"Mama?" the little girl asks, confusion darkening her blue-eyed gaze. "Mama, why did you give me someone else's name?" she chirps. It's been a thought that has been plaguing her mind all morning. It had only been an earlier conversation that had revealed the truth, that there had been another Lilliana. The silver Regent had slowed and turned to look back at her daughter. Aletta had smiled, a look of maternal love that softened her usually impassive features.
"Because your father had thought it was a pretty name," her mother had answered. And that, that had made her petite chest flood with warmth, made that butterfly heart of hers flutter with love. It also leaves her with more questions than answers but Lilliana had learned not to press at the subject of her absent sire. But the thought that her father might know she exists, that he could have knowledge of her fills her in a way that the ache of not knowing him empties her. For now, it is enough and Lilli can saunter after her mother. She thinks that all the reason there is to it - that her father had liked the name.
But her mother surprises her. "You were named after somebody very brave, Lilli," her mother intones. "And I'd like for you to grow up to be brave too."
Morning dawns upon Beqanna, the early light spreading from tree to tree, branch to branch. In Taiga, it can be hard to see it but this morning the breeze wakes Lilli up. It whispers in her ears, offering promises of a beautiful day and so the chestnut rises earlier than normal. It moves around her and pushes her to the south, murmuring and leading her along the River, past the borders of Hyaline and Loess, to the Meadow where spring can be felt in full swing. The breeze here is sweet, bright with spring and the scent of lush grasses, of morning dew, of the coming days of summer, make themselves known.
Her mind tries not to dwell so much in the past. As stands beneath the treeline, Aletta's words still echo in her ears and the dream still lingers in her gaze. She tries not to stay in the memory too long; as much as she loves her family and is grateful for the love that she still carries, the memories always leave her. She is always left alone, trying to grasp for ghosts and shadows of a past life that is behind her. Lilli tries to use these memories as a way to blaze forward, to use them as foundation blocks to carry her through her days but the loss of a family is not an easy thing for her to overcome.
But the sun is warm where the sunbeams come trickling through, the day looks to be a radiant one. And then, there it is. A young doe, her eyes dark and reluctant, takes one cautious step forward and then another. She turns her elegant head back to the bushes before taking a few more steps before a speckled fawn emerges. He is still unsure of his steps on his impossibly long legs and as his mother continues on in this empty part of the Meadow, he bleats after her. The doe flicks an elongated ear back at him and the fawn takes more unsteady steps until another emerges from the brush. Twins. The second isn't as reluctant as her brother and leaps where he walks, bounds where he stalls. The second finds her mother and then vanishes beneath the long grasses, hidden the camouflage of her mottled coat while the first comes hesitantly towards them.
"You can do it," Lilli whispers, encouraging him on from her hiding place. "Just a few steps more," she urges.
Finally, he joins them. His mother, reunited with her children, collects her fawns and moves on. The shadows from the trees obscure them as they move out of sight and Lilli is left with the glow of morning light and birdsong above, the music of the breeze as it moves through the spring leaves.
"Because your father had thought it was a pretty name," her mother had answered. And that, that had made her petite chest flood with warmth, made that butterfly heart of hers flutter with love. It also leaves her with more questions than answers but Lilliana had learned not to press at the subject of her absent sire. But the thought that her father might know she exists, that he could have knowledge of her fills her in a way that the ache of not knowing him empties her. For now, it is enough and Lilli can saunter after her mother. She thinks that all the reason there is to it - that her father had liked the name.
But her mother surprises her. "You were named after somebody very brave, Lilli," her mother intones. "And I'd like for you to grow up to be brave too."
Morning dawns upon Beqanna, the early light spreading from tree to tree, branch to branch. In Taiga, it can be hard to see it but this morning the breeze wakes Lilli up. It whispers in her ears, offering promises of a beautiful day and so the chestnut rises earlier than normal. It moves around her and pushes her to the south, murmuring and leading her along the River, past the borders of Hyaline and Loess, to the Meadow where spring can be felt in full swing. The breeze here is sweet, bright with spring and the scent of lush grasses, of morning dew, of the coming days of summer, make themselves known.
Her mind tries not to dwell so much in the past. As stands beneath the treeline, Aletta's words still echo in her ears and the dream still lingers in her gaze. She tries not to stay in the memory too long; as much as she loves her family and is grateful for the love that she still carries, the memories always leave her. She is always left alone, trying to grasp for ghosts and shadows of a past life that is behind her. Lilli tries to use these memories as a way to blaze forward, to use them as foundation blocks to carry her through her days but the loss of a family is not an easy thing for her to overcome.
But the sun is warm where the sunbeams come trickling through, the day looks to be a radiant one. And then, there it is. A young doe, her eyes dark and reluctant, takes one cautious step forward and then another. She turns her elegant head back to the bushes before taking a few more steps before a speckled fawn emerges. He is still unsure of his steps on his impossibly long legs and as his mother continues on in this empty part of the Meadow, he bleats after her. The doe flicks an elongated ear back at him and the fawn takes more unsteady steps until another emerges from the brush. Twins. The second isn't as reluctant as her brother and leaps where he walks, bounds where he stalls. The second finds her mother and then vanishes beneath the long grasses, hidden the camouflage of her mottled coat while the first comes hesitantly towards them.
"You can do it," Lilli whispers, encouraging him on from her hiding place. "Just a few steps more," she urges.
Finally, he joins them. His mother, reunited with her children, collects her fawns and moves on. The shadows from the trees obscure them as they move out of sight and Lilli is left with the glow of morning light and birdsong above, the music of the breeze as it moves through the spring leaves.
LILLIANA
i left home on account of snow
(buried all the things i know)
(buried all the things i know)
@[Ryatah]
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind