She's got the devil's eyes
Heartfire had grown so familiar with every stone and hollow of Nerine that she could likely walk it blindfolded with no aid of her own abilities. She had always kept a close eye on the goings on of the place she had chosen as her home, but now, since ascending the throne, it had become impossibly more familiar. And though it might not be as the ancient lands were, it is spectacular in its own way. And it is hers. Hers to protect, and to grow.
She’d never thought she would consider a land truly hers. Not like those she cares for. Not like her family. Not like the ones who, though they may not be related by blood, are just as much family as the ones who are.
Time and distance might separate them, but they would always be hers from the moment she had claimed them as such.
So when Briella’s meandering path leads her to Nerine, Heartfire immediately recognizes her despite the years it’s been since she’d last seen her. The girl had changed, of course, though this does not surprise the blue and white woman. Before she’d disappeared, she had been impossibly determined to the follow the heart-quest she had so earnestly set for herself.
She does not go to her immediately, instead watching as she makes her way along the stoney cliffs and windswept shores of the northern kingdom. She cannot deny the swell of relief that she appears well. That she had come back. For all that Briella had been Dovev’s child, Heartfire is not nearly so heartless as she often appears.
Because she had cared a great deal too. Quietly.
After a time, she slips from the small cove she had sheltered in. Her feet carry her easily across the uneven landscape, as familiar with each path as the water is the pebbled beach below. When she reaches the young woman, she slows, her blue eyes fixed as she surveys her closely. “Briella,” she greets softly, a familiarity in the tone of her voice. “I’m glad you’ve returned.”
and they'll cut you like a weapon
I would give you a million hearteyes if I could