"And now I wish to God that The earth would turn cold
And my heart would forget it's made of glass"

Soft lips brushed gently over the bright scales of the dragon, stroking the curled up form absently while a storm of thoughts and emotions whirled within. The scent of reptile, of smoke and sulphuric acid tickled her nose, and his frame was warm, almost painfully hot against her frigid skin. Grass tickled against her belly and legs, a soft breeze tousled the pearly locks - it was a beautiful day, warm and bright and vibrant with overflowing verdure, and by rights it should have been filled with joy, with play and pranks and laughter.

Not pain. Not worry, sadness or brooding thoughts. And yet, to the wintry fawn the trickle of sunlight through green canopies and the glitter of drifting bugs and dust was a mere reflection, something her eyes took in without fully processing. Her focus remained on the dragon, on the tight knot of unease in her belly and on the adults that spoke quietly a few strides away, their voices a low murmur in her ears. Erthë wished she could hear what they were saying, but they spoke too quietly for more than stray syllables to reach her, disconnected and without meaning. There was no mistaking the serious looks on their faces however; miss Eva was frowning and Tembu looked like he wasn't having a very good day at all.

They were talking about her, the filly knew that. Talking about her, and frowning, and it fed the heavy lump until it grew heavy as led, a tight knot of fear that weighed on her spirits and made it hard to smile. She stroked the dragon, but it was more to soothe herself than Tallis, who probably would have been happier without her chilly affections.

A rustle of hooves stepping through grass caused her slender head to jerk up and around, so suddenly that she cricked her neck and disturbed the painful leg. A stab of pain shot through her and made Erthë hiss, face contorted in a grimace as she tried to smile at Tembovu and bite back a whimper at the same time.

His question was probably well meant and rather simple, but it placed the child in a state of confusion. Her first instinct was to say 'I'm fine!', but since she was lying here with a healer hovering over herself and unable to walk, it would have been too blatant a lie. But what should she say? That it was a beautiful day and she loved listening to the birds chirping in the trees, that she long to run around and chase butterflies so much that her chest ached, or that she was sad her mother wasn't there to experience it with her? Or maybe that she hadn't seen her dad for a while now and feared he had left her there in the Edge and disappeared somewhere, like Shadow had used to do, that she felt hurt he hadn't played with her even once since they came back from the Islands, or that she was terrified of never being able to walk properly again for the rest of her life?

But if she said that, the filly felt she would probably begin to cry, and she didn't want that. The grown ups were worried enough already, she didn't want to add her tears to their burdens too. So she gazed up at the stallion, picked up the smile that had faltered for a moment and replied softly, with no trace of fear in the voice - the picture of serenity and calm.

"I'm okay" she said - which was kinda true, she wasn't dying or anything after all. "It just hurts all the time, so it's hard to move... and sleep."

The last part slipped out of its own and Erthë bit her tongue, angry at herself for revealing it.

"And all the pretty tulips would disappear
And never disturb me again"