Before
Maege has lived a long life. Technically, she knows she is not alive, but she feels as if she still lives somewhat. She remembers a time long ago, when she was still human.
She remembers her father, a quiet but good man, and her mother. Her soft, sweet blackhaired mother.
She had once such ravenblack hair as well she muses. Her memories are her only companion on their long journey, so she relives them. With time, they have faded somewhat, as if she is looking from behind a screen, but she still remembers them nonetheless.
Her mother was gentle and spirited. She remembers a soft voice singing, someone combing through her long black hair and the green colour of her mother's eyes that reminded her of a forest during Summer.
Than her mother fell ill and succumbed to an illness her father was sure came from the Children. Mad by grief, he decided to go and find those responsible. Maege closes her eyes as she remembers crying and begging her father not to go, not to leave her alone.
But he still did. Whatever remains of her heart squeezes together in pain at the memory.
She remembers turning into a young woman, her father still not present. She tends to their farm, their crops and their animals, and learns to take care of herself. Her father does not show himself for years.
And than, he does. But different. Still her father, but those eyes. Such an unnatural blue.
Maege closes her eyes and her face crunches together, her horse stopping. Her father stops as well, unimpressed look thrown in her general direction.
She goes back and feels the pain again, as if she is reliving it a second time.
'What did you do to me?' she cries, coughing as she tries to will the burning to stop. It is as if her veins themselves are turning to ice. 'It is for your own good. Forgive me, Maege.'
He turns around and closes the door to her bedroom, Maege still screaming in pain. She keeps on calling for her father, her mother, the Gods, anything to make this stop.
She eventually stops screaming because her voice has given out.
She wakes up, days or weeks later, she does not know, as she is being carried through the woods. She blinks and looks up, but the world seems brighter, different somehow.
Her hand goes up, and her breath stops.
Before she knows, she is bounding into the woods, until she comes upon a lake. A cry of disgust and fear leaves her lips, as a whitehaired and blue eyed stranger looks back at her.
She sees someone approaching, and she turns around. 'Why?' she asks, her tears freezing on her cheeks.
He never answers as she rages, and eventually she stops. He holds out his hand, and helps her stand.
He never has given her an answer, and as time passes and her emotions seem to dull, she almost never thinks about it anymore.
But she wonders, maybe her father did not want to be alone. Maybe he wanted to keep whatever that was left of his family close to him, if only to have a reminder of what used to be home.
To Maege, it is a comforting thought, one that feeds her hope that not everything is lost just yet.