Adelheid picked her way through the frosted meadow. The flowers that tended to dot the landscape had withdrawn back into the land, leaving their empty stalks behind. Adelheid’s white lips brushed against the cold dead grass, her mind far more distracted than she had ever thought it could be during this season.
Most days she would have on high alert and eyes roving for danger. She knew this was a place that was usually considered safe. But safety looked different to everyone. One could believe that as long as they were not injured they would be ‘safe’. Others did not trust even the approach of another. But not today. Today her mind was foggy with what Rhadra had stirred in her…
What would it have been like to keep that illusion of mystery her friends had embodied as foals? Would she have looked up at the sky and dreamed of love instead of death? Would she have believed in fairies and not known what hate was in her heart until she was older than she was now, if she had ever learned it at all? What would the world have been if she had been able to see it once more through the eyes of a child? What would it be like if she could have seen her mother one last time?
She lifted her head and glared at nothing, her features returning to the ice-cold and hard look it had taken on naturally. Though no one was around her, she tensed and became guarded against her own feelings. She stood still as a statue while her mind raced and wandered. Late fall snowflakes started to fall and melt against her black body. She did not seem to notice the cold starting to settle into the islands. This was the first time Adelheid lost her attention to what was around her while not in the sanctuary of the Peak.
AdelheidIt’s Your Illusion - A Fatal Contradiction |