Oswin had grown up in a large family among Luthien’s Prairie. She had been a rambunctious foal who’d tormented anyone in the herd who’d put up with her shenanigans long enough to not become physical. But when she was three her parents had left the islands and Oswin had chosen to remain behind. Her heart had always known it was the Peak she would go to, as she’d been obsessed by the story her mother had told her about meeting Black Heart Machine, and then later horrified by learning of what had happened to bring her older half-brother into this world and the way their mother treated him in turn. Oswin had wanted to protect the island residents from going through what her mother had gone through; she had wanted to stop someone from living a life as horrible as Nephilim’s had been.

When she lived on the Peak the first time, everything had been right. She had known it was where she belonged, and as she found herself voted into General it had only cemented the feeling. It was when her sisters pushed her to take the Prime Minister that everything sort of… faltered. Though she had initially led the Peak strongly, it was the dramatics of her wounded half-brother and his eventual death that pulled her attention away. In her absence, her sisters had fallen. She returned to the islands and struck out purposefully for Prime Minister; she had lobbied and campaigned and tried to take back the feeling she’d had before.

And she’d fallen flat on her face.

Now she was queen of the Ridge beside Tyr, slowly accepting that her days of having children were behind her, that the years ahead were far shorter than the years behind her, and she wondered if she had done enough in life. Even as queen, she felt she had not behaved adequately. If she were a proper queen she would have met with everyone who lived here; everyone Tyr brought within the borders. But she didn’t. For the first year she’d distracted herself by raising Calder, then the next she had spent raising Móirín. Now Oswin was accepting the fact that without a new child to expect in the coming spring, there were other places that needed her attention.

Atlantis was ripe with new activity, and she wasn’t certain any of it was necessarily good. Her conversation with Tyr had stuck with her, and she found herself deep in thought more often about the things she could be and should be doing.

It was because of this that the palomino and white mare found herself near the chestnut mare in the morning. Oswin glanced over her and set aside the guilt she felt at knowing nothing about her, despite the mare having lived here for some time. She nickered out toward her, seeing the mare was distracted by basking in the sunlight, then started to walk over to her.

“Hello,” she said, and hesitated for a moment before apologizing, “I’m sorry I’ve taken so long to meet with you, I’m not as used to the herd life as I thought I was.” Oswin offered a small smile before she continued, “I’m Oswin, Tyr’s-” she hesitated, then said, “queen.” No matter how long it had been, she still felt a little bit of giddiness in her belly at just acknowledging it and speaking it out loud.

When she thought she had nothing, she always had Tyr.

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.