[private] time for the father-daughter dance

[Beyza]

Gradually, Beyza’s world was beginning to get a little bigger - though not by much. Her adventures into the common lands remained the extent of it - leaving the whole wester portion of Beqanna a mystery. Sometimes, when she was having trouble focusing with her magic, she would get glimpses of other places - a volcano, cliffs, ice, forests that she doesn’t recognize. Although these places certainly sparked some of her curiosity, they were easily forgotten. Her world was, for now, still plenty interesting for her. After visiting the Cove, Beyza focused her attention on the other land that was part of Pangea’s family - which just so happened to be where Ryatah, her mother’s friend (and her own friend, she liked to think!) lived. It was early in the morning and the frost on the grass had not yet melted with the coming sun when Beyza arrived. She didn’t feel bold enough to try teleporting again after it went a little wonky last time so she had flown in on swan-white wings, landing near the lake. It does not occur to the nearly-two year old girl that she should have waited at the border. She meant no harm and therefore did not believe anyone could assume she did. A soft glow surrounds her as she folds her wings and they fade away, leaving her sides bare as her pale eyes search the shore and surrounding foothills for that gold-accented angel, for that familiar face. Beyza can feel that Ryatah is close somewhere and so she does not move - believing that soon enough she will be discovered. She stands still then, looking as though she was carved from marble as she waits. Beyza

art by sandy--apples

@[Ryatah]

[Ryatah]

“I know when you go
down all your darkest roads
I would have followed all the way
to the graveyard.”

She returns to Hyaline as she always does, because this has become a home for her far more than anywhere else. Homes have always been a tricky thing for her, because often they were not a somewhere, but a someone. There were times, such as with the valley, where even after the someone left the somewhere that it still felt like home, but she has never found that feeling since. There is something about Atrox that feels like home because she knows where he is, knows that even when they both leave that they will come back here. He is, surprisingly, one of the few constants that she has in her life, and she does not see herself abandoning Hyaline for as long as he is still here.

When she returns in the early morning she does not seek him out immediately, however. She finds where she had left Echis, curled and safely tucked away in a grove of trees and on a bed of spring clover. The touch that she places against her neck is so soft it could have simply been a breath, not enough to wake her, before she slips away again in the fog of the morning, in the direction of the lake. She is not ready to settle in for the day quite yet, though this was a common occurrence with her.

She is surprised when she crests one of the many rocky slopes that overlook the lake to see a pale, glowing figure – so similar to her own. Her heart twinges with a sad kind of delight at the sight of her daughter, and she simply watches her for maybe a heartbeat too long. She wonders if anyone else can see the similarities between them, or if Ryatah has simply fabricated them inside of her head. She looks like Agetta, of course, but there is so much more that she wonders how long this secret is going to stay a secret.

When the strikingly white of Beyza’s eyes find the unsettling dark of hers there is an immediate smile in response, and in a matter of moments she is at her side. “Beyza,” she says without masking her obvious delight, pressing her nose into the young girl’s neck before pulling away to ask, “What are you doing here?”

ryatah

[Beyza]

A sunny smile breaks out on Beyza’s face when she sees Ryatah. Like her own mother, and like her tutor Anaxarete, Ryatah brings a sense of comfort and familiarity that floods through Beyza in the presence of someone she has known for her whole short life. She doesn’t think too much about how she feels such a connection to the older mare, why sometimes it feels as though she’s with one of her parents when Ry greets her with a kind touch. The answer to Ryatah’s question comes easily. “I’ve been exploring again and wanted to see your home.” That calm breaks and the glow surrounding her brightens a little with her expression as a rush of youthful excitement overtakes her - proving that she is not quite yet as grown up as she sometimes thinks she is. “And I’ve been practicing with my magic! Would you like to see a trick?” She takes a step back even before she has finished speaking, ready to make a demonstration - not really needing an answer to her question even in the slightest. Her white eyes close and she tilts her head as she stretches out with her mind to find some nearby birds to call over to swoop around them. She can hear the rustling of wings as a few sparrows flock towards them but she is distracted because, in addition to the birds, Beyza finds herself accidentally inside the mind of the gold-trimmed mare with her. It’s an intrusion and she instinctively tries to recoil, but not before she catches onto something. Just a word, but Beyza’s magic tendrils follow the connotations of it until she hooks into the realization that Ryatah felt the day she and Caledonia were born. Beyza’s heart begins to race in her chest and her eyes flash open in the same instant her magic snaps back into her body. Even the glow around her disappears entirely in her shock, so she stands there bare and unadorned as she looks up into black eyes. “Ryatah…” She trails off, forgetting the sparrows who fly in confused circles before leaving the pair of white horses. “Are you…” But she cannot even begin to try to riddle out what this means, who her parents are, so she changes tactics as she begins to tremble just slightly. “Am I your daughter?” Beyza

art by sandy--apples

@[Ryatah]

[Ryatah]

“I know when you go
down all your darkest roads
I would have followed all the way
to the graveyard.”

