...Sisters...

[Lady Eirian Gwenyth Apollius]

Eirian: Michael Vincere had been at odds with the idea, at first, of 'His Queen,' gone beyond the city's walls. Still, he could not deny that the Lady Apollius' was possessed of a mind deemed far greater than many others for knowing how to soothe the soul shrouded in ire. A few meager words gave hint to a life no longer valid - 'Your Majesty,' ' My Queen' fell with efficent ease from Vincere's mouth. He was a soldier for whom chain of command was followed to : the letter. For Eirian, the chain of command bid that women mount horses and leave their sorrows in the soft sand to be washed away (d)

Morrigan: The last time Morrigan had been on horseback had been her days at Inverness, when she was caring for Serena Lot's great steed Arvassen. Yet it was one of those things that could never truly be forgotten.. a skill born in some, and of those, Morrigan was a member. Her seat was natural and her posture easy when she mounted, nostalgic and delighted to be graced the joy of riding once more. But ah, the shores.. much as the crash of the waves was something she loved, it also brought to mind that wonderful day she'd spent with Saul here, playing in the waters before he fell asleep to the rain's soothing lullaby. If she closed her eyes, she could still see the way he'd smiled at her, offering his hand with that roguish smile.

Eirian: The words of privelege fell short as Eirian looked out on the horizon for ships that had no shape. She heard things; whispers in the dark that spoke of potent omen, colors that held substance begging to be recognized. The steed beneath her body had been bred to be light, strong, and swift. Where it may not have had the presence of a horse bred to carry the weight of an armored knight, it's beauty lay in that it could fly over mountains. Sand seemed not disuade it, tossing a head up idly to taste the salt in the air. (d)

Morrigan: A hand rose, pushing back wind-tossed locks as she easily kept pace alongside Eirian, her gaze drifting across the far horizon and then the closer waves as they rolled to their end upon the sands, returning to the vast churning sea only to repeat the process all over again. She sometimes felt that her life was like that.. a few years of peace before everything went crashing down. She'd been waiting till they were away from prying ears, but now the story of what had happened to her in the days since Inverness that led her here tumbled from her lips, as per the artisan's prior request.


Eirian: "You were ill," she said, "and in the care of your kindred when naught could be done, nor seen, nor remembered. I am sorry.." What Eirian hadn't known before was how similar a story could be while changing the details of the cast or the stage. While waiting for Morrigan to be finished, she told a story of a time some years ago. Distant, yet not too far, when the kingdom of King Lot's sister had seiged and fallen. She, too, had grown ill from injury. She, too, could not recall how many months passed by before she awoke from death-like sleep to find that Bess was all that stood between her and a meeting with God. She could neither see, nor walk, and as time progressed she gainedthese things back and repaid her friend by holding to what she was capable, the care of Aodhan. Inverness had met a fate that saw her watching the destruction as people fled the castle. So here they came, and it was not until Talion went to Avaria to bring her to the people that they went from castle, to manor, to living beneath the ground in rebellion of the Steward's tyranny. (d)

Morrigan: "Aye." That was the gist of that first almost-year. She listened to Eirian's tale with wide eyes, a faint smile quirking the corners of her lips as she murmured. "Seems we 'ave more in common 'an I would e'er 'ave thought." A sickness like unto death and an attachment to Apollius men. She would've laughed had it not been an impossible thing for her at the time. She felt like she would never laugh again. Soon enough the rest of her journey, her recovery and how rumor - not to mention her heart, as though by some divine guidance - had led her to find Bess and the rest of them here. Truly it must have been fate, destiny, whatever you chose to call it.. that the end of her journey would indeed be journey's end. The irony of that had stuck her not long after discovering the meaning of the city's name.

Eirian: "Indeed. This is a blessed thing, for not many have lived in a sick body, nor been moved only to awaken in awe elsewhere. No, I have never met another this way." The attachment to Apollius men would challenge every fiber of what made a woman and demand that she find what was worth more inside of herself. What lengths one would go to, what patience to be endured! Yet she would lie if she said she regretted one single, blessed moment with Talion. When the tide rolled higher by moon's influence, she said, "What think you will come of such journey's as ours?" (d)

