What if I lived? ✔️

Parade

The children were still giggling, chasing each other over the courtyard in the shadows of the fourteen surrounding townhouses. If there hadn't been the castle walls, this scene could've been anywhere in the city, with children who were free to go wherever they wanted.

Most of them looked a lot alike. Much had the same shade of red hair or shade of maroon eyes, but there was only one with wings. Only one with hair as dark as the night.

My daughter was currently dashing away from me, followed by a horde of children of course. There was such joy in those golden-red eyes, a wide grin plastered over her face while she easily outran every single one of the older boys. Every time they almost had her, she made a delighted sound and doubled her speed.

That energy had brought me to my knees when she was a toddler, falling over her little feet at any given opportunity. No matter how much she fell, she was standing in the next second, even with a bleeding forehead, and ran away again, grinning to herself. 

And she was like that for fifteen years, I wasn't entirely sure how either of us had survived those.

Myrina hadn't seen me yet, so I rounded the little tower of the castle-walls and greeted the other Mothers. Most of them weren't half bad, to clarify, the ones that hadn't chosen to be in the prince's employ.

They already knew the drill, so they filled me in about the last few weeks without any questions. Myrina had lost yet another one of her teeth, apparently, she had fought with one of the boys, who had pushed one of the younger ones into a rose-bush. The tooth was now dangling around her neck, a trophy for her heroism.

Well, at least she had confidence, am I right?

"Momma!" apparently my offspring had spotted me at last.

She was racing towards me, her waist-long hair flying in the wind, her feet barely touching the sand-floor. I bowed down and the moment she hit me, I scooped her up, spinning her around, really laughing for the first time today.

I pressed her against my chest: "You've forgotten to inform me that you're now faster than all the boys!"

"It was supposed to be a surprise, are you proud?" a wide grin that showed off her missing front tooth.

"I'm always proud of you, munchkin" I kissed the top of her head and set her down, "Maryanne told me you lost your tooth, did you find the no-pain-paste?"

"Carla got it for me" she bounced on the top of her feet, "It didn't even hurt that much."

I bit my lip, so I wouldn't smile: "Aren't you one brave little munchkin."

Myrina lost no time grabbing my hand, dragging me over to our home, smack in the middle of the circle.

"You have to look what I made when you were gone!" her little wings flared in delight, her arm pushing open the door.

The house was small, but we had made due. When opening the door one would immediately stand in the middle of the living room, with the kitchen to the right, my room and hers on the first floor and that was it. But apparently, Myrina had wanted to redecorate while I was gone, since the innards of the house were full of garlands in all colors, displaying the Vallahan crest, a flame in the form of a wyvern.

"The prince said that you'd be sad when you come home and we should remind you how happy we are" Myrina peered up at me.

I plastered a smile over my feature despite the fear churning in my gut: "The prince talked with you? What an honor. Did you behave?"

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Did he find out? Could he know? No, he'd never let her live if he'd know. And that warning, 'stay quiet, I know where your heart lies' if he'd know there would be no warnings.