cold in the violence after the war
hope is a fire to keep us warm
With a happy little hum, she settles against Dad as his attention shifts to the pretty mare that now approaches them. Her face is openly curious, not nearly so suspicious as Dagen. She looks at her twin, missing him a little bit. But he’d tried to bite her! Maybe if he acted at least a little sorry, but she couldn’t possibly let him know she missed him when he was so rude.
Mommy and Daddy are fussing over the new girl then. Briella, they’d said. She eyes her with wary curiosity, wondering who she is to them. Dagen seems to be wondering the same thing too though, the way he kept looking at Momma like that.
Suddenly she frowns as the clamor in her head becomes more insistent. Brazen. Nyctelios. Confusion. “I am Brazen,” she announces, telling them in no uncertain terms she is Brazen and not he. But he seems to grow a little clearer then, his name sounding out as she frowns at him. “Ynctlios,” she tries a repeat, the syllables getting all jumbled. “Nyctlios.” She tries again, but still they seem to trip in her mouth. She huffs silently, as she tries to translate the word across her tongue. Nyyyyccctttteeellliiiiiiooooooos. “Lio!” she shouts in sudden inspiration. Yes, she would call him Lio. Way better.
Please stop fighting.
She frowns, little brows furrowing in confusion. “We’re not fighting,” she insists with a little humph. Why he would think they’re fighting is beyond her. When Momma touches her shoulder, she looks up, blue eyes wide and innocent as a happy grin curves her lips. It’s so nice here, all snuggled with Mom and Dad, and when Lio asks who they are, she replies brightly, “Momma and Daddy!”
All the excitement is starting to make her a bit sleepy, and she blinks around her for a moment before her gaze lands longingly on Dagen. She really wished he’d come nap with her. But he seems so content curled up next to Momma. With a sigh, she snuggles deeper into Daddy’s warm chest, head drooping as she murmurs, “Tired.” Whether it’s said for her parents or Lio’s benefit, she’s not quite sure.
Momma is silent for a moment, but then she’s asking her something rather insistently. Brazen is not quite sure why it’s so important, but it seems to bother her. She looks up at her Momma’s pretty dark face, blinking her eyes as she tries to focus. It takes her moment to register what she’d said, her grasp of words still not the best. “Lio,” she finally replies, head dropping a bit before she jerks it back. “Lio is” she yawns “friend.”
Another little breath escapes her lips as her head falls against her Daddy’s knee, drifting peacefully, innocently, into sleep.
Brazen
