we are aching bones and wasted years; exemplary

[magnus]

you and I both know that the house is haunted
and you and I both know that the ghost is me

Magnus was beginning to realize that there was no one who was going to understand his personal brand of anguish. The moods that changed subtly and viciously during the day. The memories that settled into his bones and then filtered through his fingers like sand. He’d wake up and all he would see is Joelle’s face smiling down at him. Some days, instead, it would be Makai’s glowering face as a colt, or the fear in his eyes when he life bled for him, or it would be Novae looking at him with pure resentment on her face. Other times, it would be Librette staring back at him or Trashlip looking down at him right before the kill.

Memories would either come in like a trickle or they would flood him; either he could barely remember the names of past Gates residents or he would be so overwhelmed that his knees buckled. Despite the fact that it had been over a year since he had crawled out of the ocean, he still had not been able to learn more about whatever dark magic had made it possible. Somewhere in the back of his mind, in his gut, he knew that it had something to do with his brother (the one who should be dead but was alive instead), but that was the extent of it. And, to be honest, the buckskin just wasn’t ready to face Makai just yet.

Feeling nostalgic, Magnus veered from his normal trek to the Field toward the Meadow, wanting a simple conversation without the strings of recruiting attached. Today, with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he wasn’t sure how useful he would be to those milling in the Field. It would maybe be for the best that he gave them the chance to talk to someone else—be recruited by someone who wasn’t fighting their own head the entire conversation. To Magnus, recruiting was too important to do half-heartedly.

Frowning slightly, he walked into the Meadow just as dawn struck it. He could not help the small smile that came from watching the morning light filter through the trees. Perhaps this was just what he needed.

MAGNUS

once general. once lord. once king.