When Kagerus had returned from the common lands with the scent of a loved one held close against her skin, Solace had taken to the sky. The news that she brought home was enough to prompt Solace into taking up an old habit. Every morning, while the twins slept, she had stretched her wings and met the sunrise in the sky. It gave her purpose and reminded her of her days as a young queen in Hyaline. She had always found solace in ritual.
After a week, as her wings and back grew strong again, she had added an evening patrol to her daily routine. Eventually, her search is rewarded.
It is a cloudless day, and she spots her daughter as the antlered mare crosses into Tephra. Involuntarily, a gasp escapes her, but she is far too high for anyone to hear it or see the delight that colors her face. The pegasus begins her decent in large sweeping circles, sending off a single beam of blue light in the direction of where she had left her wife. Kagerus would know what it meant.
The effervescence of her expression is dampened, but not erased when she sees the dark outline of a stranger. His tall form comes between her and her daughter as she lands. But she doesn't let the feeling linger. It was too wonderful of a day for that. The frost swirls around her as her hooves touch the ground, mixing with the summer grasses. Solace is a different woman from the one who tore through the woods, her mind and magic in shambles, on the hunt for her young children so many years ago.
Today, her smile is wide and genuine, her eyes are clear and her soul is at ease.
She steps up just in time to catch the stranger's name, but her intended greeting for him is forgotten now that the hope she had harbored for so long is coming true.
"Oriash," she uses her daughter's full name as she closes the space between them. She reaches to embrace her, savoring the peace that her nearness brings. Maybe it was only a short visit, or maybe it would be something more permanent, but she is content at this moment and without expectations for the future. The pain of Valdis' death was still a needle in her heart that twisted in her most joyous moments. A pain that served as a reminder that if the ones she loved were alive and flourishing, even if she rarely saw them, that was still more than she was promised.
"You look well, my love." Her voice is low and tender, she hadn't meant to use that little intimacy that she so often gave to the youngest of her brood. She didn't want to make Ori feel uncomfortable, but it escapes her and she lets it go. She didn't work so hard to hide her every feeling these days, she didn't have to.
Growing more aware of the stallion standing nearby, Solace folds her wings back over her topline. With another gentle smile to Ori, she turns her ageless face and blue eyes to Set, giving him a small nod. He is someone she has not seen before, and his dark scent is foreign. "I'm Solace, a resident here," she begins. "Is this your first visit to Tephra?
we are the ever-living ghost of what once was