Morrigan: That question brought a frown to her lips, though it was more of a thoughtful nature than anything else, her brow furrowing. What did she think.. honestly, she didn't know. But... "I.. dae nay truly know. But.. I can only 'ope 'at 'appiness an' peace will be a part o' it." Gods knew that the people of this land deserved it, and she fiercely believed that those who dwelled in her heart should receive those gifts more than any other. She glanced over at Eirian,her frown becoming a ghost of a smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Eirian: "Peace and happiness will surely follow. To everything, there is a season. Tis writ in the bible, ancient wisdom holds true in it and many such books," For all of her Christianity, the Lady Eirian was a woman of many, many books. Christian and Greecian philosophy, faiths of cultures, histories, and saints. Nothing was new beneath the sun in this. Through a curtain of star soaked black hair, she smiled. "So if it is written by thinkers far greater than one small woman, surely twill come to pass." Leading the horse to the shore's edge, she contemplated their parents. What would they have thought of such things? "Morrigan, what was your family like?" (d)

Morrigan: "..I dae nay remember me mam." Save for brief flashes of memory, a smiling face and a soft voice. "Me da was a brave, strong man. Allus daein' th' right thin', and 'elpin' people whene'er 'e could. 'e 'ad a big 'eart." She missed her father terribly sometimes. Braden Stirling had been her rock. "I dinnae know me da's kin.. but me mam's..." She chuckled. "`alf the time I couldnae tell if'n 'ey wanted tae kill each other or sit down fer tea. But 'ey be full o' love an' warmth, braw, bonnie people all o' 'em." They'd made her feel welcome and wanted.. and though they were blood, she'd known her place wasn't with them.

Eirian: "We are reversed. I have no memories of my father, and all of my mother. The first part of my life is quite uneventful." She grinned in recollection of Ebrain's voice just in the center of her mind. It was a warm, beautiful voice suited to the pastures of her childhood. God, to Eirian that voice shamed the Empess of the Orient. It was sweeter than any saint or even the blessed Virgin. "By the time I came to memory, we lived in Devonshires at England. The fleecedowns, continuing on as shepards and weavers of threads. My father was a noble Welshman, my mother apeasent Welshwoman. nothing to be had of it until I came of age and my bloodmattered and became of necessity to my grandmother, my father's mother." (d)

Morrigan: She listened to Eirian intently as she looked out at the distant horizon, her dark eyes almost hopeful. Saul was out there somewhere. Was he all right? She looked over at Eirian then, arching a brow. Her mother's parents were long gone, and she had no idea where her father's kin even was. Braden had never talked about the village where he'd grown up, or his family. The world had begun and ended with Eithne McCullough-Stirling, as far as he was concerned. "I take it yer life became a might more complicated 'round then, aye?" Sure sounded that way to her.

Eirian: "Aye, so it did. I was nearing sixteen. My grandmother came to claim me, as my father had never given up hope to have my mother. Their reunion was corrupted by her ceasless ambitions. So I was taken to courts to be made mannerful, pious, obdient, and educated of what she deemed a noblewoman should know. She called me the daughter of a duke, a prince, a future King. My mother was taken back to Wales, and the ancestral castle of my birth became their prison. I never saw my mother in life again, nor have I had any of my father save for his words to paper. Those became precious. I know we were not cast off of him, but cast away against his will. I was told it is him I favor in all things." She looked to the reigns in her hand, laughing softly, "But the story is as story now. My grandmother confessed herself on her deathbed and begged my forgiveness, my parents are both dead. In a strange twist while I have contempt for her wickedness, perhaps God had opened a passage in this world for me." She leaned forward to rest against the neck and shoulders of her horse "The works of the world were my solace in sickness, sickness broke bone but strengthened spirit. For years, I died as I live. Just like my father. He was strong, yet sickly. When I could not walk my mind roamed. When I could not see, my thoughts turned toward God and the nature of the world. Becoming a Lady gave me a journey..one that has been long, ardous, but not without its joys, its chances, its beauty. Aye me. Poor the royal that i make in reluctance, it has yielded fortitude. One never fathoms the Will of god until we look back and realize we would change nothing (d)

Morrigan:Silence reigned over the lass as Eirian spoke, and even when the elegant woman's words stopped, Morrigan couldn't bring herself to speak. All these people she knew.. they had such a way with words. Especially Eirian and Bess. Their eloquence always astounded her, and rendered her unable to speak, more often than not. At a loss for words, she gently heeled her mount up next to Eirian's, and reached over to lightly lay one hand on the other woman's shoulder. There were no words, but the gesture spoke volumes: Understanding, gratitude, appreciation.. so much more that couldn't even really be defined. Words would never be able to properly express some things, she believed.. like the colors of the sky when the sun rose and set, or the beauty of leaves changing in autumn.. the music of a summer shower, and the simple elegance of falling snow.. the bonds that existed between friends, family, and those who were both all at once.

