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The feeling was a strange and foreign one. It was a weird, churning concoction of anxiety and alarm and aggressiveness that she could only compare to that of a trapped animal with its hackles raised. And she supposed, in a way, that she was.
The presence of the foreigners from the mainland was uncomfortable because they didn’t belong. They were invaders, in every sense of the word, and they had no regard for her land or her people or anything that essentially made her who she was. But, unlike last time, they didn’t leave and the feeling didn’t dissipate. Instead, it grew stronger and stronger the longer they stayed and the further they dug in. Until, eventually, it had become a constant, nagging feeling in the back of her mind that had been integrated into her being.
Albion had grown used to it. Even as she walked through the very heart of her land - through the thick, green forests and lush rolling fields and winding, rushing rivers - she could feel the faint presence of the nearby Roman towns and camps. Yet, there was something fundamentally different about them now. The people and philosophies and cultures that had once seemed alien and unfamiliar had been there so long that with each passing year they felt less like a foreign invasion and more like an inherent part of herself. It scared her a little.
That was why the young country felt it when something changed.
It happened on one of the rare, bright, shining days that she had. Albion had been laying in the middle of a sweeping field, overrun by tall, vibrant wildflowers that waved gently in the slight breeze and soaking in the warmth of the sun rays that beamed down upon her. She’d been stuck precariously between sleep and consciousness, just on the precipice of being lulled in by the warmth, when the air thickened ever so slightly and an unexplainable uneasy feeling flooded through her chest.
Albion cracked open her eyes, sparkling a brilliant deep green, and sat up, searching for the source of the feeling now spreading to her gut. As the lethargy gave way to alertness, the young girl stood from her place in the field and allowed herself to be pulled towards the feeling, dirtied green cloak flowing behind her and bare feet digging into the soft earth below her as she walked. She walked and the countryside scenery morphed and twisted around her, only to reform into an entirely different scene; she walked and the breeze followed, ridden by curious fairies and mischievous pixies; she walked until, finally, she reached the seaside. Even here, the sun shone down on the churning white foam of the sea and the huge waves crashing against the white cliffside.
It didn’t take long, however, for the young girl to spot what had pulled her there. In the distance, far off on the horizon, were dozens of ships sailing back towards the mainland.
The young country cocked her head to the side and eyed the ships curiously.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of mint green just before a high-pitched voice spoke, “What are they doing, Albion?”
For a long moment, Albion said nothing, not sure for herself what exactly was going on. So instead of focusing on what she could see, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on what she could not. She took in a deep breath of the salty ocean air and concentrated on the uneasiness that had taken over her. It felt...draining. As if something had been taken from her and it had created a sinking hollowness that left her on shaky ground.
“I...I think they’re leaving…”
She didn’t know how to feel about the revelation, but she was sure that’s what was happening. The feeling that had come with them so long ago was slowly fading from her, but instead of relief, she felt anxious and frightened and exposed without them. Who was going to protect her from her siblings? Especially with the tension building between all of them. The foreigners had built forts and walls and had instigated wars with her siblings for so long and now she didn’t know how to deal with any of it.
But she would have to if she needed to. Because her people were relying on her to be strong, whether or not she was standing alone.