Oswin limped, sore, scratched up and slightly wounded. What hurt more than the areas Ernesto had managed to strike was her pride, and this left Oswin to hang her head low, her ears flicked back, anger and shame intermingling inside her for a wretched combination. Dirt stained her side where she’d taken an accidental fall mid-battle, hitting a decline in the terrain at the same time Ernesto managed to land a strike against her side.

“Mama!” The worry in Klara’s tone squeezed her heart and Oswin lifted her eyes to see her daughter staring, wide eyed and concerned at the obvious physical pain she was in. Klara stumbled forward to meet her mother and stopped short of crashing into her, looking over the scrapes and fresh wounds.

“I’m alright, Klara,” Oswin lied with a small smile, dreading what was to come. She looked up toward her sisters and took a breath, nickering to beckon them to her.

“The Lagoon bachelor won.” She said plainly, hating the way the sentence tasted on her tongue, hating having failed the sisters of the Peak as their General. “Since I was the one who lost the battle, I’ll be the one who goes to the Lagoon.” There was no room for argument in her tone – she knew her sisters were strong-willed and they ran their home in a democratic fashion, but this was something Oswin was not going to give up on… even as Klara stared with worried eyes. “I’m going to be leaving shortly,” she looked for Jetta. “Keep an eye on Klara for me?” Klara was strong-willed just like her mother and Oswin couldn’t handle the thought of Klara showing up in the Lagoon.

“No! Mama!” Right on cue, Klara argued. “I’m going with you.”

Oswin chanced a smile, though it turned to a grimace as a dull, thudding ache spread through her surely bruised shoulder. “You’re going to stay here, Klara, and not make a bigger issue for everyone.”

Klara huffed and stomped her hoof, opening her mouth to argue further, but Oswin fixed her with a very firm look.

“I won’t be gone long.” There was the underlying of a promise buried in her tone… clearly the shame of losing a fight hadn’t knocked the wind out of her sails. If anything, Oswin seemed more determined to deliver her very special kind of justice. “Go on, Klara,” she said, gesturing toward Jetta. “Go to your aunt.”

With a gentle nudge of her nose, Oswin lifted her head, turned about and made her trek toward the Lagoon to meet this Ernesto in a more conversational environment.

oswin
this is as brave as I know how to be.
I know it’s gonna hurt you, but please… be a little proud of me.