HTML Testing

Here you can test your HTML here to see if it works properly on the boards. Remember to close your tags and set a password so that you can edit your posts if necessary.

you're the song i sing
Posted on January 29, 2021 at 11:33:18 AM by Lirael

It felt as if the dark mare�s entire world clung to a precipice � suspended over endless oblivion � while it waited for the words that would either condemn or rescue it.

Time held no meaning in that moment, perhaps because Sabriel was no longer able to measure it. She could have lived a lifetime in the silence that hung between her question and the merciful release that Bondurant�s response offered. Yet even after she�d heard the precious gift of truth those two words offered, the brindled mare was not released from the purgatory of her fears and doubts. Not until she felt the sincerity in the spotted stallion�s touch and heard the reverence in his voice. Only then did the heavy burden ease from her lungs enough that she could draw breath � a breath that felt serrated where it caressed the walls of her throat, turned brittle by the tears she�d shed and those that she still warred against. Forgiven; he had forgiven her. And while the absolution that Bondurant offered might end as soon as her strength returned, she would cherish every moment that it borrowed her.

But the voice that she did not hear � the silence that remained unbroken � carried just as much weight as the words that freed half of her heart. Struggling against that weight now, Sabriel pulled her weary body upright, twisting around to search for Solomon with a desperate fear in her eyes. Need filled her too, a need that was both as primal and powerful as the first moments they�d shared seasons ago. Regardless of the darkness that had followed, the black mare still clung to those memories with the same yearning that had led her to seek out Tinuvel�s king today. Because while her claim was that she�d come to pay homage to the child she�d lost, it was the boy�s father whom she had truly sought. Whatever her regrets, Uriah could never amount to more than the ghost he�d become. But Solomon...Solomon was flesh and warmth and hope.

He was part of her, as she had become part of him.

Though the words he murmured were unclear, the sound of Solomon�s voice drew her gaze like a beacon. Beside him the filly had already managed to stand, a testament to the precious moments that she�d already wasted. Moments that could never be reclaimed, moments that she should�ve cherished. But the shadowy woman did not see the first tentative steps her daughter took, even as they unfolded before her. She did not see the colt struggling � damp and cold � on the ground. She did not even see the spotted stallion who had remained at her side through every agonizing moment of her labor, and who continued to watch over her with an unwavering devotion that she did not deserve.

She could only see Solomon � the tight line of his jaw, the pain in his eyes � turning away from her with a finality that shattered her.

�Solomon,� the dark mare pleaded. But the syllables tangled up on her tongue, and were expelled as the wretched sound of a creature in great pain; a noise that was half-sob and half-groan. �Please Solomon, please.� Tear-thickened and desperate, these words would only be discernible to those who stood close. Perhaps to Bondurant, whose heart might be shattered by the evidence of Sabriel�s unshakeable bond to the creature who�d once broken her. Perhaps to the two children who would not yet understand their meaning � and who would hopefully never grasp the pain that lay beneath them. But not to the champagne stallion who had walked away to stand where the relentless murmur of the waves would fill his ears.

Last time they had met, Sabriel had realized that a part of her would always need Solomon. Would always love him. But until this moment, she hadn�t known the depths of this emotion � hadn�t comprehended how thoroughly losing him would break her. Like roots that had sunk deeply into the soft soil of her heart, the stallion could not be torn from her without taking pieces of her with him. Her lungs, her voice, the bone cage that protected her fragile heart � all of these were pulled away with Solomon when he turned away from her, leaving a yawning void in their absence. And though there was always the inevitably that something would come to fill the empty space where nothing remained � such as the two children she�d been gifted to replace the one who was lost � it was this truth that broke Sabriel most of all. She couldn�t bear the thought that she might forget� or worse still, that she might be forgotten.

She couldn�t bear the thought of letting go of Solomon, not even for his sake.

Like a wild beast that faced the final throes of its life, Sabriel�s transition from resigned weariness and into violent struggle was both abrupt and unexpected. Her limbs churned at the stones and the sandy soil concealed beneath, digging arcing furrows and spattering pebbles in every direction. They bounced off the towering figure of the stallion beside her, the filly who stumbled backwards in fright and fell, the colt who avoided being kicked by bare inches � and only because he had not yet succeeded in standing himself. Sabriel fought and fought blindly, her blunt teeth snapping shut on the soft flesh of her tongue when she tried and failed to regain her hooves. The salt-and-copper taste of blood filled her mouth and red flecks spattered Bondurant�s coat when she lunged forward and upward again. This time the dark woman managed to stand, her body swaying and crashing into the steadying wall of the spotted stallion�s side.

Still wild-eyed and fierce in her determination, Sabriel did not allow even this unyielding obstacle to stop her. Whirling around in a flurry of limbs, she lurched towards the distant figure of Solomon and almost trampled her newly-born children in her haste. �Solomon!� She called out again, the wind snatching this word as it left her lips and carrying it away. Dimly, she registered the sound of Bondurant�s voice, the startled squeal of a foal. Distantly, she felt twin pangs of grief and regret, and knew that her actions were unforgivable. That she was perhaps even making a choice here � a choice that she could never bear to live with. Because in the staccato rhythm of her racing heart that thundered in her ears, she could hear two names cycling endlessly: Bondurant, Solomon. Bondurant, Solomon. And to silence even one of these voices, Sabriel would need to silence both.

To survive, there were only two paths forward. She could either keep her heart open� or close it forever.

Breathless and broken, the silver-maned woman crumpled into a heap at the Cove king�s hooves. �Solomon,� she murmured in fervent supplication, her voice breaking on the familiar syllables. The guilt that she felt was too great a burden to allow her to lift her head, to meet his gaze. Instead, she huddled before him like a criminal awaiting judgment � or a prisoner waiting at the gallows. The snarled tangles of her white mane hung in front of her face like a curtain, blocking her pale eyes from the world�s view. But Sabriel still felt as exposed and vulnerable as the empty shells that were scattered throughout the beach. �Don�t � I can�t � please, Solomon, don�t leave. I can�t lose you �� � like this, she might have said, but the truth was she couldn�t bear to lose him at all. And though Sabriel hadn�t wanted to use her tears as a weapon, there were far too many within her for her to hold them all back.

�I � I didn�t come for Uriah,� she confessed through lips that were numb and cold. �I mean, I wanted to see him again, Solomon. But it was you that I needed.� The brindled mare had even thought that Solomon might feel the same way. Had dared to hope after the first moments of their reunion on the beach � the genuine concern in his voice, the gentleness of his touch. But then he�d become as distant and cold as he�d been before leaving her in the meadow, and Sabriel suspected the reason why. Her eyes flitted unconsciously in the direction she�d left Bondurant, wondering if she would still find the spotted stallion waiting for her there.

But if he was gone � if he had gone � she knew that she would have no-one to blame except herself.

Lirael
daughter of Sabriel and Bondurant

0 | filly | mix | silver black pintaloosa | 16.1hh

Replies:

a pearl in the sea of stars - By Chelle February 5, 2021 at 06:41:44 AM
- you're the song i sing - By Chelle February 5, 2021 at 08:44:05 AM
  - you�re as beautiful as endless - By Selune May 18, 2021 at 09:59:47 AM

Post a reply:

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Message:

Link Name:
Link URL:
Image URL:
Password To Edit Post: