06-08-2021, 03:11 PM
The light that meets the dark
It is strange - a lineage that had been carefully cultivated for so many years before Cheri arrived, suddenly broken in the span of one lifecycle. Her father had liked to compare their history to the trees he loved so much, twisting the relatives together under one large canopy called “a family” . Their branches supported the weight of grandma Lilli’s family outside of Beqanna and hundreds of other names Cheri had tried to remember as she grew. There were, however, dark spots. Smudges of the “unknown” that left holes peeking through. Her own mother’s origins are a mystery, Cheri only knew that Amarine had been adopted by the late Queen of Nerine when the cliffside kingdom had been the seat of power in the north.
She thinks that's why her parents love one another in the unique and unquestionable way that they do: they each have secrets and they strive to avoid passing them onto their children. She hopes that someday her own marriage might have similarly strong foundations - just without the empty gaps.
“No, no they haven’t.” Cheri obliged Tarian’s question with a winded sigh. “There was the protector Aten and the Comtesse Lepis - who was briefly succeeded by her son, Comte Pteron, before the title was given back to Aten who then disappeared. Afterwards, his mate split the title with my grandmother and they instated the Guardianship… which my father now carries on.” Cheri recalled her history lessons aptly. She knew the lineage of Taiga leaders stretched even farther back than that as well, once calling itself home to animal shifters and the scene of coup that magically closed the land off from habitation for years, but there seemed little reason to relay all if it to Tarian.
It was doubly surprising that she’d come so close to the truth of her own lineage and not known it - but Yanhua had been carefully select about his teachings and her grandmother had always indulged Cheri with stories of Windskeep instead.
It was to those stories her mind had wandered before Tarian asked her which way they were headed, and when she replied in a way that seemed to please her guide Cheri laughed gently. She hadn’t known it was a test, but she was grateful to have passed anyways. “I’m happy to know I’ve officially put you at ease now.” Cheri smiled. “And where is it that you came from? I love an origin story, if you couldn’t tell.”
She thinks that's why her parents love one another in the unique and unquestionable way that they do: they each have secrets and they strive to avoid passing them onto their children. She hopes that someday her own marriage might have similarly strong foundations - just without the empty gaps.
“No, no they haven’t.” Cheri obliged Tarian’s question with a winded sigh. “There was the protector Aten and the Comtesse Lepis - who was briefly succeeded by her son, Comte Pteron, before the title was given back to Aten who then disappeared. Afterwards, his mate split the title with my grandmother and they instated the Guardianship… which my father now carries on.” Cheri recalled her history lessons aptly. She knew the lineage of Taiga leaders stretched even farther back than that as well, once calling itself home to animal shifters and the scene of coup that magically closed the land off from habitation for years, but there seemed little reason to relay all if it to Tarian.
It was doubly surprising that she’d come so close to the truth of her own lineage and not known it - but Yanhua had been carefully select about his teachings and her grandmother had always indulged Cheri with stories of Windskeep instead.
It was to those stories her mind had wandered before Tarian asked her which way they were headed, and when she replied in a way that seemed to please her guide Cheri laughed gently. She hadn’t known it was a test, but she was grateful to have passed anyways. “I’m happy to know I’ve officially put you at ease now.” Cheri smiled. “And where is it that you came from? I love an origin story, if you couldn’t tell.”
@[Tarian]