cold in the violence after the war
hope is a fire to keep us warm
Her curiosity is assuaged when Brennen greets her with a warmth that immediately sets her at ease, her own innate friendliness rising to return his smile in kind. His explanation makes as much sense as anything, so she accepts it with a curiously pleased little, “Huh. Neat.”
Before she can say anything further, another newcomer bounds towards them. A fox, as it happens. Brazen blinks, head tilting curiously as he ricochets between Leilan and Brennen before abruptly turning into a horse. He is unfamiliar to her, but seems to know the other two stallions well enough. A small, amused grin is her only response to Leilan’s wry commentary. When he settles in without saying anything, she shrugs off the odd arrival. In any case, the grinding sound of stone against stone draws Brazen’s attention sharply around before she can consider it too much further.
The familiar figure that tops the cliff brings an immediate smile to Brazen’s lips. When the spotted mare approaches the small group, she returns her affectionate bump with one of her own, features softened in a warm welcome. “Your ears must’ve been burning,” she teases, eyes crinkling in humor.
With no more new arrivals on the horizon, Brazen’s curious gaze shifts back to Neverwhere, who seems distinctly uncomfortable with the group surrounding her. To be fair, Brazen had always gotten the impression she didn’t care much for company anyway. She’s sure her mother had her reasons for plopping a crown on her head, but she certainly isn’t privy to what they had been. Nor would she want to hazard a guess.
Perhaps her next, rather gravely spoken words should have stirred some sort of reaction from her, but she cannot find them terribly surprising. Though she is as different from her mother as a leaf is to a tortoise, she has lived with her all her life. She had come to understand a thing or two about the secretive woman.
She also knows Heartfire had many powerful acquaintances. And that not all of those acquaintances were necessarily friendly. So, really, is it that surprising, in the end?
No, what troubles her far more is not knowing who was responsible. She’s not entirely certain she could adequately gauge the kind of power it would take to catch her mother by surprise and come out ahead, but she knows there is probably very little short of magic that could do it. And an unknown enemy with that kind of power? It would be terrifying, if she spent too much time trying to think about it.
Her spine twitches at the thought, and with a snort, she stretches her neck out before shaking the entire length of her body. The abrupt action tears fresh wounds in her skin, but it serves to distract her from the darkness of her thoughts.
Brennen however takes a great deal of interest in the subject. He peppers Neverwhere with questions. Who, what, why, all the things she’d been trying very hard not to think about. Frowning, gaze flicking between Neverwhere and Brennen, she does have to wonder if perhaps there is anyone else know anything. No one obvious, but as she wracks her brain, she realizes she does know one person who has at least one of her mom’s abilities.
“Rapture,” she mutters under her breath, not to anyone in particular. A frown tugs at her lips as she stares somewhat blankly into the distance. She isn’t especially close to her sister, but she knows her well enough. Maybe she ought to pay her a visit.
Brazen