YOU BELONG AMONG THE WILDFLOWERS
YOU BELONG SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE
A slow smile touched her lips. She recognized that guarded tone, the uncertainty in the way Frey’s name had almost been a question. “Frey,” she repeated, the name lilting like a note of music. “It’s a good name. Strong.” She knows that the girl won’t believe her, but she says in a way that makes it seem unquestionable.
She lowered her head slightly and let her eyes flutter shut, as though she was listening to something deep within the earth. “The land speaks to me in different ways. When I walk, the green stirs. I speak the language of foxes and sparrows and deer. Every leaf, every stone, every creature has a story to tell if you open yourself to hearing it.” Her eyes open once more, and drift from the girl to the forest and back again. Aeife was lucky that, unlike Frey, she’s never felt alone. For she calls everything in the forest and the river and the meadow friend. Perhaps Frey could learn to ground herself in the world, too. One doesn’t need to be a Druid to learn to hear the forest.
“When they have no words,” Aeife said gently, “They speak in feeling. In actions. The fox tells me when he is wary when he hides in the ferns. The sparrow’s song changes when the storm is close. And the wind certainly isn’t subtle with her moods.” As if in response, the wind gently shook the water from the leaves above them.
As she spoke, small shoots of clover and fern began to unfurl around her hooves slowly, almost shyly. Aeife did not seem to notice, or perhaps she did but had no need to show it. The plants simply reached for her as if they agreed with her.
The plants at her hooves continued to climb, weaving tiny tendrils over her fetlocks, at which point she did notice and dropped her muzzle towards the shoots as if they were friends. Aeife smiled at them fondly, then looked back up to Frey. Then, with a small smile that carried both invitation and patience, she added, “If you’d like… I can show you.” She had a suspicion that Frey would take her up on her offer.
A E I F E
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