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09-13-2015, 11:28 PM
Long Gone, Most Beloved
And so he was kind.
I learned this because of the way he laughed when he spoke, and I committed it to heart and memory, and I convinced myself of the good in that young heart that stood before me, then. He was kind. He was still, in some ways, a child.
But man enough to know when to hold his tongue and bow his head. Man enough to be endowed with as much manners as pleasantness. I was thankful, for that.
Your sister is older than you. If she is anything like I was as a girl then surely she brushes you aside at times, such behavior is unavoidable. That said, I would hope that she has passed some of her good manner onto you. Surely she must have some, for I would never have raised a daughter without them.
I got by, because of my manners. I survived because I knew when to say the right thing and when to keep my mouth shut.
But I suppose none of you would have survived, either way.
His politeness was in stark contrast to all I had experienced, but I was not one to reject the unusual--particularly not when it turned out in my favor. Thus, I returned his nod with one of my own. I added, too, a rare smile. Had I ever been given the opportunity to serve as a mother in this life, perhaps the upturn of my greying lips could have been described as motherly.
I'll never know what it was.
But with that smile I watched him and listened with delicate ears facing forward. I gave him as much of my attention as he gave me of his. It was a fair trade.
"True enough," I told him then, looking Eastward towards the not so distant site of the first battle. But my gaze wandered only for a moment, and I turned my head back as soon as he gave me his name. So quick, so trusting.
"A soldier, oh? That explains it, then. Good to know I've attached myself to a herd with one as steadfast as yourself then," boy, I thought at the last second but did not say. Better not to wound whatever pride he might have, I was too smart for that. He was clearly aware of my age, he treated me with due deference, but there was no need for me to treat him any lesser than he treated me.
Still, I wouldn't yet give him my name.
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AHVELYN
