Pure Moonlight (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Selena looked at her dear brother as he asked her the question that she didn't want to answer. Ruben had been her life for so long but now that he was growing up, she felt the strong pull of her biological clock. She and Kreston had an agreement that it was too dangerous to bring another child into this world.

"Not at the moment." She murmured softly, averting her eyes from his. He could always tell when she was lying.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Liar," he muttered. "One day soon, ye'll 'ave more. I know it." He gave her a smile and relaxed completely, tired and unwilling to move again.


It was a week before more arrived from the battleground. They brought no dead, too weak and the dead too numerous to bring. Valentina arrived with a comatose Durban, and her emotions were in shambles. The first person she came to after Julia spoke to her, was her eldest sister. Selena had only known her for the first eight years of her life, but Valentina loved her dearly.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena had been sharpening weapons when she saw Val walk into the armory. Her tear stained face looked lost and a fresh wave of tears appeared when she saw her older sister. Selena was immediately up and taking her into her arms, holding her tightly as she cried against her shoulder.

"It's alright. Just let it all out." Selena crooned as if she were a little girl who needed comfort. "It's alright, Val."

She pulled her sister from her arms and gently cupped her cheeks, pushing her long thick hair out of her face. "It's not easy, I know. You're far stronger than anyone else that I know."

 

[KieranSoares]

Valentina's dark eyes searched her half-sister's expression, trying to find some answer. Anything to help her figure out what to do for her brothers, her father, and for all the men that she loved so dearly who were dead or dying. She could find no words, and instead buried her face against Selena's shoulder, hugging her tightly.

Then little Ruben came along. He saw his aunt in such a state and he didn't hesitate to come and hug her around the waist. Valentina let go of her sister to kneel and hug the boy close. Ruben may not have been very big nor very strong, but he loved as deeply as any of the Ghis.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena wrapped them both in a tight hug as Valentina struggled to come to terms with what she had seen out there on the battlefield.

"Come on, Val. I'll get you a hot meal and help you to draw a bath." Selena offered, helping her sister to stand.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I have to take care of Durban," Valentina hesitated, looking back toward her eldest comatose brother's room.

"I'll watch him, Aunt Val." Ruben offered. "I'll come tell you if he needs help."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Ruben can keep an eye on him." Selena said resolutely, wrapping her arm around Val's shoulders and pulling her sister from the room.

She hated to see the haunted look in her sister's eyes. It reminded her of the time when her brothers and sister had fought for their lives under their father's cruel reign. She swore that she would never see that hurt in another family member's eyes.

"How are things with Theo?" Selena asked, surprising her sister but knowing how the thought of that strong man put a light in Val's eyes.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Theo...?" Valentina met her eyes. "What's he got to do with any of this...?" She was hopelessly clueless as to his affection for her, though it was clear to anyone and everyone else. She was blinded by her work and making others happy and healthy.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena paused and looked down at Val with surprised. "Oh, sweet little sister..." She said with a smile, leaning in to hug her tightly. "That man is hopelessly and utterly over the moon about you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"No he's not... he would've told me he at least enjoyed my company," Val muttered. But he had, she simply had not been listening, too busy with everything else despite her father's help. Oblivious and busy, all the time.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Hmmmm....then I suppose I'll just have to have a talk to him about being more forward." She murmured, struggling to simply get her sister to smile.

 

[KieranSoares]

Valentina blushed at that and Selena won a small smile, "Don't tell him that... He's busy enough with his own work, and now's not the time for such foolish things..." She was the result of a deep love between her mother and charming father, but she herself had always been so set on healing that she never took the time to consider love or her own family.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Val, one day you'll fall in love when you least expect it. I know that I did." Selena murmured as she guided her sister into her chambers. "Don't you ever wonder what life is like beyond your jars of herbs and books? There's a man out there that is head over heels for you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Maybe one day, but... I can't afford to do anything like that when people still need my help. That'd be unfair and unprofessional." She may not have been Tamblin's daughter, but she'd gotten all the stubborn pride of her mother and father's families combined.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Alright." Selena said, letting the issue die. "I won't push you into something that you aren't ready for."

She hugged her sister again, pressing her cheek tightly against her own. Val had always been a strange little girl, one that was far too serious for her own good. She was loyal and caring, all the things that were needed in a good healer. She could still remember the first time she'd come back to Inverness with a tiny Ruben. It had surprised her brothers, only her Ma knew about the infant, but little Val had taken to the boy immediately. How many hours that girl had spent reading books to the baby who couldn't understand a word she was saying was completely beyond her.

 

[KieranSoares]

As Valentina grew stronger in her emotions over the next few days, she even dared to ask Theo to dine with her. Theo was so shocked and awed that he fumbled his words and had to settle for a nod of acceptance that made Valentina giggle softly at him and made him blush. He was in his late twenties, near ten years older than her, but it hardly mattered when she spoke and he hung on her every word.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena watched the way that Val seemed to come alive around Theo. It was almost as if they were two souls that had been reunited with each other after so long apart. Even in the middle of a war, it did everyone a world of good to see love blossoming.

"Look at you, little sister. You're blushing." Selena murmured softly, grinning as she helped Valentina with her hair and dress before her dinner. "I've never seen you look so beautiful."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Don't tease me, Selena..." Valentina spoke softly. "I should be working... I'm not fit for a dress anyway..." She was terrified of an evening alone with Theo, a man who, the moment she'd noticed him, captured her heart and made her fall weak.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Hush, Val." Selena said gently as she caught her great mass of beautiful hair in a golden comb. "You are absolutely lovely and Theo will think so too."

She pulled her little sister in front of a mirror to show her what she looked like. She had never seen Valentina look more beautiful. She might have been in a borrowed gown of Julia's, but she still looked just as lovely.

 

[KieranSoares]

Valentina blushed away from her own image. She'd never been shy nor one to be quiet for any reason, even if she was embarrassed. But now she was silent, and she left her sister's side to go meet Theo. Selena was alone for some while then, until she was passing by a couple men whispering about the tide of battle going wrong on the front with Wick, and rumors of a secret ally to Wick.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena listened to the two that were whispering about news from the front. Not shy, Selena followed the men to gain more infromation about what was happening with her brother's forces on the front lines.

"Tell me what all you know." Selena murmured.

 

[KieranSoares]

Both men froze at the sight of the eldest Ghis daughter, and one did eventually speak up. "We, uh... jus' got out of a meetin' with th'Queen. Lord Durban's woken up an' told 'er what 'e's seen. Lady Julia's thinkin' o' leavin' t'gather reinforcements, an' sendin' everyone to Aberdeen because she's afraid th' enemy'll take Inverness."

 

[heartofcourage]

"To Aberdeen?" Selena murmured in a surprised tone, looking between the two men. "Is there any other news?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Only rumors otherwise. Somethin' about an old ally o' Wick across the sea, comin' t'aid them. An' Durban said somethin' about great big metal barrels, firin' metal balls that'll rip clean through men, but... nothin' like tha' exists, I don' think. 'E said they'd get jammed an' explode on the men firin' 'em, but what sane man'd use somethin' like tha', right?"

But Selena had heard of such things in the possession of England's armies, especially in the north. It was well known that the northerners hated Scots and the southerners didn't pay the Scots much mind... Perhaps rebels against the English King were helping Wick fight Inverness.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Thank you." Selena said softly as she turned to leave the men.

She hurried through the halls of the keep in search of her older brother. There were a lot of questions that needed answers and she knew that he was the one that would give her a straight answer.