Pure Moonlight (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Durban was sitting in the room that had once been his bedroom as a boy, half-relaxed in a huge chair near the fire. His eyes were lit by the fire that he stared into. A dark, sewn-shut gash stretched from above the corner of his right brow, across his temple, and down to the line of his jaw under his ear, and a notch had been taken out of his ear. Both and the cuts all over his face and body had been caused by the explosion of a defect cannon and the shrapnel it fired out.

He lifted his head up to look at his younger sister and he gave her a weak smile. "Hiya, love..."

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena leaned down and kissed her brother's cheek before she turned to pull up a small stool to sit next to him. She took in the cuts on his face, the haunted look in his eyes, and she let out a small sigh as she took his large hand in hers and held it tightly.

"Tell me what you saw out there, Ban." She murmured softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Nothin' I e'er want t'see again..." He muttered. "Th'Northern English brought 'em cannons... mostly defective cannons hopin' t'kill on both sides. I saw men blown apart, Selena... we all did. We tried t'take some o' the cannons before we realized they were all defective, tried firin' 'em. One group misfired, all of 'em lost limbs. When we figured it out, we rigged 'em up with a plug t'make 'em explode when th'enemy got close, but... Gods, I'd never wish tha' on anyone..."

He looked up at her sadly. "I think Ashien's not gonna make it, love... He shielded a younger lad from a cannon, ripped 'im up worse than any blade could e'er do, but 'e kept fighting after Vincenzo finished with him. He'll do it again, I know it. An' Brogan's taken an axe to th' shoulder an' a spear t'the thigh, but 'e never slowed down t'get it taken care of."

 

[heartofcourage]

"We can't control our younger brothers. You know that, Durban." Selena said softly, still holding his hand tightly in her own. "All we can do is hope for a good outcome in this war."

"They are talking about moving to Aberdeen. I think you should go with Boar and Emma and Marri. I can stay here and defend the keep."

 

[KieranSoares]

"No. You're going to Aberdeen with Ruben. I'll stay... We'll 'old on to it as long as we can..." He seemed to believe that Brogan wouldn't win. "I've 'eard rumors from the prisoners we took... somethin' about an ally from across th' sea... but they wouldn't tell us who." He sat forward with a sigh. "We aren' gonna make it without allies, Selena..."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Durban, you're too stubborn for your own good." Selena said as her brother told her his plan. "You have little ones still under your roof and a wife who depends on you. If anything were to happen to me, Ruben still has his Da to raise him. You need to go to Aberdeen."

 

[KieranSoares]

"No, Selena," he said simply. He was the most stubborn of the bunch. He'd learned it from their father Tamblin and Selena had learned from the both of them. She had never once in her life convinced him when he'd made up his mind. Only Marri or Kitty could do that, it seemed.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Durban." She murmured, her voice full of warning as she saw the same dark look cross his features that their father always had before a fight. "Don't take that attitude with me."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not leaving, Selena. Brogan left the defense of Inverness to me, and I'll be damned if I leave it... Marri has th' rest o' you, she'll be okay while I'm gone." He rose slowly, unable to move too fast or risk getting dizzy and falling. "I'll make it... we all will. Even if we do lose Inverness."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Don't you dare treat me like a child in this, Durban." Selena growled at her brother, so incredibly frustrated that he was being so incredibly stubborn in this. "You can barely walk. How do you think you're going to lift your weapon and fight?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'll figure it out. An' I'm not treatin' ya like a child, I'm treatin' ya like a mother with a son tha' can't make it without you. I know 'e's changin' Selena, I know 'is father's a wolf. 'E needs you with 'im. Now quit fightin' with me, my word's final." He spoke to her like the king he'd once been meant to be. He would've been a fine king, if only he'd not been disowned and if only he'd wanted it.

 

[heartofcourage]

"No. You're going to stop being bullheaded about this, Durban." Selena insisted, knowing that her brother would do nothing of the sort. She clenched her teeth together tightly, fairly shaking in the anger that she felt towards the brother that was sentencing himself to death.

"Fine. If you want to end up buried with the rest of them, you can stay behind." With that, Selena left the room, storming away to try and stop the ache that was forming in her heart.

 

[KieranSoares]

Durban watched her go, and he whispered quietly, "Love you too, little sister..." She wouldn't hear him.

The rest were ready to go before long, but on the last day, little Gabriel and little Ruben suddenly set themselves the task of escorting and defending their aunt as she headed south to find allies. And on the last day, Kayla pulled the wool over their eyes and somehow managed to stay behind. The youngest and smallest, and the oldest and largest Ghis children stood with a handful of men to defend their home.