Eirian:"There is still so much beauty in the world, despite it all." Her head lifted up to smile at the lass beside her, giving a sigh of wonder as she watched the world turn beneath a scimitar moon. To hold a mastery over words was akin to holding the power of sorcery in a hand. Words could often be little, and fall terribly short. Drawing her back erect, it was her time to reach out and grasped Morrigan's hand in her own. Sometimes it was good to..merely be (d)

Morrigan:: She clasped Eirian's hand gently, but gave a soft squeeze. For the first time since the uproar had begun last night, hope welled within her. It was almost as though she heard a familiar voice on the air.. one singing a song in a language she didn't know, but which would forever linger in her memory. "..Everythin' will be.. aright. 'e will come back safe." She just knew it in her heart. She clung to that feeling as though she were drowning, and it helped herstay afloat.

Eirian: "Yes, he will come back. any who go forth shall come back. May I tell you a secret thought that has come upon my mind all day?" (d)

Morrigan: A secret? She blinked, and looked over at Eirian, nodding firmly. "O' course.. any secret o' yers be safe wi' me." Morrigan was as good as a safe when it came to secrets.

Eirian: "It will be known soon enough, but..I have given thought to things unfishined. And I would like to finish them." She felt the weight of Seren Goggeld on her back, and it felt not unappealing. But right, comfortable. "I have had dreams, of my students in Avaria. Of them lost with no further guidance. Books were burned, then, and I smuggled as many as I could from here to there. I fear the library beneath the capital, in the tunnels..was lost. I fear manyof them have been too, and those that live, do so with little consolation for better. I have quarreled with myself over the place of a woman likened to myself in these matters. I am neither the warrior women who fought for my husband, nor Beathag, who have their names in great annuals, or have sought to. By nature, I am a woman of peace and a woman of God. Yet, in the name of all that is right...and for self preservation..I am..not as I began. I am a mother, and my duty should be to my child, our children, our kin, and home. This means to remain from what is considered harm." Philosphy pattered a small responsa in conversation, but it was not hard to follow. "I have prayed ardently, and such belief as to finish what others have started led me to Wales, to liberate a country I had not lived long in, yet it was a good thing to feel the spirits of one's family relinquish their turmoil. I believe...such is that turmoil now. My children, my family, my kin, my home shall never be truly safe unless that which assails them is undone. To that end, I have decided to give of my services again to Avaria. I am not sure how Talion shall feel on it, but this is my truth. Should he return himself, when he returns......I have resolved to go with him." (d)

Morrigan: Her eyes widened with the news, and had she been any less comfortable on the back of that horse, she probably would've fallen off. She was.. stunned, and all she could do was softly murmur her name. "Eirian..." She was going back? Why did Morrigan feel like she was losing another friend, one close enough to be as family to her, and so soon after finding her again? Well.. she could understand why. Still clasping Eirian's hand, she gave it a small squeeze before nodding. "I ken what ye mean.. but know tha' I will worry fer ye, an' think o' ye." She respected the woman's decision and would do nothing to stand in her way. She didn't know what this Avaria place was but she wasn't at all sure she liked it, if it caused such problems. She would support Eirian, no matter what. She could do no less for those she cared about.

Eirian: "God bless you all your days, thoughts and all aer cherished by me. This is what I shall tell to none else, save him who is my husband, and those in his service. Others would not hear of it. The truth of it is..I have never been afraid to die. In truth I did not think to live so long as twenty, and each year after that was time the Lord was gracious enough to let me borrow. I have sailed to a colony of the Norse across the sea, walked the whole of Europe as a woman of books, become of art and impressed the world in ways that were never thought possible. I regret nothing..I thank everything. Mark you, even the General Kushrenada." for her name had been Kushrenada when they met hadn't it. "I would have not known many things had he not been kind enough to patron them, I would not have had Hope were it not for him, and I would not have found all of my strength had he not left. Yes. I have...lived with Talion now a rich, vibrant life. We have loved as if years where had been merely weeks. He has...encouraged what modesty concealed and fear of oddity supressed. He has taken Hope as his own, and she is his own. Just as Saul, and his niece, Breanna, are my family. God, should I die..I would fall to my knee before St. Peter in praise of the Glory of God for what was lived." (d)

Morrigan: Morrigan was surprised to feel tears prickling at her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. The majesty of Eirian's words combined with the rolling of the ocean and the sparkling blanket of stars wrought in her that rare reaction, and she was speechless once more for several moments. When she finally spoke her voice was a touch hoarse, undoubtedly from the unusual upwelling of emotions that she suppressed so instinctively by now. "Ye be a truly astoundin' woman, an' a blessin' upon 'is earth, my dear friend." That was all she could manage to wrest from her uncooperative voice.

