PERSEPHONE

There was something about Evren that made Persephone feel soft waves of relief and sharp sparks of excitement simultaneously. When she was with her, now that the war was over, she could almost forget about the drama of their recent lives for a moment, yet at the same time found herself consumed by other, more distracting thoughts instead.

It was not like her.

As much as what went unsaid was important, however, Evren’s words reminded her of more physical, pressing feelings at hand. Persephone offered her a small, sympathetic smile of encouragement. She felt tired and heavy enough presently, and knew that the discomfort of her child’s rapidly peaking growth was only going to increase in the next few weeks, as Evren’s had already.

“Reaching that stage myself,” she replied lightly.

She paused a moment, savouring the easy camaraderie of maternal friendship between them. It was strange to thing, around a year ago now, when she had been pregnant with Sabran, how different things had been. A pang of uncertainty still hung in the air at times, as it did after any stressful event, but there was calm now – and hope. Her dark eyes sought Evren’s.

“I’m so glad that these children won’t be born into war. Last time was…” she trailed off, searching for the right word.

It was hard to put into words what Persephone had felt. So accustomed to control, she had been out of her element in the panic of Sabran’s conception and birth, the build up and the climax of the war. There was no word to explain how she had felt, how she had worried that might have been her only chance to have a child – how she worried for the fate of not just herself, but her closest friends and loved ones.

She settled for a poor one.

“Scary.” She paused a moment, considering what she wanted to say, and what she actually could say. “I was scared that we might lose them. Or the others in the herd.”

She treaded carefully, forcing herself not to look away from Evren.

“Or that we might lose each other.”

all of your demons will wither away

mixed, bay varnish roan, 14.3hh