Common

“Kolya—” she wept, her mouth at his ear and her cheek pressed against his.
There was red – far too much red – smattered against snow. A thousand words burnished the stillness of the moment, and as he pressed deeper into her embrace, he felt the warmth flee her body. Warmth, warmth he wished he could snatch from the air and fill her with once again. Dread and grief climbed from the hollow of his heart and the growing decay of his soul.
“No, Ev—don’t sleep.” He begged. He pulled. His lips were at the soft velvet of her ears, but he knew as much as any of the others gathered there, she would not hear nor heed his words.
She would drift.

---

He hated the snow, Nicholas was loathe to find himself in the thick of winter.

Evfimiya always hung in the back of his peripherals; her pale figure watched from the shadowed corners of his view. He did not seek her out but languished still in her absence. Finding himself in the place of his birth was supposed to be a reprieve from it. The Islands was meant to be a fresh chapter, with the page turned and crisp white. Instead, the edges were frayed and stained: touched by the same malaise that hung in his worn features. And yet—he abided, he continued. He strode along the Commons without much to gain nor to reach. He was comforted in his independence, comforted perhaps more by the thought he was no longer truly alone.

Even his niece, seemed to be there on the Archipelago somewhere, and again, he considered seeking her out.

Not then though, he’d things yet to see and do.

The Commons stretched out before him, and a glimpse of a flame danced across snow—her figure seemed to waver and wane in the bluster of winter, and Nicholas was drawn to it immediately. He charged through the wind-hewn banks and drifts. She must have heard him, as her voice carried desperately in the bluster.

Nicholas was no nurse, and perhaps made for a poorly knight; not that he’d no use for chivalry or diplomacy, but simply he’d lost the ambition for strength of heart. Yet, spying the young mare ensnared in winter’s cruelty he found himself moved to act. He inched nearer, though cautioned by her personal space. “Come,” he found himself urging. “We’ll fight the cold together.” the shore would offer sanctuary from the harsh weather.


three shades of black is where i come from
SMOKY GRULLO / TERSK MUTT / LYOV X MAGDALENA