wants and she will always take it. But soon she gets to the more interesting part of the story- the part of the story that he wants to hear. And listen he does, eagerly. The girl gives a eulogy fit for the man that was their father. The sort of eulogy where you tell the truth- honest and cold and horrible though that truth might be. They didn’t know if he was a good man all the time, but they knew him to be a good man sometimes. And perhaps that was enough. Perhaps the real truth of life was that even those that are good, are bad sometimes. Perhaps nobody was really good at all, they just had moments of goodness. The half-child frowns. Does he want to be good?

But he grows bored with this gathering, anxious that there are so many around and that there are so many things yet to explore. So while the gold is busy gloating over knowing this or that, his sister busy trying to impress the lady queen, Adelric is looking towards Erebos, his face calm but his heart longing to burst forth and chase the boy the way they had run atop the Fields, gallop with abandon into the Basin, and for him to learn everything there was to learn about the frozen wasteland. Patience, he reminds himself, and waits.

Then arrives a beast as black as night, moving slowly, like a predator, and Adelric’s heart freezes. He has yet to meet something he is afraid of, but he knows just by looking at this stallion that he fears for his very life in Deimos’ presence. He stiffens, sidles towards his sister, feels the cervid draw close to him, feeding off of Adelric’s emotions. And he waits, the marauder lowering his nose to brush Erebos upon his head. A father figure? Adelric tilts his head; Erebos had spoken so highly of his father, could this really be the man? He waits, lingers, wondering what to do, looking around, checking for concern on other faces, but his eyes always end up back on the man that drags death with him across the snow. It is unsettling, to say the least.

However, the black man must have some sort of kindness in his ebony heart. He proclaims the twins welcome to stay. At first Adelric hesitates, wondering what to do, eyes falling towards Erebos, looking for some direction. Slowly, he steps forward, angling himself so that he might take a wide berth around the Basin Lord. Cautiously, he ventures a “thank you.” His pace is slow at first, looking back to see if Zunden will follow, but it quickly goes from walk, to trot, to canter, and soon the half-child is flying with abandon into his new home, a smile for once upon his face, and he looks back to whinny to Erebos, to see if his friend is following. These past few days and weeks have been hard, but this is the moment it has all led up to.

And for once, the child is truly happy.

@[Zünden] :: Adelric out x.x

i can't be your knight in shining armor