Sionnach (closed)

[KieranSoares]

A slight raise of his eyebrows was about the only reaction Sam had for her. "I figured somethin' was off with her," Sam said with a shrug. If he was surprised, he was taking it in stride. "No problem. I'll figure it out in Sweden. I don' feel like thinking tonight." Draping an arm around Fiona's waist, he looked up to Schaller. "Tha' means you'll have to babysit for them and Dzana both occasionally."

"Fledglings are very easy to hold down when you're my size," Schaller chuckled, rising into a feline stretch. When he lowered his horn, Sam took hold and stepped up with Fiona, and the white Elder Dragon carried them back toward the manor. As they passed by Idunn, Sam glanced over and whistled. Soma's head popped up from beneath the cover of Idunn's wing, looking a bit disheveled as well as if he'd fallen asleep.

"Dinner, lad!" Sam called as Idunn yawned and glanced over. Soma said a quick goodbye and came trotting over, Schaller scooping him up and letting the boy climb onto his neck. Schaller eventually deposited the three near the manor door before lumbering off to hunt, taking Idunn along to show her the best places to look.

Inside, Siobhan, Dola, and Andre were finishing up and bringing out dinner. Meanwhile, Jani was with Riley in the dining room picking and bantering like usual. It was their typical form of interaction since Riley had been old enough to talk.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Since when did you become such a simpering sap? One look from her and you're practically melting." Riley muttered to Jani as she tried to pick a fight over Andre. "Don't you dare try and make me feel guilty when you're just as bad."

 

[KieranSoares]

"For beautiful women, I will always be a sap," Jani admitted proudly. "Your Ma can tell you, I flirted with her when we were supposed to kill each other."

 

[heartofcourage]

"She did because Jani has never been able to resist a pretty face." Fiona said as she, Sam, and Soma stepped into the room to stay out of the way of the feast that was being tabled. "She's gotten into more scraps over a barmaid than most men I know."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Guilty," Jani confirmed with a grin, but kept picking good-naturedly at Riley. "But that pales in comparison to you and that boy. You two practically couldn't breathe without the other around last we were with the Voya."

"An' you were followin' Dola around like a lovesick stray," Sam reminded as he sat down in his usual seat. "Everyone an' their entire family had t'convince you tha' she wanted you, y'were so damn nervous."

Jani blushed ever so slightly but countered, "And how about you, old man, stealing away with your wife all the time during that vacation? She's got you just as heart-bound as any of us for our beaus."

Sam could only smile. "Never said I wasn't a sap too." That earned a laugh from Jani and she clapped him on the shoulder just as Siobhan led the way into the room bringing out the food with Andre and Dola close behind.

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona stayed behind for a moment, listening to the sounds of her family gathering in the other room. She was flooded with memories from her childhood, the sounds of a happy family replaced with those of yelling and screaming. It was startling that the words of her parents were coming back to haunt her like this again.

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head to clear her mind and walked over to the window. Looking out at the scenery of Norway, she reminded herself that life was different now. She wasn't a scared little girl hiding from her father's wrath and her mother's bad decisions. She was a wife and mother now, a caller and a queen.

"I'm just scattered. That's all." She muttered to herself. "A new dragon. A new war. It's all getting to me."

 

[KieranSoares]

After a while as Fiona sought to compose herself, conversation still going on in the background, the quiet figure of Dola appeared beside her, gazing out the window as well. "I recognize the faraway stare of a woman lost at sea in her own mind," she murmured softly in Erygonian, a language she was fluent in and had later realized the family also shared.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Just a wounded mind, too much work, and not enough sleep while healing." Fiona said as she shrugged it all off as Dola came to her side. "I'm sure that you can understand many of those same feelings."

 

[KieranSoares]

"On a smaller scale, yes," Dola murmured, offering a little smile. "I was never a queen, of course. But I do know what you mean." She gazed out across the Norwegian harbor as well, the house perched just high enough on a hill for them to see the bay. "I found myself lost and exhausted all too often when Koah was small, especially when it was busy and I couldn't be with him. I rarely slept a full night, especially when I was in pain from men who were too rough. Things were better in quieter times and when Koah was old enough to be fairly responsible... But it all came back far worse after he was forced to leave. But thankfully... while I've had my fair share of sleepless nights with Jani and Koah out there with the soldiers... it's better now."

She glanced over at Fiona, reaching out to hold her hand. "I wouldn't have made it through the hard times without the other women I worked and lived with... While men and younger women might understand some of it, a mother's experience in such times is unique. We feel that we have to keep it all together through anxiety, depression, and pain for the ones we love, especially our little ones... even if they aren't so little anymore. But you don't have to hold it together here anymore, not for a while. Even if things out there are dangerous and difficult... you're in a safe place where people love you, and you can take off your heavy mantle for a little while. Or, at least, let those of us who love you help you shoulder it. Not even gods can hold the world on their shoulders forever."

 

[heartofcourage]

"When we first came here, after the last war, I was pregnant with Riley. Nothing was certain. Nothing was known about how our lives would even work. Riley wasn't even expected at that point. Sam...Sam was at the lowest I've ever seen him. Even with everything that was coming, even knowing that he was going to be a father, he was still thinking about ending it all." Fiona said softly, closing her eyes against the memories of that terrible time. "I guess I'm afraid to let him take anything like this on. He doesn't want it. He does it out of duty, but I can't let him get to that point again."