And while she was in Aberdeen, Selena was the first to receive news that Inverness had fallen, only a week later.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena kept the news to herself as she tried to figure out how to break the news to her family. She had them all gathered in Emma's chambers, where her sister-in-law was resting in bed as she and Boar awaited the arrival of their baby. When she entered, she was greeted with familiar looks of hope and question. She let out a little sigh as she closed the door behind her.

"There is something that I have to tell everyone." She said softly, looking at Boar and then at her mother and Valentina then Marri. "Inverness has fallen. Durban was wounded but Kayla has agreed to wed Olaf to keep us all alive."

 

[KieranSoares]

Boar rose suddenly, which caused him to stumble thanks to his ruined knees, but he caught himself. "We 'ave t'help them, she shouldn' 'ave t'marry tha' bloody brute fer us!" He tried to make his way out, but his sudden movement made his knees go weak and he nearly fell. Thankfully Valentina was there to catch his arm and steady him.

"Boar..." she said softly, making him sit down.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Boar, there's nothing we can do." Selena said softly, looking at her younger brother as he struggled to leave. "We just have to wait for Julia and hope that she makes it."

Selena looked towards Emma and saw that her sister-in-law was in pain. She was doing her best to hide the fact that she was in the middle of labor from her husband. The entire situation was stressful enough for the entire family.

"Besides, I think Emma needs you more." Selena murmured to him softly, watching as he finally looked towards his wife to see for himself.

Emma started to cry, cradling her swollen belly as all attention turned towards her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen now..."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Better now than when we were on the move," Valentina assured her softly, shooing everyone else but Marri out, as Marri was going to help her. She didn't allow Boar to stay, knowing he was too frantic to be good for Emma's health during birth.

Out in the hall, Boar slumped against the wall, his mind whirring with fear for his brothers and sister, for his wife whose previous birth had not gone so well and for his sister-in-law and nephews who'd gone to find help.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena crouched down in front of her younger brother, gently reaching out to touch his shoulder. She felt his pain and knew what he was thinking about in that very moment. There was so much uncertainty for all of them.

"I begged Durban to come in my place." Selena said softly. "And now I feel like my sword hand has been torn off. I know what you feel, Boar. There's nothing that we can do though. They chose this."

"I need you to be strong. For Ma...for Emma...for me." She confessed.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don' 'ave any strength left fer any o' this..." he whispered. "I lost it all watchin' my brothers bein' blown up an' cut down, an' strugglin' t'keep my head up fer Emma's sake... I want t'be strong, but... my 'eart can't take any more... but I'm glad yer here. Th'ladies need a strong leader t'keep the family t'gether."

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena let out a soft sigh as her younger brother confessed that he couldn't keep himself strong for all of them. She reached out and pulled him by his broad shoulders into a tight, secure hug. She loved Boar through all of his faults and knew that he was incredibly shaken by what happened.

"I still can't believe you're a father, Boar." She murmured softly, trying to make him smile. "I remember when you were five and you swore to Ma that you wanted nothing to do with girls because they were rotten."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Emma ain' just a lass... she's my lass," Boar muttered with a weak smile for her sake. "Same fer us all an' the people we love."

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena smiled and sat with her brother, holding his hand and being his support as they waited for news about Emma. It was a few hours later when the door opened and Marri stepped through with a tiny little bundle in her arms and a smile on her lips.

"Emma did wonderful." She said first, placing the little bundle in Boar's arms. "And this little beauty came into the world kicking and screaming."

 

[KieranSoares]

Boar was instantly rendered lovestruck and unable to speak for several minutes, looking down at the now-quiet, lovely little girl. But soon he looked up to Marri, "So... Emma's okay...? She's not in danger...?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Emma is perfect. Val is finishing up and you can see her in a few moments." Marri said softly, moving back towards the door to help her sister-in-law finish up their task.

Selena looked down at the tiny bundle in her brother's arms. She was a lovely baby with black hair. Her little lips were pursed, her complexion the same as her fathers. Her brother would have a heartbreaker when she got older.

"She's lovely, Boar." Selena murmured, kissing her little brother's cheek.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We're gonna name 'er Kayla..." Boar muttered softly. "Emma wanted a pretty but strong name for a girl... Nothin' is stronger than Kayla." He gave the girl to his sister so that he could have his hands free to help him struggle to his feet with his ruined knees. Taking his little girl, he went in to see his wife as Val allowed him in.

Valentina came out to face her eldest sister with a soft smile despite her stressed appearance. She retied her hair as it'd gotten a bit disheveled during her work. "Finally, a little bit of good news... hopefully there'll be more to follow from Julia."