A Soldier's Thoughts

By Rosie Azrael

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of anything here save the words. Plot/Characters/Storyline all belong to Megan Whalen Turner.

They have arrived. They have arrived, and my son looks weary from this journey. His arm pains him, I can see, and he is uncomfortable on the horse he rides. He has always hated horses, since he was a small child.

I walk to the woman. She, also, seems exhausted by the journey. She shakes, whether from exhaustion or cold - or perhaps fear - I cannot tell. I take her by the waist, pull her from the horse.

This woman, so young... She is responsible for this. All of this. This woman I am holding off the ground is the one who maimed my son. My precious son. How I hate her. My hands tighten, and by the gods how I wish to simply take her and dash her on the rocks below. But for the sake of my son, who loves her, I know not why, for the sake of my country, which needs peace, I cannot.

I see her fear behind her mask, and my anger fades. I set her gently to the ground, and go to see to my son.

She had taken the dear boy from me, and now she will take the man that he has become. And yet for his sake, and for the sake of us all, I must let him go.