| TIGERLILY FAR FROM THE FJORDS AND THE ICE-COLD CURRENTS SHE IS BOTH THE SHIELD AND THE SPEAR |
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For a time, Tigerlily was at ease walking the trails of the Inlet. Each day, they grew more familiar to her, and the cold Tinuvel landscape felt more and more like home, (and less and less did the traumas of her past rise up in her mind). But at the turn of the seasons, when it became evident to Tigerlily that a child of Bjӧrn’s was growing within her, she retreated into the very heart of the territory, seeking shelter and safety in one of the valley caves near where hot water welled up from deep in the earth, and there, no matter how gently her Bear King tried to coax her, Tigerlily stayed. She was afraid, but she didn’t have the words to convey this to him. Perhaps he understood well enough (for he was no stranger to her suffering - it was Bjӧrn himself who had found her when she was lost and low in spirit, and it was he who had helped her piece herself back together). Not wanting him to forsake all else on her account, Tigerlily urged him to watch over Siobhan when she could not, promising that she would call for him if anything happened… The foal she carried caught her off-guard, deciding that it was time. The buckskin mare had been resting fitfully when she woke, breath catching in her throat as she realised what was happening. Staggering towards the mouth of the cave, Tigerlily drew in a great lungful of crisp air, ready to cry out the name of the one she loved, but at that very last moment, her courage returned to her, and when she called for Bjӧrn, there was no trace of the fear that had driven her into hiding earlier in the season. Confident that he would hear her (that he would be listening), Tigerlily dropped to her knees, wincing at the contact with the cold, unyielding stone of the ground. By the time she’d eased herself over onto her side, she was panting from the effort, and the discomfort of the contractions. In an effort to keep herself calm, Tigerlily fell to speaking to her unborn child, as she often had in the last few weeks when the foal had become more active. “In the Norðurland that I love with all my heart, I became a Skjaldmey, and here, in the land where your Faðir was born, I am Queen…” The buckskin mare trailed off, content to dwell for a time on the memories of that wild land she cherished. “I do not know how to be a mother,” she whispered minutes later, her voice taut with pain as the muscles of her abdomen hardened momentarily. Her blue eyes fluttered open beneath the damp curl of her forelock. “But I am not afraid anymore. I am not afraid.” Tigerlily was a fighter - she was strong, and with the spirit of Bjӧrn burning bright inside of the foal she had kept safe thus far, the child they had made together would not just survive, but thrive. The white splashed mare was determined to make it so. “There are many lessons you will teach me, beloved one. And I have been waiting…” Tigerlily groaned weakly as another contraction passed, grateful that the pain wasn’t as intense as it had been during the labour of her first pregnancy. She had been so young then. Too young. And the second time round, an attack had sent her into labour early, and there had been complications. But this time, in her heart, Tigerlily knew it was going to be okay. A faint smile traced a beautiful curve across her lips, and tears gathered in her lashes. Vaguely, she was aware of the sound of someone approaching, but she didn’t have strength to spare, what mattered most was the foal. Her child, who was already so beloved. “I have been waiting my whole life for you.” |