Out of Place

Winters in Serenes are rather dull without her, Rafiel thinks.

Sitting out on the veranda, watching snow fall for the first time in twenty years is a strange concept to him. It coats the ground, collects in conifers, makes the pine and cedar smell; twenty years later and these are smells he can't recall. Twenty years later and it's sagebrush that comes to mind. Twenty years later and he wouldn't have thought peaceful would be an adequate word to describe such a place. Hellacious, perhaps. Because this is a graveyard he now sleeps in, though he sleeps hardly a wink in such conditions when he can't feel her nearby.

It had only been a month since her departure, and he was already losing his composure.

He hadn't realized how much he had depended on her, and now he was learning to pay the consequences for thinking he was strong enough otherwise. It was silly, really; sleep was such an easy thing to come by on most days, and yet the action had eluded him for the past four weeks and counting. His bed was comfortable and provided just the right amount of warmth, and yet, he hadn't truly felt warm in a while.

When Leanne came to visit several days after Nailah's trek back to Hatari, she had been carrying flowers. For you, she had said, smile alight and knowing, and if it weren't for the fact that she was as mischievous as his brother, Rafiel might have simply told her of his loss.

Certainly, it was such a small thing to get worked up about, and yet the distance in between him and his queen had him counting the days until her return.