THE CLOVENHEART
on his own

When Alice arrived he knew why right away, and he spared no time. Lochan and Rakt rose and flanked him so that all three ran in unison towards the common, unifying love of Hotaru and their children. This was a new chapter. Whatever happened next, they would go into it together.

The evening was their time of comfort, when their eyes were sharpest and their senses were honed. The budding stars were lining the path to an old home and a new family. Perhaps he was seeing things, but Ashamin thought that Mriga's stars shone particularly bright on that special night. The dagger bearing its name, however, was still by the Blood Falls. This was a night for rejoicing, not war, and so all of its artifacts would be left behind.

When the Sentinels appeared before him he did not hesitate to run past them, and neither did his companions. Rakt leapt with grace and disregard--Lochan with care and delicate swiftness. Ashamin thundered, noise and pride following him where he went. He was going to see his family. He was going to see his love.

But luckily for him, she had heeded his words. She had heard him say that he would be there, that he would always be ready to meet at the border. She was not deep within the territory but in fact just at its edge, and so when Alice turned sharply towards a dense collection of pines Ashamin did the same. His heart was pounding and his hair flew behind him with the rushing of air. Lochan picked up speed, breaking through the trees before his bonded.

They were close.

Ashamin felt his magic unfolding from his heart as he sought out Hotaru's beating life, warm and delicate. Cold pebbles lost beneath the needles flew up and scraped his ankles, causing sparks to burst from them to mend. The last set of brush passed over his eyes and then he saw her, not alone but with two foals and on her feet.

Two children.  Two children, and they were his. He rushed towards them and his companions circled with care, watching delicately over the new family. Ashamin saw his children, a bright mix of black, cream, and rosen shades. With every step closer he could make them out more clearly, see the unique curves of their oddly thin features. They looked, to be honest, in some ways more like his companions than he. And it was strange, to be sure, and it was not what he expected. But did he care? No. No, because they were his children, and she was his love. And he would always be there for this family he saw now. And they were his, and they were beautiful.

He heard their names, whispered with care and spoken with the utmost affection, and committed them to the memory of his heart. Warmth flooded him when he heard his and Hotaru's names in theirs, understood that she'd respected the tradition that flowed through his blood. He immediately reached out with his magic to listen to their hearts, and though Hotaru's seemed labored all were healthy. This was birdsong, the season of strong births, and he was glad that his children had been born into it.

"Ru," Ashamin murmured as he pressed his cheek to his lover's and let the burning blue glow of his marking shine onto her chest, "our children... Ru'in... Romina..." His voice caught in the rapture of new fatherhood, the understanding that this was the beginning of a new part of his life. He would never leave this family behind, did they know?

"You're beautiful," he said insistently and repeatedly to all of them, as he felt his heart be pulled from his chest and out into the world. His eyes were shut and his cheek travelling to greet his two children, the delicate fae and her mottled strongman of a brother, each looking like one of their two parents. His eyes were shut as the last sparks mended his pasterns and the first tears budded out from under his lids.

"I love you," he promised them all. "I will always be here with this love."

""