10-29-2018, 05:34 PM
i'd break the back of love for you.
@[leliana]
Her maternal instincts remain firmly in place despite her distance from her incubating egg. It tugs at the walls she's built around her kindness, searching for the loose bricks to make them crumble when Leliana says she has a sister as well. The words foster a foundation for some trust to be shared between them. She thinks of how she and Kerrigan used to shift together, knotting themselves around one another and laughing at the mess they made of themselves. When Mother left, they stayed huddled close together until their knobby knees filled out into strong legs. They tore down anyone who meant to bring them harm and together they were invincible. Or so she thought.
She watches Leliana when she begins to explain, lets the lies pour between her fingers until the truth lands in her upturned palm. Like her father. Khuma’s head tilts curiously, almost too far as she waits for the words to come out of her mouth. Father was dead, buried in the sand, which meant only one could sire more serpentine offspring anymore. The prince of the prized brood, she thinks as she grits her teeth. Anadil had taught her which siblings were to be avoided, lest she tempt Father’s rage. She carved their names into her heart and let the wounds fester there. She and Kerrigan were greater than any spawn he had with his queen.
“How blessed, to know the golden family,” she says with a slight frown on her lips. “How blessed and how cursed.”
But she likes Leliana. She doesn’t want to rub salt in her wounds, so she sighs slowly to soothe her own frustrations.
“Did he ever tell you about his parents, his brothers and sisters?” she asks as she steps closer again. She begins to gently fuss with the stray hairs of Leliana’s mane as she used to with her children, smoothing the locks into place with her lips. “Mother said Kerrigan and I were born the same year as Vulgaris. She pointed him and Father out, told us to never approach them. The chapter of his life that included us was over and he had returned to the woman he loved.”
She can still recall how much it hurt to hear the words but she obeyed them. Khuma learned to be content with what she had, knowing that entertaining her greed for her father’s attention could spell death for her. Anadil used to scare the girls with stories of how Larva ate the children who displeased him until they stayed up all night watching for him in the darkness. But she says nothing else. Those are stories for another day. This moment is for Leliana, whether she’s the true love in this story or the abandoned mother.
She watches Leliana when she begins to explain, lets the lies pour between her fingers until the truth lands in her upturned palm. Like her father. Khuma’s head tilts curiously, almost too far as she waits for the words to come out of her mouth. Father was dead, buried in the sand, which meant only one could sire more serpentine offspring anymore. The prince of the prized brood, she thinks as she grits her teeth. Anadil had taught her which siblings were to be avoided, lest she tempt Father’s rage. She carved their names into her heart and let the wounds fester there. She and Kerrigan were greater than any spawn he had with his queen.
“How blessed, to know the golden family,” she says with a slight frown on her lips. “How blessed and how cursed.”
But she likes Leliana. She doesn’t want to rub salt in her wounds, so she sighs slowly to soothe her own frustrations.
“Did he ever tell you about his parents, his brothers and sisters?” she asks as she steps closer again. She begins to gently fuss with the stray hairs of Leliana’s mane as she used to with her children, smoothing the locks into place with her lips. “Mother said Kerrigan and I were born the same year as Vulgaris. She pointed him and Father out, told us to never approach them. The chapter of his life that included us was over and he had returned to the woman he loved.”
She can still recall how much it hurt to hear the words but she obeyed them. Khuma learned to be content with what she had, knowing that entertaining her greed for her father’s attention could spell death for her. Anadil used to scare the girls with stories of how Larva ate the children who displeased him until they stayed up all night watching for him in the darkness. But she says nothing else. Those are stories for another day. This moment is for Leliana, whether she’s the true love in this story or the abandoned mother.
khuma.