Chapter Text
“It must be nice to live in Tantal these days,” Brighid commented, sitting down on the sofa next to where Mòrag had been reading a book. Mòrag, of course, knew exactly what Brighid was referring to. Who couldn’t, considering their situation?
“Are you suggesting we elope?” Mòrag asked, knowing that Brighid wasn’t suggesting that at all. She still sort of wanted it, even if it was a foolish suggestion she would never be able to follow up on.
“Not unless we wanted to cause a national scandal, which I doubt you do. Still… These Jin and Malos people had the right idea. Make enough of a fuss, and the laws get changed.” Brighid rested her head on Mòrag’s shoulder. “Besides, are you telling me you’ve never considered eloping?”
“Frequently,” Mòrag said with a sigh. “But we can’t. I couldn’t do that to Niall, for one. I’m happy with it being just us, honestly, but...it would be nice to be like them. To be able to kiss in front of a crowd and not worry about a whole world out there that would instantly remove you from your position.”
“Mm… Hey, your cousin is a nice enough kid. Keep being a good influence on him, and maybe when he turns eighteen the first thing he pushes through the courts can be recognition of same-sex soulmates.” Brighid turned her wrist over, pushing her bracelets up to reveal the words ‘Nice to meet you, Lady Brighid’ in a flowing script. “It would be nice not to have to cover this up all the time.”
Mòrag glanced over to where her own mark, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Lady Mòrag’, was hidden under her sleeve. There wasn’t a day that went by when she didn't stare at that mark, wondering if one day it would be safe for someone else to see it. That mark had been covered up since before Niall had even been born. “But he doesn’t even know,” she said sadly. Niall was lovely, but he couldn’t do something about issues he didn't understand yet.
“You could tell him,” Brighid suggested gently. “You know him better than anyone, possibly better than he knows himself. He’s a kid, and although he’s certainly mature for his age, he’s still impressionable. If you explain to him that we’re soulmates, you know he wouldn’t mind that much.”
“I don’t want to be accused of leading him on,” she said. She had a position of responsibility over her fifteen year old cousin. She was meant to protect him and help him and she would be incredibly annoyed if anyone else in the palace led him on for their own gain. She could not do the same, even if it was for a good cause.
“You’re not pushing any particular agenda on him, though. You’re just telling him a fact about yourself and seeing what he makes of it. Also, you’re the person he loves most in this world, you can hardly be accused of corruption. It would only be bad if you somehow blackmailed him into letting us get married.” Brighid, as usual, was very much the voice of reason.
“I’ll say something if it comes up,” she promised. She knew she shouldn’t really be afraid. Niall was an amazing and morally upstanding young man, but this involved a lot of fear about her position, and therefore her country’s position. Taking a risk here could mean her losing her place at Niall’s side, or if it all went public they could lose the support of Indol and it could destabilise everything.
“Hmm. It hasn’t come up in fifteen years, so perhaps you need to put a little more effort in.” Brighid nudged her gently. “Now seems like a perfect time, in fact, since there’s been all this fuss going on in Tantal. Just bring it up casually when you next discuss the news, and see what happens from there.”
“I can’t casually bring up the topic of the fact that you’re my soulmate,” Mòrag said. “We’ve been attached at the hip for years. Over a decade, even. He’d just probably feel it was- I don’t know.”
“I’d say that the moment you tell him, it will suddenly occur to him that it was obvious all along,” Brighid said. “Us as a pair is natural to him; us as soulmates is barely any different.”
“Fair. Ugh… It’s just a little scary, you know? Not knowing what he might say…” Mòrag shrugged. “But you’re right, he’s a good kid. I’ll tell him, I promise. For you.” That was a scary promise to make, but it was one that she knew she would keep.
“Thank you,” Brighid said. “But make sure you’re doing it for you, too. This is a thing for both of us, but it’s you who’s putting yourself at risk, even if I maintain that the risk is small. Your happiness is my highest priority. If you’d rather keep this to yourself, please do.”
“No, don’t try and talk me out of this again.” Mòrag laughed. “I’ll do this, I will. I promised, and I know it’s what I need to do. Especially if this leads to us getting legal recognition eventually. That’s...pretty much what I want most for us.”
“I understand,” Brighid said, leaning over to put her head on Mòrag’s shoulder. “We’re going to be fine, you know. I know that Tantal isn’t Mor Ardain, and we have a whole group of old people in the council hating our very existence, but I feel like the tide of opinion is changing.”
“True. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.” Mòrag pulled Brighid into a kiss, letting it linger for a few seconds. That helped clear her head a little, and she pulled away with a smile. “You know, you always know just the right thing to say.”
“It’s almost as if I’m destined to know you better than anyone else,” Brighid said, pulling Mòrag in for a second kiss. Relaxing, Mòrag let Brighid run her fingers through her hair, gently untying it and letting it fall to rest on her shoulders. “This will be fine, Mòrag. We can be happy together regardless of what happens with this, remember. This will just make it all so much easier.”
“Mhm. I know. I’ve always been happy with you, since we were- what, five years old?” Mòrag smiled, remembering the first time they’d met. Both in silly puffy dresses, hers blue and Brighid’s purple, left alone in a locked room to entertain themselves whilst their parents got on with the business of court. It had been exciting, finding out that the marks on their wrists matched, but even then, there had been a sense of it being something to keep between themselves.
They hadn’t known why, back then, though they’d both agreed to keep it a secret. Their parents must have known, of course, but Mòrag’s were gone in a flash and Brighid’s had never said a word about it. Maybe they’d hoped Brighid would never think of it, if they never told her, or maybe they’d just ignored it and hoped for the best without thinking of the consequences.
And now, more than fifteen years later, here they both were. As soon as the concept of soulmates had been properly explained to her by a tutor, Mòrag had rushed to tell Brighid. They’d shared an awkward, short first kiss aged eleven, both blushing for at least a good ten minutes afterwards. Ever since then, they’d only gotten closer, so that they were practically inseparable now.
Things had changed a lot since then. More recent pressures had actually made their relationship legal, but they couldn’t get legally married and there was still a whole host of prejudices. It would be perfectly reasonable for the council to demand she gave up her position if they found out about Brighid and her. And that was what she was most worried about, because she needed to be around Niall to protect him.
But there was no fire without a spark, and if she ever wanted things to change, Mòrag knew she had to make some sort of a move. So, she would go and tell Niall about her and Brighid, and she would take whatever consequences that brought with it. If they ended up having to flee the country, then, well, at least she knew that Tantal would accept them.