Memories fill her...more memories...
"You will guard my husband?" The crimson flamed sidhe clutches at her swollen belly.
"i am no warrioress like you, lady, but yes.keep the other sidhe from my river and i shall guard him though he knows it not," you hiss, " i will make sure those assassins sent after him find him prepared."
'You ask little for such a task," The Lady Margrave says tilting her head, "There must be some other to... oh.." A tilt of her head, "I see."
You set your jaw, and bite back bitterness, "it matters not. it is enough to watch..."
"You watched?" The Sidhe flared like a fire bursting over new timber then a pause, "Too close to the shore...yes, I can see why you would be taken then. I am sorry, had we known we would not have unvieled ourselves. My husband is not cruel."
"no, he is not. that is why he needs us , nu?" A voice an odd way to ask that makes you catch your throat, a portent?
"The River will be yours," She says, then pauses, "You are a sooth sayer, can you say whether the child will be...what can you tell me of her? I will pay for..."
"nay," you put your hand on the belly, webbed fingers touching the fullness of her, feeling the life, "a daughter. she will have thy hair, her father's gentleness and house...and... oh more, lady."
"She is healthy?" Alarm in the eyes of the Sidhe "Aye? The River's magic did not..."
"she will not be of the river, but the sky, at least before she walks the half road as many of her house will."
"What half road? I know of no road by that name?" She says curiously tilting her head at you.
"in the end, it will be the only road left to us," you predict, sure of it, even if you are not certain yourself of what you speak.
"I thank you, and , while soothsay is beyond me, my boon is this. You will see my husband again if you seek and he shall be an ally to thee. And thy sharing nature will bring thee chances for love, if you be brave enough to cast your dark eyes about and risk your heart. As you have valued the life of my husband and my unborn daughter, so too will you find yourself treasured even if you do not understand it, for thy love of life means it be justice that you have a life of love. You will have to fight for it, of course, and it will hurt."
you raise a brow and croak a whisper, "is there a form of love that ever does not?"
"No," The redhead turns and looks out the window in quiet release of you, "all pleasures have their pains, all joys have their sorrow. Embrace them anyway."
and you bow, surprised as you slip away to secure your river ... you did not expect to find two honest nobles in the same year.