"I grew up having to do everything on my own. I was raising a child when I was still a child myself. If I don't keep pushing forward, I don't know if I would know what to do with myself." She looked towards Dola and sighed. "I think I'm a hopeless case."

 

[KieranSoares]

"There is no such thing as a hopeless situation or person. While it is far easier said than done... We all must learn to adjust with time. But this coming conflict... It puts everything else on hold. We all have to push through it as best we can. But when it's done... Our children will be ready to learn to take the reins. And we will all learn to adjust and find peace. I know I've been a slave, not a soldier, and I don't know your side of things. But I do know that we have good children who understand how much we love them and how much of this is for them and the future. They will help us in return if only we can accept that help. The young are far better at flexing and adjusting to difficult circumstances."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I know I need to trust them more. I've tried to give them the life that I never had, as hard as that's been." Fiona said, feeling guilty that Tati had been disrupted so much by this turn of events.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Trying to do everything ourselves will only wear us out sooner, and take away the time we should have with them... Many hands make light work, after all." Dola gave Fiona's hand a small squeeze. "Your girl would hold up a mountain if you gave her half a chance. Your boy too. But with all the others- Brogan, Shani, Loren, Koah- they can help you and your Samuel hold up your own mountains that you're being crushed under. I can help too, in what ways I'm able. It's the least I owe your family." She glanced out the window again. "And once Koah and I see you all home, maybe Jani will finally be able to see me home for a while. I hope Riley and Koah will come too. You'd all be welcomed like family, if you ever need to get away from the north for a while in the future."

 

[heartofcourage]

Fiona went quiet for a long time after Dola finished talking, telling her that the next generation was willing and able to help them shoulder the load. She knew that she was right, but it was a future that she wanted so hard to shield them from. Their war was not there war.

"Let's go have some dinner, huh? Before Riley and Jani eat it all." Fiona said as she stood and gave Dola a small smile. "Riley learned all of Jani's bad habits, I'm afraid."

 

[KieranSoares]

Dola paused to wrap Fiona up in a hug, offering what little comfort she could, but she went along with the change in subject. "I can see that. Jani adores that girl beyond reason. She talks about her all the time like Riley is her own."

 

[heartofcourage]

"She might as well be Riley's mother. If I hadn't have carried her myself, I would have thought that they were mother and daughter." Fiona said as Dola hugged her tightly and helped her to change the subject. "The first time she held Riley, Riley screamed and cried. I think she thought she had hurt her in some way and was so incredibly nervous. She swore she was never going to hold her again, but Sam took special delight in torturing her."

 

[KieranSoares]

Dola chuckled to herself, looping Fiona's arm through hers. "I'm going to enjoy watching her squirm when the young ones start bringing us their babies. I've even given thought to asking her if she'd like to adopt one of our own once we figure out where we're going after this fight. I'm sure she'd say no, but I'm also sure I could convince her and she'd love it."

 

[heartofcourage]

Entering into the dining room, the conversation was lively as Riley and Jani competed for dominance between each other. Plates were piled high and all of the food was plentiful. It was like a smaller version of one of the family meals that the Ghis had been so famous for.

Taking her seat beside Sam, she glanced over at him and gave him a small smile before she started to fill her own plate with food.

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam said nothing about Fiona's absence, having seen her enter arm-in-arm with Dola. He simply reached out when she looked over at him, touching her cheek briefly before turning his attention back to Jani and Riley. For as good a fight as Riley could put up, Jani often won with sheer experience. While she had a reputation for being similarly hard-headed and reckless, she was old enough to know how to win with wit too.

"We've been home all of a few hours. You two never quit," Soma sighed dramatically at the two women as Dola only chuckled, leaning against Jani's shoulder.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Look, I can either spar with her or torment you." Riley said as she looked to her little brother who was moaning about the situation. "Which would you prefer?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"If you're going to argue incessantly, take your food and go outside," Soma challenged, though a hint of a smile came through.

"Alright," Dola said softly, silencing Jani before she could start into both of them. "After dinner you two can continue this. Let the rest of us enjoy some peace and conversation."

Jani sighed, but relented, perhaps for the first time ever. "Fine, fine."

"I wish we'd 'ave known about you twenty years back, Dola," Sam chuckled. "We could've used you th' moment this hellion joined us. Maybe Riley would be a little less competitive on everything."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't think it would have made much of a difference. Riley came into this world screaming and hasn't stopped yet." Fiona said as she started to eat, Riley's ears flicking back. "It's the Ghis in her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Sure, blame my family when we know lookin' fer fights came from you," Sam muttered with a little grin as he took a sip of ale. "You egg on our enemies jus' like Riley eggs on everyone. You an' Jani both."

"Hey, I improved thanks to learning from Fiona," Jani insisted. "Learned from her how to stare down dragons even better, how to tell Emperors and Imperial officers to shove it, and so on. She's the expert."

"She has a point, Ma," Soma agreed with a little smile.

 

[heartofcourage]

“Ma has the sharpest tongue of anyone I know.” Riley grumbled as her ears went flat as the conversation turned to her stubbornness and loud demeanor.

“It’s only sharp because it means something to you.” Fiona said with a slight smile. “I learned that a long time ago.”

 

[KieranSoares]

Sam reached out to lay a hand on Riley's shoulder with a smile. "Don't take it so seriously, love."

"She takes everything as a personal insult," Jani teased, only to be nudged by Dola.

"Don't you start again."