It took him such a damn long time to show up that the champagne mare had almost, almost turned to leave. A part of the ragged old general knew that he’d turn up. Rade had run for a reason, and she’d stayed away. Still, it wasn’t like he could escape her, and it wasn’t like he could run from this. From them. The champagne mare didn’t have that luxury, and she wouldn’t afford that to Rade either. For every thought of unfucking things, she’d made them worse.
They didn’t make sense. If it had been ten, fifteen years ago… hell, it would have made even less sense. Time had changed Anath, both for the better and for the worse. She’d calmed down, but grown more intense. Grown more dangerous. With time had come calculation instead of outright anger, aggression. With time, the legend had allowed herself to feel in ways that she wouldn’t have before. Maybe that’s why waking up alone on the morning Rade had gone away had actually hurt. Anath had allowed whatever this was to hurt her. How dare he.
How dare she.
The stallion looked like hell when he finally did show up. Anath’s ears flickered backwards, eyes flashing as they fixed on him. Rade was harsh, but so was the champagne mare. The way he gestured towards the boys– no. “Don’t.” She took a step forward as well, ivory teeth flashing. A threat. Though it was aggression rooted in fear, it was still aggression… she wouldn’t have it. For a mare that never possessed maternal instinct, Anath would not let anything come to harm either of these boys. No, she’d lost too much. She’d lost far too much to allow that. “Don’t act like the fault is mine alone,” the words were harsh, scraping ragged in her throat.
Deep, complicated feelings ran through her system. They were white hot, and Anath could barely focus over the pounding of her own heart. She shouldn’t have come. He left. Rade had stolen away from her, and the champagne mare knows that she should have simply watched him go to whatever fate waited for him. This was never going to be a happy occasion, and that fate had been sealed the very moment she realized the source of the strange feeling in her abdomen. Why did looking at Rade where he stood, ragged and worn, make her chest ache as it did? Why.
“Do you think I don’t know that?” She hissed, ears pitched backwards. “Do you think anything else has been on my mind since they opened their eyes?” The pair of colts were destined to be orphans before their first birthday. They’d start things off with the very loss that had shaped Anath, that had turned her into a weapon. The champagne mare was offended, but the feeling didn’t last. No, it faded into something much heavier. Resolve took the place of everything, absolutely everything that had come before it.
“Open your eyes, Rade.” His own words, echoed back to him. “We’re here, and they’re here,” Anath was resolute. “We need to make the most of the time we have left, for their sake.” The champagne mare was shaking, be it from the weight of the words or the emotion that ran through her. The boss looked like hell, and the general wasn’t much better. This was never going to be the happy family moment of anyone’s dreams, but it was so incredibly fitting after all that they’d been through. There was no telling how much time was left, for either of them.
Anath "HEROES GET REMEMBERED LEGENDS NEVER DIE "
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