“Hyaline is beautiful, and you know you’re welcome here anytime,” she tells her, with another touch to Beyza’s neck. “If you see Atrox though it might be a good idea to leave him alone,” she adds with a faint but amused smile, “He can be….less than friendly.” She doesn’t think that he would do anything to the young girl, even if he recognized her as Agetta’s daughter. He was irritable enough though that even Ryatah chose to rarely disturb him, and though Beyza had her magic to defend herself with, she would prefer for it to never come to that.

“I would love to see anything that you can show me,” a genuine expression from someone like her, who has always been fond of magic and all the strangeness that came with it. Magic has not always been kind to her, and yet it has defined her. All the ways magic has touched her has shaped her, played a part in the way it sharpened her in some places while softening her in others. It was hard to hate something that has given her so many things – like Beyza.

She can hear the birds, the sound of wings fluttering on the wind, and she lifts her dark gaze to the sky. When she looks back she is surprised to see Beyza’s entire demeanor has changed. There is concern, first, but that is quickly washed away by remorse. Even though it wasn’t her fault – she had played no part in Anaxarete’s games – she still could not shake the feeling of guilt. She holds the young girl’s gaze, her chest tightening with anxiety, and at first all she can do is nod her agreement. “Yes,” she finally says, her voice soft. “You are. Mine and Agetta’s.”

Her tongue feels heavy, but her mind is frenetic. She wants to explain everything, wants to assure Beyza that this truth did not mean anything had to change. “Your mother doesn’t know,” is what she says instead, and continues imploringly, “and I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell her.”

ryatah

@[Beyza]

[Beyza]

The warning about Atrox gets a nod from the pale girl, though her gaze does drift and her mind does too - finding herself curious about this less-than-friendly friend that Ryatah seems to have. Surely he can’t be so bad if the angelic mare is living in the same land as him. But those are thoughts for another time. The confirmation almost winds Beyza. She is surprised too - she does not know much about how reproduction works but she knows it usually involves a boy and a girl. And that Agetta didn’t know? If Beyza’s clear features could show her expression easily, it would be a frown, but her voice conveys the turmoil of emotions when she finds it again. “What about my dad? Do you think he knows?” The young girl wonders if she should still even call him dad. They share no blood. That is the blow she feels the most, she thinks. It’s like Plume was just carved out of her family right here in this beautiful mountainous land. No, that doesn’t have to be true. Blood doesn’t have to be everything. She can physically feel herself begin to detach from the torrent of strange and raw emotions that begins to rise in her. She compartmentalizes them swiftly, placing them in neat little boxes until she can handle them all in turn. Part of her wants to ask how and why, but she isn’t sure it would make a difference to know. She suspects Anaxarete immediately - it makes sense that the shadow mare had created her, crafted her, and trained her. Ryatah had been a friendly face throughout her short life. Maybe she was just lucky enough to have four parents. That wasn’t so awful. And just like that, it is dealt with. This shock, this rocking of her world, and the grief are smoothed away from her with near-robotic ease as if a switch had been flipped. One more part of her heart turned into a stone box to keep things locked within. All that’s left is a cool, slightly cautious, curiosity. “Should I call you mom now?” Beyza

art by sandy--apples

@[Ryatah]

[Ryatah]

“I know when you go
down all your darkest roads
I would have followed all the way
to the graveyard.”

Her head shakes gently at Beyza’s question. “Your father doesn’t know either.” She pauses, catching herself before she reveals too much of the truth – before she tells her that only one other knows the truth, and that is Anaxarete. She knew that Beyza was incredibly close with the shadow mare, and she did not want to imply anything negative about her. As it was, she didn’t dislike Anaxarete to begin with. Though she often ended up ensnared in her web of games, usually only by association, it was difficult to blame the dark for behaving exactly as you’d expect it to. A shadow would always be a shadow, and though she suspects there was an ulterior motive behind the creation of Beyza, she has never tried to ask.

“Your parents love you,” is what she says instead, accompanied by a sympathetic smile. “I don’t think anything you told them would change that. But this just seems like one of those truths that would bring with it an unnecessary hurt. Even with my blood, you are still their daughter.” She searches the young girl’s face for a glimmer of understanding, hoping that what she says makes some kind of sense. Telling Plume and Agetta that Beyza was not a daughter born between the two of them would accomplish nothing, and she was not the type to inflict pain if it could be avoided.

“You can call me whatever you would like. I won’t be offended if you still just call me Ryatah.” She reaches out then to gently touch her nose to the girl’s impossibly pale neck, skimming her lips across her skin before pulling away in case this new information has left her feeling apprehensive towards her. “I have known you were my daughter from the very beginning, and I loved you even though you didn’t know it.”

ryatah

okay I was thinking this could be a closer since I am garbage. At least now Beyza officially knows ryatah is her dad-mom