IN ALL MY DREAMS
I DROWN
They certainly made for an odd trio; this golden boy, a tiny blasphemer, and the cloud-headed child. She looked briefly to the stranger who had first stumbled upon her, finding it poetic and sincere how he speaks of the sun since that it what his skin brings to her mind. He may be older than her, maybe younger. There is no way for her to be sure without asking, but his innocence seemed much purer than the one the she carries. Moonstruck wants to steal it from him, add it to her collection. She would soak in that almost forgotten language and take it for herself, so greedy she was to fill the invisible holes that had rotted their way through her flesh.
No, her mind said softly, as she recalled the shy smile that had come to his face at her greeting, he is not for us to ruin. Yet.
And though disappointed, she accepted the answer she had given herself. It was troubling, to want to own something yet protect it at the same time. Luckily, she was use to troubling things such as this, and none of the inner turmoil reflected on her lips as she offered the stallion a private smile of encouragement before turning attention back to the smallest (yet fiercest) creature that was a part of this gathering. It seemed like they had confused her. She had showed a bit of uncertainty at their curiosity, expecting the wolf instead of the lamb. What neither of them knew was how well Moonstruck’s wolf was tamed, kept full and happy and hidden inside her gut.
Everything in due time, she reminded herself, taken away from the labyrinth of her mind and back into reality by the other mare’s words. “The thing is, Valka,” she lingered on the name she had just been given, tasting the way it felt on her tongue and finding it rather pleasing, “We are all right. None of us lied. Let them favor him.”
She gave another smile, dark eyes sparkling, tipping her head in an exaggerated fashion to look to the man once more, “Mmm. Yes. Let them favor you. But if you allow that, you allow the forsaken too. They can only favor so many before they become bored. I am happy to be a victim of such boredom.”
And before she could think better of it, or even realize that perhaps the mare was not use to such a brazen nature, she took a few steps forward, lowering herself slightly to bump her nose to Valka’s in the same way she had done to the other stranger before the interruption. She did not smell of sea salt and musk like the sun-child male. Oh no, there was a hint of cold, and perhaps loneliness. But it was delicious none the less. As quickly as she was there, she pulled away, tossing her tangles from her face. There was a dirty, wild beauty to the way they resettled on her neck, but beauty was never something she cared much about. No, she’d rather watch than be watched.
And now she watched, dipping her eyes between the two bodies, each intriguing to her in their own way, before finally breathing out her own introduction, “They use to say I was Moonstruck. So I made it my name.”
moonstruck