"I HEAR THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP WHEN YOU'RE TALKING IN YOUR SLEEP."

One breath. Then another. 
In. Then out. 
Repeat.

It was always easier when Virga was there. Everything. Even breathing. For so long all I’d had was the matching thrum of his heartbeat, thundering along in rhythm with my own.  For as long as I could remember and even before that it’d been there, hammering out its comforting rhythm - and it was still soothing even now. With each and every heartbeat the steady comfort of having him close seemed to extinguish the tumult of emotions that had just exploded in my head and from my lips.  It wasn’t something I was used to either - that panic. That fear.  

It was exhausting. 
I didn’t like it...or the aftereffects.

But the storm had passed and it seemed like the grey clouds that hung before my eyes were starting to clear.  But I could still feel the electricity in the air, threatening to scald me from the inside out.  But I was okay. Papa had soothed the burn with his words; Virga had chased away the hurt with his touch.  I was safe.

I didn’t understand this stranger. I didn’t understand her sharp words and the expression in her eyes. Maybe that’s what had scared me the most, what had sent the words spewing from my lips entirely unhibited...the unknown and the need to compensate for that.  But the expression she wore now? That was something that I could comprehend. For a moment I was horrified that I had put that expression on her face, but her fleeting words were enough for for me to understand.  Part of me wanted to go back, to try to understand what had happened - what was still happening.  But some part of me recognized that this was an adult conversation now, and I was in a much better place now standing here with my brother and his new friend and allowing things to unfold as they will.  Papa did know Ampere, after all, I was certain of that.  

I took another deep breath and whisper, “Thank you,” to Virga.  My silver tipped ears swiveled forward as Iskra explained the game that I’d interrupted and I found my head bobbing automatically. My legs started moving and I drifted towards the gentle curl of the waves washing against the shore.  I feel the warmth of Virga’s wing drop away from the plane of my back and shivered at the sensation of being exposed. In the very same moment my mind is still unraveling what had just happened and I’m torn between wanting to run and play and forget...and the need to help.  So I turned just before the waves crashed over my spindly fetlocks and looked back at Iskra. 

“Iskra, your mama seems...sad?”  It wasn’t really a question, it was more of a request for validation for what my eyes were clearly telling me.  I didn’t want to assume that his mama was sad all of the time, or insult this boy I’d only just met by somehow questioning his mother’s emotional stability, because that wasn’t my intention at all.  My intentions, unlike some (most?) in Helovia, were entirely pure. 

“Do you think maybe after we chase all the fish away we can all look for some sea shells and sea glass and make her a present, like a necklace or something?”  The words came out quietly, but I hoped they didn’t seem foolish.  “Maybe that would make her happy?” I offered, ever hopeful that there was something I could do, however small, to affect the course of this mare’s day - this mare who I only know as Ampere - Iskra’s mother.  “I’m sure that Everly could help us put it together…” my words drifted off as my gaze drifted skyward, and the little zephyr let out two chirps of agreement from where she was circling above.  The zephyr was torn about helping the mare whom Lucius had warned her about, but didn’t see the harm about presenting the “Blue Bitch” a peace offering. 

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