[PRP]Dove and Knight [Adelle x Claude]

[pippi18848]

Adelle was quiet as she stood at the edge of their newly founded herdlands. Everything seemed to be running smoothly, and yet she worried. Would she fail them, just like she failed her daughter? The one who became cursed and hates her and the rest of the family? Her bells chimed quietly in the small breeze as she looked around. The willow tree branches swayed just barely, and she could see the glitter of the water on the other side, and yet she doubted her ability to do this.

Shihab had every faith in her that she could do this, but it was hard for her to believe him. How could she lead others....when she couldn't keep her daughter safe? Safe from whatever plagued her? A small tear left her eye and she lowered her head no longer feeling confident. "I'm going to fail." She whispered to herself quietly.  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

"I wouldn't be so certain of that," Claude clucked, soundlessly coming to stand beside Adelle, "Neva is tragic, and I don't expect that you will ever feel the pain of that loss any less fiercely than you do now. But I wouldn't let the sting of that loss poison everything you do. You raised Branwen, didn't you?" Claude hadn't expected his heart to give the fierce lurch that it did at the memory of the mare. He smiled wryly, head lowering fractionally in private mourning. "She gave her life so that her foals might live. I'd say that more than makes up for Neva."

Claude fell silent then, and allowed the silence to stretch on indefinitely as she surveyed the new herd lands. It truly was beautiful. With room enough for many families to join and grow. And more even than that. Everything they needed lay within the boarders of their lands, with no need to venture.

"Shihab has faith in you," Claude finally said with a firm nod of his head. "And so do I."  

[pippi18848]

Adelle quickly looked up, face flushing slightly that she was caught. "Please forgive me, I shouldn't have been upset like that. Not when I have others to lead."

The mare had great trust in Claude, he took in one of her own girls to become a knight, and he took in another girl of hers and accepted her like family, even though the mother was Neva. She could never repay him for that amount of kindness.

"I do miss her. Branwen was such a sweet mare. But what life do those children have when my failure of Neva runs loose? Will they live a life of fear?" Adelle shook her head, the bells chiming a bit loudly reflecting her frustration. "What if starting this herd brings disaster to everyone? What if...what if she attacks here? What if I've put everyone that comes here into danger? I should have run far far away and never come back so the rest of you could have stayed safe. I'm not worth this." Everything came pouring out, words she didn't even dare tell Shihab for she hated hurting him so. And she hated having him worry about her.  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

"Stop." The demand sounded harsh in Claude's throat, but it was the only way he could think of to stop Adelle's downward spiral. "You have every right to be upset. In fact, I think your reaction makes you even more fit to lead. It gets dangerous when you let your emotions cloud your judgement. I have not seen that in you. And as for your worries, look below." He gestured to the valley, to soquili lounging in the warm afternoon sun, grazing lazily among the willow branches, and playing with the young ones. "Tell me that's not happiness."

Not to say Claude didn't understand her fear. Her daughter had become a skinwalker. Fear was the only natural response. Fear not only for those residing within the valley, but fear also for Neva herself. Adelle was her mother, and no curse in this life or the next could change that.

"The thing is," he sighed, crossing between Adelle and her view, forcing her to focus only on what he was saying, "everything you're telling me seems to be more of a strength than a weakness. Personally, I wouldn't trust a leader who didn't feel losses as keenly as you do, who didn't fear for her herd the way you do." Maybe this was his fault. He had a tendency to feel more privately than most... maybe Adelle was seeing that an mistaking it for not feeling at all.

"As for Neva's attack, if it happens, then you and yours will defend yourselves. And my family isn't far away. We'll come to your aid should you need it." Claude moved back out of her way and circled around behind her. He brushed her side affectionately with his wing; his sister in all respects that mattered. He hated o see her like this. It did hurt him. It stung even more when she degraded herself.

"Adelle," he said firmly, "you are worth everything. Never forget that."  

[pippi18848]

As the stallion spoke each word to her, the tears started to pool in her eyes. Adelle had a hard time believing the words that Claude was saying to her, but the fact he was saying them showed her that someone cared. Yet, at the same time she also felt guilty that he was even here to witness this. "Claude, please." her voice wavered as she tried her hardest to fight back the tears. "You speak of me to highly. Much to highly."

"How can I fight against my own daughter? How can I possibly even kill her in order to protect the others? What if I falter when the time comes?" The tears started to flow down from her eyes, as she tried to turn so the knight could not see them. "What if others die, because I fail to strike my own daughter?"

Her head hung low, the tears flowing faster as she tried desperately to figure out what she had done wrong to be placed in such a situation. "Neva may be a skinwalker, but she's still my daughter. How could I not protect her from such a curse? I failed her Claude. Just like I'll fail the rest of you."  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

"Why do you think I'm here?" Claude flashed her a smile. "If the time comes and you need to defend your herd from Neva, Nadia and I will be here to do what we can. You aren't a fighter, Adelle, and that's fine.. You can let us handle that part." He used the word "if" but... in was an inevitability. Hope would do nothing to stop that terrible fate from occurring but... he could at least use language to calm Adelle's nerves for the moment. Because of this, Claude lived in fear for Adelle. He could tell her the he would handle Neva until he was blue in the face. He knew she still wouldn't listen. He knew that she'd still try to defend the herd, first with words, and then with actions. And he feared for that day.

"I know who Neva is to you. But more importantly, I know what she is now. If anyone failed anyone, Neva failed herself. And now she is what she is. Because of this, you need to promise me that if Nadia and I need to step in, you won't stop us from doing what we have to." There was darkness in his voice now as he failed to keep the implication from his inflection. "You will not fail the rest of us. I will not allow it."  

[pippi18848]

The silver bells chimed quietly as her chest heaved, trying to keep the tears and sobs inward. Everything Claude was saying was true, but it was just the fact that her sweet, beautiful daughter, was now cursed for the rest of eternity and someday she may have to witness her daughter's demise. Would she be able to keep herself from staying out of Claude's and Nadia's way should the time come? "Claude, I..." her voice barely audible as she tried to speak and not cry. "I...I can't promise that I'll keep out of the way."

Turning away from the herd and from Claude she walked a few steps away, feeling even more like a failure because she couldn't guarantee just that one simple little thing. "Even though she's a monster, and I have to protect those around me..." she struggled to say as she finally started to cry openly. "She's still my daughter and it will pull at my heart to try to protect her from you." The image of her closest friend, ending her daughter's life, just killed her, and knowing she could easily lose her friend because of what she just admitted made her feel even more alone. "Please Claude...please if you have to do such a horrible thing, please try to lure her away so I can't see it and can't interfere."

As she waited for a response from the stallion, her head was lowered, and her wings drooped slightly, fearing that he would leave right then and there, and never speak to her again. How could he stay when she just admitted to trying to protect a monster?  

[Sweenys_Revenge]

"You will." His voice begged no argument and no refute. He was resolute both in voice and stance as he stood, solid as the earth, looking out on his family. "When the time comes, you will. Because you know that it is necessary." But even the earth gives. And so, when he spoke next, the craned his neck to see her and softened his voice. "But I promise that I will do what I can when the time comes. But war is war, and there is no guarantee of anything." Not even that Neva would return to finish the job that she'd started with Lucian. If the gods were good, and they had been so far, then they would cause Adelle no furhter pain. He lifted a wing to catch the tears that fell from Adelle's eyes and smiled again.

"Go and be with your family. Solitude is no balm to an aching heart. Be with Shihab and your children. Or if you cannot face them, then come home with me for the afternoon. Istas will be glad to have you."

[quote="pippi18848"