Thanks for reading! I might get busy, so I'm not sure if I can continue this quick update pace. Of course, I'll finish this story, so no plans for abandoning this!
Son of Scathach
Chapter 4 To be a Mother
Lo, and behold, our favorite wall-smashing toddler. Literally, that is.
A year has passed since Scathach had taken Sharron under her wing, and she was surprised by the tiny thing from day one.
As a matter of fact, as soon as Scathach learned how to breastfeed him and change his diapers, the stoic mother was left with her jaw swinging wide.
Yes, no joke. She was numb with a pleasant surprise when she found out her one-year-old baby was very capable of…, numerous feats.
The first surprise was, Sharron didn't cry when he wanted to be fed. He called.
"Mommy, Mommy, Mama!"
She was love-struck by the cute voice, and the way Sharron threw his chubby arms and feet around when he found out her answering his calls. It didn't help when his eyes sparkled with pure innocence and affection, akin to a loyal puppy.
'He is just adorable!' She gasped mentally, 'If only cuteness was a crime, I would have surely already locked him up in the deepest of cells.'
Among her servants, where there was a large share of immortals among the group, such as nature spirits, was actually sent giddy by her happiness. Spirits get affected by strong emotions and environments including magical energy, so Scathach proved to be a powerful source of influence.
And affect the spirits she did. Whenever Sharron needed his overly eager mother, the spirits would start dancing and singing with the vigor of a drunken opera singer. To be specific, the whole castle knew when Sharron's feeding time just by the clamor.
Anyway, the point was, he learned fairly quickly.
The second surprise was, he started running at the age of one. Running at insane speeds for a toddler, that is.
Sharron was 1 year old, and normal 1-year-old does NOT run around at the speeds of a full-grown mortal man. Sharron was definitely NOT your typical toddler by any means.
Nor does a normal one-year-old climb out of his own room through a fucking window, a window that is 1 meter up to the ground.
That is the reason why Scathach was terrified at the beginning of this tale. Yes, past tense. Her naughty baby was captured by an all too willing hound, in the name of Setanta. Or the world shall now in the future as, the great Cu Chulainn.
But right now, he was just another poor disciple trying to amend for his past mistakes (the one which ended up with his ass blasted through several thick walls).
"Master, I found the boy for ya!" he boasted with his head up high. "He was in the royal garden right under your room!"
Sadly, she was too worried about her baby to thank him properly or acknowledge him, but she did give him a nod while snatching a wriggling Sharron from his arms.
'At least I was forgiven, right? That counts.' the poor hound thought.
A FEW MINUTES LATER
"Where in the shadows have you been!? Do you have any idea how worried I was!?" she scolded the prince while seating him on her lap.
He received several small rashes and bruises on his small adventure, so she attended to it once they reached their bedroom, ignoring the offers of help her best medics gave her.
'What if some beast has attacked? What if he had an accident, and was severely injured as a result? What if…?'
Her hands shook slightly at the worst possible outcome. NO, it would not happen. Never will it happen on her watch.
"Mama, sorry, mama. Mama, love, outside. Mama." Sharron looked up at his mother with watering puppy-eyes. He reached into his garment with his chubby hands, revealing a single red spider lily in his tiny grasp.
The lily was Scathach's favorite, so she usually kept a vase of it in the bedroom she shared with Sharron.
'Why would Sharron go outside for this?' Scathach thought as confusion hit her for an instant. The answer made itself clear on second glance.
This lily was unlike any other. It had a silver pearl in the midst of its stamen, an extremely rare phenomenon that only happens in the land of shadows. It is said to be the crystallized form of the love of the deceased, formed from the purest energy of undying devotion.
Setanta's voice reached out from her memories. 'He was in the royal garden right under your room!' he had told her.
'Sharron went outside to the gardens, just for this lily to surprise me!' she realized with a jolt.
"All to get this single flower, for…me?" she whispered out loud.
"Mama!" Sharron bobbed his head while glancing up at his mother's face.
Scathach rarely showed raw human-like emotions, especially strong, vulnerable ones. This was one of the very rare times she showed it.
Scathach, cried.
She cried silently, as a young maiden does. It has been so long since she has cried. A millennium or more? She didn't care.
All those endless years wore down on her, making her more and more emotionless, her routine of seeking powerful enemies being the only valid method of feeling alive. Her hopes of dying as a mortal, was one of her attempts to retrieving what she had already long lost.
Scathach, for the first time in thousands of years, felt healed in her heart. She found herself healed by the precious, innocent thing she held close to her heart.
She felt warm, alive.
On this day, Scathach truly became a mother.
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