Disclaimer: This fanfiction was written and published without any thought of profit, only for personal entertainment, and for that - I wish - of those who will read it. Characters and scenarios are the sole property of BBC.
Equinox
"As evening fell, a maiden stood
At the edge of a wood
In her hands lay the reins
Of a stallion
And ne'er I'd seen a girl as fair
Heard a gentler voice anywhere
Whispered, 'Alas…'
She belonged, belonged to another
Another forever
Yes, she belonged to the twilight and mist."
- James Horner, Twilight and Mist.
It was his smile, she told herself.
He was not… handsome. At least, he did not have that kind of beauty shown off by many of the knights who sat at the King's table, one made of chiseled features, and well-shaped muscles under the polished cold metal of armors and chainmails; that epic and heroic beauty which inspired the lyrics of troubadours and storytellers, and made courtesans as well as maidens from the people sigh. Instead he was tall, blunt, and far too thin; but his true beauty lay in his… uniqueness.
His eyes were not just blue; they were like a spring dawn, for in them there was not only the dark blue of the night slipping away, but also the sky blue and the liquid gold of the new day dawning from a pale pink sunrise.
And his smile… oh, his smile! It gleamed like the sun on the eternal snows, and it could melt them even – a stream that flowed into the silver gush of a crystal-clear laugh.
Yes, it was his smile, she decided. It was his smile that heated up her days and sweetened her heart like lukewarm honey.
It was her smile, he told himself.
She was… gorgeous. She had the legendary beauty of a queen, or the mythical one of a goddess, with her perfect figure, thin and slender, and the long soft hair of black silk framing her face like the wings of an angel. Hers was the kind of beauty that would inspire the artists of ancient times; yet it was no conventional at all, for her true beauty lay in her… uniqueness.
She was indigo and purple and violet, like an autumn dusk; her cheeks were red like wild rose berries, and her eyes seemed to be made of opaline jade glimmering on the gravel bed of a clear river – they were like the green soft wild undergrowth of a wood wrapped in the mist of a cold noon already close to winter.
And her smile… oh, her smile! It always surprised him, just as the moon surprises the night with her shimmering iridescent halo of adamant, and with her handmaidens, the stars, turns the sky into a sumptuous velvet encrusted with precious stones.
Yes, it was her smile, he decided. It was her smile that made him sigh at the end of each day, longing for the next one to come, and inebriated his heart like sweet mead.
On that night, Mabon's Night, when light and darkness are equal, she had waited for him on her horse, outside the walls, and they had ridden together under the stars, towards the forbidden forests, where Druids lit fires in honor of the Goddess and the God, to celebrate the advent of the new season.
He hugged tightly to her, his hands clasped around her waist, and his lips pressed on her hair, which smelled of irises, lavender, wisteria, and hawthorn. She leaned against him, allowing him to tighten her in his embrace, which smelled of herbs, soot, ink, and old parchment.
Life in the citadel drew them apart – inside the castle walls, they could never belong to each another; but when they were out there, together, they could stop being who they were for the rest of the world. When they were out there, together, they could be who they truly were. No secrets, no lies, no masks. Only their breath, their skin, their longing… and their magic.
He was the light in which she could bask and warm up, like a lazy cat in a courtyard under the rays of the first spring sun, and he seemed to light up a bit that night she increasingly felt growing up and pressing inside her.
She was the trees cool shadow, the lush garden, the flourishing forest in which he could shelter, letting his thoughts roam freely and resting his mind, while being wrapped in her fresh green cozy dim-light.
While watching the sacred fires burning in the very heart of the forest, beneath them, their hands sought one another, their bodies moved closer, their lips got together. Then, in that sort of heart breaking limbo which is the space between one kiss and the next one, that strange state of suspension so similar to a spell, their eyes meet, gilded by the sacred fire burning inside them, and they smiled at each other.
Yes, it was their smile, after all, the tie that bound and united their souls into one, while a season was ending and another one began, in the air overfilled with the scents of pine, sage and hibiscus flowers…