A/N: This takes place a year after the last chapter. So instead of 10 years it's now been 11.
You pronounce Selinè: Sel-een-Eh
Kia of Cria, a cat shifter, watched as a fish lazily swim through the water of the pond with intent amethyst eyes. Her brother, Brassal stretched out leisurely in the warm afternoon sun. Grinning, Kia splashed her brother who yelped in surprise and glared as his sister giggled.
"Got you that time, Brass!" she taunted, strands of brown-blonde hair escaping her braid.
Brassal rolled his hazel-green eyes and smirked. "Not if I get you first!" he pounced on his sister in cat form and they both rolled right into the pond, shifting back into humans as they swam, laughing and splashing each other.
Nicola chuckled and sighed, standing from her seat on the ground. "You two be good!" she called.
"We will!"
Nicola walked over to Amyl who had just gotten back from Hollyrose. "How are things at home?"
Amyl dismounted, looking worn out and tousled. "Not so good. Some servants are complaining about low wages yet I've balanced everything to the best of my ability."
Nicola nodded, "Cria hasn't been doing well, with the destruction of crops and whatnot, so I've heard."
Amyl nodded, and looked at the glaring sun that beat down hard on them. "Gods, this heat!" "It's like the desert out here."
The shifter took Amyl's saddlebags from the sweat-soaked horse and told Amyl to go clean up while she finished with her mount. With grateful thanks, Amyl hurried inside the castle. After brushing the mount down, Nicola went to check on her kittens.
Brassal and Kia lay sleeping in a patch of sun, and their mother smiled at the sight. "If only he could see them now." She was referring to the children's father, Faithful, who had disappeared while she was in labor and appeared again when she had named them, later that night.
Now almost eleven years later, Nicola still hadn't seen him appear in human form. It was as if he'd abandoned her and his kittens. Little Kia had constantly asked where she had gotten her amethyst eyes and Brassal would just roll his eyes and scoff, saying their father was not coming back. The hurt on Kia's face pained Nicola but she never told her children of their father, afraid they'd be shunned and treated differently.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she sighed and laid on her back, closing her eyes and succumbed to a dream…
The wind stirred above, making even the pine shiver, snow swirled and formed the figure
Of the Great Mother Goddess, her ebony black hair was tied in a tight bun, her deep green eyes gazed lovingly down into a bowl of water where a vision played across the surface of the water. Her full lips smiled as she took her silver bow, fixed an arrow to the string, and fired.
The arrow hissed through the air, piercing the thin blanket of twilight, and landing into the snow below, the moon casting shadows across the arrow.
The prophecy was long ago fulfilled. The prophecy of the Queenscove lady knight.
The Goddess sighed and spoke, "Your young Kia and Brassal will meet Selinè of Queenscove one day…some day." "Their quest will be difficult and trying…Y\you cannot hold them close forever Nicola, soon they will drift from your side and choose their own lives…" The Goddess then vanished into the wind.
Midori sat on the lip of a cliff, her legs dangling off the side. The sun sank below the horizon; Midori stroked a ring on her finger as she gazed at the sunset. It's colors spread out and seemed to bleed together, like a painting on canvas.
"I never regretted that decision when I chose to wed you, Kalen…" Midori whispered.
"Nor did I Midori of the Bloody Hawk" Kalen replied with a chuckle, coming behind her. "Never!"
Midori sighed, fixing her eyes on at her husband with love. "Selinè will be permitted into the Mortal Realms soon…"
Kalen sat beside her and watched the sun descend and the moon rise, silent for a moment before kissing Midori's cheek.
"Do you want Selinè to leave?" he whispered, voice betraying a father's fear.
Midori rested her head on her husband's chest, silent and wishing for his comfort. "Selinè needs to live out her life, Kalen, not be cooped up here in the Divine Realms forever. True we are parents, and we are worried for her, but sometimes you have to let them go…"
"But remember what happened all those years ago…" Kalen told her.
"That was years ago and Scanra hasn't threatened Tortall since." Midori pointed out.
"Still, Midori, I worry."
"So do I."
The couple left the discussion at that, watching as the stars came out after a full, blessed day of rest.
Nicola woke up from her dream, dazed and confused. So Midori and Kalen were married and now have a daughter?
And Kia, Brassal and she were to meet?
The shifter stood and sighed, "This is going to need a lot of explanation, that's for sure!"
A/N: Where should this go?
What should the pairing be, if at all? Should Selinè meet and fall for one of Oriana, Sheba or Amyl's kids? Or should she be single?
Answers in reviews please!
Regards,
- Notebook
