In the grey light of dawn, when the Lagoon seemed quiet, and Clio saw no sign of movement through the reeds, she pressed her velvet muzzle to her young daughter’s small shoulder stirring her with a hushing sound, and a whispered direction. “Follow close, and do not make a sound." And just as she had since the day she’d been born into the bogs of the Lagoon, Proserpina stuck as close to Clio as her shadow.
They traveled along a safe route through the marsh that was familiar to the small filly, but then they made it to the edge of the Lagoon. Glancing quickly over one shoulder and seeing no one, Clio continued on as she had been, quick and quiet. She set a quick pace that didn’t ask too much of Proserpina, dropping her head to murmur in her daughter’s ear as they ventured through the Commons, and skirted the Meadow. “When I tell you to run, you trust those strong little legs of yours and go as fast as you can."
It was there, in the shadow of the mountain, that Clio dared to pause where they were tucked out of sight behind an outcropping. “We are going to find a way to get home to Atlantis, where you will meet your father." She felt her heart ache at the thought of being reunited with Carthage soon.
Proserpina stared up at her, blue eyes swimming with questions.
Clio nudged at her cheek, a tender exhale of breath ruffling Proserpina’s fluffy name. “I will come back for your sister, but right now, I need to get you somewhere safe." Anxiety tightened in her chest, and guilt twisted in her gut at the thought of Briseis returning to the hollow to find her and Proserpina gone. Tears threatened to fall, but Clio couldn’t afford to let them.
Perhaps in days to come, she’d be able to make peace with this - abandoning one daughter to save another. But in her heart she knew that she needed to get Proserpina out. Her daughter deserved to grow up knowing her father, instead of some future day meeting him as a stranger when she was no longer a child. She deserved to grow up feeling safe, and free to explore. Already the Lagoon had stifled so much of her spirit, had planted caution in her, where there should be curiosity.
And so, heart breaking, but her spine steeled for what was to come, Clio pushed onwards. It was just as the sun rose over the Islands that something behind them spooked the pale mare, and she urged her young filly on. “Run, daughter!" They’d made it as far as the lower slopes of the mighty Peak that stood in opposition to the Lagoon. Clio could only hope that what whispers she’d heard of the mares here were true. She could only hope that she had got far enough, and that they would hear her.
“Please, help!" The cry echoed off the stone of the mountain. Seeing her unweaned child scrambling to keep up alongside her, Clio slowed, and ushered the girl ahead of her. “Proserpina," Clio paused to catch her breath, turning back to check for anyone in pursuit of her. “Go ahead of me." A flash of fear ran through her as the small sooty girl seemed to freeze up on the rugged mountain trail. What a sight they would be, exhausted and thin, carrying the scent of the Lagoon with them, pale legs stained by the mud from the marshes there. “The mares here will protect you."
There was a certainty in Clio’s voice, one that was to comfort herself as much as it was intended to reassure her daughter. She had to believe that this had been the right thing to do, and that the outcome had to be worth the cost in the end.
Even if it meant she might have to leave Proserpina too.
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