Midas

"They didn't even show up? They just left their family, the people that rely on them, to a battle that you say they could never have handled?!"

Silence. I didn’t see the point in answering, what could be said? The battle had been assured without our aid, and with it we had only shamed the enemy that showed up. Three against one is hardly an honorable thing to participate in; indeed it was hard not to feel guilty for the brash sap I had been placed to overcome. "They should never have been a leader!" The faintest hints of a smile tugs the corners of my lips, even this child held more wit than their betters seemed to hold. “Our world is full of cowards,” I acknowledge sadly. Cowards, traitors, murderers, and liars. My face lingers above the water, peering into a reflection hidden by silver steel. Lips drip from a thirst that had already been quenched. Silently I ponder wretchedly, ‘What if this battle had been for the Throat?’ Sure, we would all like to think that each would stand and protect their homeland, but what if our leaders abandoned us? Knowing the full clout of what hell would come?

Water seeps between my plates, cleansing, buffering until each sliver was purified. Not an ounce of bare space was missed. It felt brilliant to be clean again, I had left a dusty warrior on the bank and would emerge without the weight of muck. Mail slithers along my spine, retracting from flesh to reveal dark wet skin. The protective pieces fall back into their sheath shaped collar. A literal burden had been removed, and my body responds favorably; shoulders straightened and neck rose higher--limbs no longer felt drug down. Essentially it felt one thousand times better to have my armor off. Swan like wings closed behind me, each pushing water aside until folded snuggly against my stomach. Hooves stamp their mark in soggy lake soil when I turn to Cera, this made successful squishing sounds with each step that was taken.

“Ilaria, doesn’t like baths?” My intention was to move conversation toward something more pleasant. Slowly I approach his side, white water awash as I move toward my family. Velvet soft snout extends to run across the caramel fur of his neck, scratching that spot just above the junction were his wing connects shoulder bone. “Perhaps you can use your charm to get Fina down here; since she won’t touch water aside from the rare occasion I see her drink.” Through the trees I can almost feel those eyes barreling into me, sharply correcting that she was most certainly not going to be convinced to do anything. “You already know about my day. Tell me what you did today?”

your dying love is a rose I have buried somewhere close to you