Magnus had told her of Titus. In their many conversations, her uncle continuing to guide her through her ascension into Queendom, he had told her of those who called Tephra home. He had told her of the families who had taken refuge here during the plague—forming their own small herds within the land—and those who had begun to trickle in, seeking purpose and willing to take up the mantle of the land.

Titus had been one of them.

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy.

So she had not been surprised when she had seen him show up during the war, even though her heart had ached that any had to be there, that any had to feel their flesh split and the blood fall into their eyes. She had tried to protect them, but her magic had limits—and she was still so new to it. Still so unpracticed.

But he had survived—she had done her best to check on him—and she feels as he returns. She feels as he crosses the threshold into the aftermath of the war and she turns her eyes toward the horizon, seeing through the ash that filters through the air and the faint smell of smoke that has yet to leave completely.

Without hesitating, she begins to make her way toward him. As she has lately, flowers fall in her wake, splitting open the hardened magma and letting lush vegetation break through. It is slow, her work to heal this land, but it is steady and throughout Tephra, there are pockets of it already in place. Water that is clean and grass that is sweet and areas where mothers can rest their children without fear of harm.

It is the only thing she can ask.

As she walks up to him, white flowers blooming in her crimson mane and greenery sprouting around her hooves, she gives him a soft smile. Her hazel eyes find his own and rest there for a moment.

“Titus,” she says his name quietly. “Welcome home."

it's only you and me there until the darkness calls
let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes

War is never what is expected. She hadn’t ever thought to prepare herself for such a thing—why would she, a quiet healer from nothing, ever need to prepare for war?—but she had experienced it anyway. She had felt the scars of it deep within her. From watching Rhonen fall and not being able to do a thing to stop it to seeing Loess rain down on Tephra and being little more than a half-functioning shield for her home.

She had known the bitter taste of war, and she wears the weight of it still.

Titus is exactly as she expected him to be though, and her smile is genuine where it touches the very corners of her mouth. “I have been busy enough,” is all she says regarding her own accomplishments because, to her, they are hardly that. They are penance for her own part in what transpired. They are the only thing she knows how to do to help after the destruction that she helped wrought.

It would be easy—to slip into the darkness, to leave.

But she does not deserve such beautiful endings.

She deserves to work and face everything she has done. She deserves to bear the brunt of it.

Still, he is kind and her smile spreads a little further, the warmth just barely reaching her eyes. “I believe in the Tephra that we are building. She is strong, and I know that she will rise strong than before.” There is a brief pause as she gathers her thoughts, looking toward his face again. “But I cannot do it alone, Titus. Magnus has told me of you, and I have watched you. I am in need of a General to help protect Tephra.”

She pauses, letting the sentence rest in the open between them.

“I would never ask you to do something you did not feel called to do, but if you are…”

Her voice trails off and she waits, watching him for a reaction.

it's only you and me there until the darkness calls
let's face the dawn together; we'll brave whatever comes