This felt too good to be true. Freya reached for Bjorn again, unable to resist double and then triple checking that he was, in fact, real, her nose brushing over the curve of his cheek and the delicate petals of his ears.
"You've traveled such a long ways," Freya murmured. She considers all the miles and all the years that had separated them for so long, and wants to weep. But in the same vein, she wants to rejoice for him and the fact that he got a chance to see the world and have a life of adventure. She'd always been content to settle somewhere and build herself a family, but Bjorn had been restless since he was young. He had put that restlessness to good use, it seemed.
'Did you just return?' Bjorn asked, and the dun mare shook her head. "Not just, no. It's been quite some time. Long enough to give you more brothers and sisters." She laughed airily. Honestly, if someone had asked her three years ago if she'd planned on having any more children, she'd have vehemently said no. But life always had a funny way of making plans change, and she couldn't have been happier with those changes. Even if her time with Dances had been short-lived, she was grateful that she had Calliope as a reminder. And Zevulun, sweetheart that he was, had been a constant presence in her life, a rock among the ever-changing tides of life.
But now it felt like she'd been tossed a new lifeline, something else to keep her afloat.
Swiveling her head, Freya trumpeted out a call for Fríða and Jǫrmungandr. The twins had quickly grown disinterested in their mother's sentimental reunion, not quite understanding the intensity of the scenario unfolding before them. The pair came trotting back to her side, twin blue gazes darting between Freya and Bjorn.
"This is Fríða and Jǫrmungandr, the newest additions. Children, this is your brother Bjorn."
The comment elicits an excited gasp from Jǫrmungandr. "You're out brother? That's awesome!" Amazement laced his tone and colored his expression as he peered up at Bjorn with his good eye, open-mouthed and looking every bit the wonderstruck colt he was. Fríða, meanwhile, was less than impressed at this revelation, rolling her eyes at her brother's enthusiasm. "So what? We have two sisters, why do we need a brother?" she snarked, making an exaggerated harrumph noise and turning her nose away from Bjorn, stubbornly refusing to look at him.
Freya chuckled, shaking her head at the young girl. "She means Lilija and Calliope. They were born after you and your... your father... left. They're around here somewhere." She tripped over the mention of Dogun, her heart still tender and left aching by his absence after all these years. But she pushed the thought of him from her mind for now - it was enough just to have her son back, she wouldn't go spoiling the moment.
"What are you doing back?" Freya inquired with a flick of her greying tail. "Do you have a place to stay? You could always stay here in the Prairie with me if you want. I'm sure Zevulun would understand." It might be wishful thinking, hoping he'd stick around let alone take her up on her offer, but she was so afraid of him slipping away again that she had to at least try. |