There hadn’t been any doubt that Ana would arrive, but Beyza is grateful that it happens so soon and her weary body comes to a stop. She doesn’t flinch away from the shadows even though they are the antithesis of everything she is. They don’t always love her but she has a fondness for them and she closes her eyes as they close around her in a globe.
Her trust in her mentor is absolute.
There’s no shortage of relief when they touch her skin and that’s when she opens her eyes, marvelling at the swirling darkness across her skin and the novelty of seeing something other than blinding white when she looks down at herself. Then it seeps into her, bringing back the white and bringing relief with it.
“Thank you.” She pushes the thought out to Anaxarete with no shortage of gratitude.
And truthfully, Beyza requires little encouragement. The images and thoughts pour of her so that she is showing Anaxarete as much as she is telling her - the fog, the way Jamie had shifted and changed, the demon-creatures they had seen in the Otherworld and how they had torn Beyza apart. She didn’t know how much she needed to share these thoughts with someone else, to have Anaxarete anchor her and tell her whether she was crazy for what she knew she needed to do.
But she thinks the shadow mare will understand.
“I was there with Jamie. He… he was Death.” There’s no fear in Beyza’s thoughts, only marvel - only fascination and admiration. “When I was young, I saved my sister and another filly - I didn’t mean to but I brought them back from death. And while I was behind the veil, Death - Jamie - bargained for me to replace the souls I took plus one more.”
And there it was - she had said it. Her thoughts are calm but there’s an edge of excitement there to be noticed for someone that knows her well.
“Have you ever killed someone before, Ana?”
@[Anaxarete]