It was not how she had pictured their return to Beqanna. But for all Solace's planning and overthinking, her life rarely took the course she thought it would. Theses little detours, brushes with death and heartbreak, shouldn't surprise the once-queen and nine-times-mother anymore, but there was something about this situation that has left her feeling unmoored.
Or maybe it is just that she doesn't have work to throw herself into anymore, that all-consuming duty.
But in her time alone, when she looked for sleep, couldn't help but think they had made a mistake during that grueling labor. That somehow it was her fault, that she missed the signs, or maybe, this was their magic catching up with them - which was no better. They had cheated biology over and over again, maybe it was just time for the dream-wold to remind them that it was a place of deep magic and unpredictability.
Whatever it was, she found herself unwilling to leave Tephra, and falling into her dreams for comfort more often every week - torn between her two children, struggling to remain present with her son while her daughter drifted, alone, on another plane.
It is only mid-day, but as soon as Indius and Kagerus have left for a grand adventure, Solace is slipping into the shadows of the jungle. She walks carefully, picking a gently used trail that follows a cheerful brook. and leaves it only once she finds a shady glen. With a quick peek over her golden shoulder, the pegasus steps off the path and sinks into the dens shade-grass with a sigh. With the dappled, yellow light playing cross her back and wings, and a cool breeze tossing her mane, she falls effortlessly into a dream.
...
The sunlight plays here as it had in the world she just left, and a small figure bounds through the too-tall grass and wild-flowers towards her, bring a smile to Solace's unguarded face.
"Hello, baby."
we are the ever-living ghost of what once was
