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I HAVE BURNED MY TOMORROWS, AND I STAND INSIDE TODAY
At the edge of the future, and my dreams all fade away
Roskuld’s silent pleas went unnoticed, her name ‘ma’ uttered in the background of a story that would tell itself once she got started. Though her words were stammered and voice unsure, she continued. Her daughter wanted the truth, and there it was plain as day. What she did not expect was Torleik to speak and come to her defense, let alone in such a delicate family situation. His booming voice was a yell she had not heard before from the stallion, and she watched in shock and horror. Color would drain from her expression if she had any at all, but it had pooled into the bloody ends of her hair long, long ago.
She visibly cringed at the mention of the word ‘rape’, having avoided the honesty of that term for so long, and she looked down at her hooves, heart pounding in her chest. What would Roskuld think of her now? Of Torleik? Of herself? There was some truth in what Torleik said, and the method in which it was spoken may have been right. But, Ophelia could barely stand the thought of forever severing the relationship she held with her daughter, fragile thread that it was. She would crawl on her knees if she had to, have her body torn asunder, soul ruined if it meant that she could protect her daughter.
Maybe this was exactly why she needed Torleik. He kept her from imploding in heartache, from dragging herself across the ground, begging for a sign of warmth, only to be caught in icy rains. In a way, he protected her from herself, and though she could not see it now, she would in the future. A soft, feathered body warmed her back, and she took brief and distracted comfort in the creature as Torleik began to walk away and leave her with the destroyed living room he had created.
And then he came back. He remembered his promise.
Ophelia did not know what to think, and she blinked away the last of her tears as she stared at him in confusion, not reacting to his gentle, subtle touch. Only Roskuld’s frighteningly calm tone called her back, and she frowned, feeling her heart break a thousand times over when she looked into her daughter’s face. The question, however, was not what she had been expected, and it made her falter.
Who was Torleik to her?
That was not so easily answered. He was hope for a better future. He was a calculated but foolish risk. He was her general. He was a caretaker. He was a voice of reason. He was anger when she was numb and rationality when she was insanity. Yet all of these things could not explain who he was to her, and she took a deep, hitching breath. “He…” she trailed. “He is my invitation to the Aurora Basin, a friend when I had none, a strength at my mother’s death, and… perhaps more.” Ophelia furrowed her brows. “When I cannot… he…” she trailed, unsure of how to phrase what she felt.
“Unfettered honesty has never been a strength of mine. And, he has seen how… I have… he knows…” she trailed again, getting flustered with herself. “I do not know why he is talking to you, but he protects me and that… that is…” Something she had never really had before. “Good.”
The Lady swallowed hard, looking to the stallion at her side. “But he is right. This is my daughter, my blood and my story.” She turned back to Roskuld. “You… you heard now. The truth. I will not make you stay, and I cannot make you believe me, but I do love you in a way that I know. If this… is not enough for you, I understand.”
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[O] Home is where the...the...oh hell, nevermind