Eirian: Amidst the sea, stars, and the such the words of Morrigan brought the first touch of color to Eirian's face in many hours. It was in need of warmth! "Thank you, but I am only as God deems. No more, no less." (d)

Morrigan: "I stan' by wot I said." There was the infamous stubborn streak. Morrigan's opinions of those she cared for would change when pigs flew and horses spoke. A trait no doubt picked up from her equally bull-headed father.

Eirian: "As you will, my friend. As you will." She turned over her shoulder to give her champion Vincere a smile to suggest to him that she was well and good. The air was pleasant, and maybe if the wind whipped harder she need not see Talion with so white a face. "How fast can you ride 'pon horse, Morrigan?" "The breed of the Northern Reaches moves as if to fly, shall we? Shall we fly Morrigan, like birds?" She appraised Vincere's take upon the matter. He, too, had a capable horse. He, too, was impressed of the fact his Lady could ride well enough to keep pace with him, so worried not of losing her. Where there was no loss let there be flight! For a gentle woman, Eirian had never elected to ride side saddle if given a choice! Once, in Inverness, the horse she'd taken for herself had been spooked and his running nearly had her in accident. But now? Now in two gloved hands, she took up the reigns. Leaning forward, she gave a click of tongue and so that was how the bird spread her wings! (d)



Morrigan: "Aye.. like birds." Eirian took off, and Morrigan bent low over her own mount's neck, murmuring into his flickering ear as she gently dug her heels into his sides. Four hooves pounded in a rapid staccato muffled by the sand, wind flinging mane, tail, and rider's hair out as one, while the girl buried her face in the horse's thick mane and finally allowed the tears to fall. Would that such free running could become wings and guide her to where her mind and indeed her very heart lay drifting, gods only knew how many miles away.


Eirian: The horse took to the command to run like it had been the will it long wished. What room was there to run in the city? Soft sand slipped with no effort away from the hooves as on the shore it pounded out the beat of a drum. Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Harder, harder at a thud-thud. Thud-thud. She dug her heels into yielding flanks and pushed the boundaries of pace. Brown rock became blurred with midnight black sky, green-blue sea until even the white sand was but a streak in the shoreline's rainbow. She rides - feeling not the Steward's men on her heels. She rides - not with a child to be saved in her arms, as she once had. She rode not for the rescue of the taken or the salvation of the damned. Only for the pure release of everything that could be a bind. (d)

Morrigan: As her head rose and lifted tear-stained face away from the lashing tendrils of the mane, she urged her horse on faster, following after Eirian while the rush of air stole saline droplets even before they left her eyelashes. It was cleansing. She remembered a time when she'd thought such freedom was all she wanted, and marveled at how it was not so long ago that her whole world has tilted on its axis, first for the good, then for the bad. Her mind raced even faster than the tread of hoofbeats, running across so many things.. maybes, what ifs, whys... As she looked towards the stars, she wished they could give her the answers she sought. But all they did was look down on her.. cold and silent, almost as though they, too, knew there was only one answer: Wait. Wait.. and you shall see.

Eirian: Our Father....who art in heaven...hallowed be thy name..thy kingdom come..thy will be done her mind uttered the prayer separate from the workings of the body, as if she had a disconnection to broaden her substance to the waking world...on earth as it is in heaven...give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses.....as we forgive those who tresspass against us. ..lead us not into temptation.. she surrendered in complete absolution to the feelings that rushed over her as the salt spray of the sea did, for she ran through it now. The horse kicked up water that soaked the hem of her robes, her sleeves..'but deliver us from evil..' she spoke in a whisper come prevalent to full voice...thinking again.."deliver us from evil....." So they raced down the shores uncaring of the miles they covered or the people they passed. At the zenith of the horse's speed when it could go no faster her eyes spilled water it'd refused to shed. 'for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory..forever..and ever...." Only when the beast of burden breathed heavy, breathed hard, did she allow his heart to cease to raise. Her own body still was floating between heaven and earth..' Amen..' and only then did she cry for the lost, the broken, the destitute, and even the damned who were once these other things. She cried not with turned down head, but with eyes cast up to the stars who said nothing, a secret smile to have had time unlock (d)

Morrigan: The harsh sting of the salty spray against her features was just as purifying, in its own way, as the tears that it helped to hide. Eirian prayed; Morrigan sang. It was her own form of prayer, in a way.. a way of throwing her hopes and dreams out to the world. She knew not the meaning of the words she spoke; her aunts, the sisters of her mother, had been the ones that taught it to her, and they didn't know, either. They told her that it had been sung through the long ages as many things. A dirge, a hymn, a lullaby, a song of love and a song of hope.. that to each who sang it, it had a different meaning. For Morrigan, it was one of many things: Hope, fear, longing, happiness and sadness.She'd felt more emotions in the past two days than she had in her whole lifetime prior to now, and she was overwhelmed, but she also felt.. reborn. As though she had been a caterpillar, and only now emerging from her chrysalis into the glorious butterfly others always seemed to know she would be. Yet as she saw Eirian slow and stop, she felt.. a sort of emptiness. Pulling her four-legged friend to a halt a few yards beyond the other woman, shaking hands released the reins and head lowered, hiding face against calloused palms while she sobbed helplessly into the worn skin. Eirian cried for others.. Morrigan cried for what was, what she'd lost, and what she suddenly feared was now eternally beyond her grasp, unleashing the anguish she'd fought so hard to hide.

Eirian: "There was so much to stand to mourn that had not been given thought. She sobbed for the students in her dreams, the young squires, the young women, and the broken of Avaria whom she had been graced to meet. She sobbed that the future would try to do this, and that the twisted world would have a man who had saved her life endanger that of her son! Gently she made her way to Morrigan, offering a hand that was far from still, as she surrendered to the effects of horse-flight. Morrigan stood to lose what had hardly been found, what could change life! Eirian could not bare the last look of Saul; in the English invasion he realized whom he faced in the artisan's hall, and ceased to attack them blindly and aid to save her life. Their tears were added to countless drops of water in the sea (d)

Morrigan: By the time she realized Eirian was there, she was all cried out. She felt the urge, but there were no more tears to be had. She furiously wiped the wetness from her cheeks, and looked over at her friend, reaching to grasp her hand.Eirian now held a special place in Morrigan's heart; she was the first person to see the girl cry since the death of her father, for she'd never trusted another to break down so much in their presence, at the rare times she'd been sad enough to. Fingers gripped Eirian's and squeezed gently as she took a deep breath. She couldn't speak. Not that she was sure she would, even had her throat not been raw from ragged sobs. Words were unneeded in such a situation. The roar of the waves spoke for her enough.

Eirian: Eirian had not recalled when the tears she had shed fell with such spiritual violence. It was as if the hand of a saint had dipped inside of her body to pull forth a river from the tissue.She bled sorrow's bittersweet euphoria from her every pore. Saying nothing, crying nothing any further as her eyes dried out to near burning..she breathed a sputtering breath and merely looked out at the horizon where the answers lay (d)

Morrigan Taking a deep breath, she released it on a slow sigh, and tried to find that calm center that had been hers for so long. She knew it was in there, somewhere. Dislodged by the discovery of emotions she'd never even known she was capable of feeling.. yes. And it would probably never be quite the same. She would never be quite so introverted, quite so unfeeling. But it would still be there, and it would help her through these hard times, until Saul returned, and while she worried for the woman at her side, who her heart embraced as a sister. That was what Eirian was to her... "Sister." The only word she spoke, half-whispered as she found her peace again.

Eirian" "So said, so bound." She promised herself that come what may, Morrigan would want not for anything if Eirian could find a way to lay it at her feet. Sometimes, the connection of souls was the most powerful need to satiate of all. It was good then, to be with one's sister at the edge of the sea. Sister. Not since the Lots of blood or marriage had the word sounded so deep. True, there were those of the Griffin who called her such, and meant it. But it was this sisterhood formed for the lives of two men bearing the same name that she felt as if all of her solitude, her joys and secret sorrows someone would truly understand. (d)