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“And upon the king’s demand, the faerie queen presented him with a fantastical creation; a beautiful carpet, with patterns in all the colours of the rainbow. But this was no mere thing of beauty, G’rehn… This was a very special carpet, with magic woven into every thread and twined through every stitch.”
Ears pricking as she picked up on her husband’s voice, W’ynter followed his animated tones to the nursery with a smile. Leaning against the doorframe and tucking a stray strand of dark hair behind one ear as she watched G’raha and their son. He was seated in the rocking chair they had placed beside the window, the small swaddled bundle of G'rhen carefully tucked in the crook of one arm while he told yet another story to the baby. Or rather, retold the same story he'd told a half dozen times. His free arm dancing patterns through the air that only served to enhance the emotion and enjoyment he took in the ‘duty’ of caring for their son. He was such a good father, and W’ynter spared another moment to marvel at the twists of fate that had brought them this far to each other before she smiled and pushed off from her resting place. G’raha glanced up as he caught her movement and his face split into a radiant smile as he paused midway through his story.
“Hi. I thought you were napping, did I wake you up?”
Shaking her head, she stole a kiss before leaning in to brush another one to G’rehn’s dark hair with a smile. “No, my stomach did. And then I heard your rather spirited story and came to see how my two favourite boys were doing. Corvosi magic carpets again? He’ll have that tale memorized before he’s 3 summers old.” Her gentle teasing had a flash of red spreading across his cheeks and G’raha chuckled as he shrugged and let her take G’rehn to cuddle the baby.
“I regret that though I have many stories to tell, I always seem to find myself falling back on the ones I knew as a boy.” He seemed almost apologetic, and W’ynter frowned slightly as she reached to comb fingers through crimson fringe. Resting her palm against his cheek as she shook her head. “I didn’t mean to imply that it was at all a bad thing, Raha. Corvos is… your home. Your people, your history, where you’re from. Of course you want him to know it. I want him to know it as well, because it’s a much a part of G’rehn’s heritage as my background is.”
She could see that her words had eased some of his worries, and she smiled as he closed his eyes and relaxed. Leaning his face against her hand with a soft smile as he covered it with his own. “Have I told you today how much I love you, W’ynter? You and G’rehn are my world, I never imagined I could have this life that we have.”
"At least four times before lunch, and I loved hearing it every time so no need to stop on my account."
Turning her attention back down to G'rehn with a smile, she lifted him up so that tiny hands could grab at her face with a laugh. "We should take him there when he's older. To Corvos." Glancing up to gauge his reaction, she expected surprise or delight that she would suggest such a vacation for them. Happiness and excitement that she was as committed to sharing his heritage with G'rhen as he obviously seemed to be. What she hadn't expected was to see his face fall, to see scarlet eyes flicker down and away as his ears drooped and he looked anywhere but at her. "Raha… what's wrong? I thought you would be ecstatic at that idea."
Shifting G'rhen to one arm with a gentle soothing whisper, she reached for one of her husband's hands to twine fingers through his in a soft squeeze. Silently coaxing him to open up, to allow her to help with whatever seemed quite obviously wrong. His larger fingers closed over hers in return, squeezing back as he closed his eyes and sucked in a slow breath.
"It… it isn't that. I do want to share Corvos with him, I want it more than anything, I'm just…" He raised his hands only to drop them in a show of helpless frustration before sighing and tunneling fingers through red hair. Chewing her lower lip, W'ynter tried to think of a way to help. To enable him to express whatever worries were plaguing him, and settled on carding her nails through the red hair at the base of one ear in what she hoped would be a calming gesture. Whether it helped, or he just managed to gather his words, the silence only dragged for a short moment before he spoke softly.
"During the Final Days, several of the Scions went to Corvos. While you traveled into the past… into the unsundered world of Emet-Selch and the other Ancients. With the chaos that had come to Thavnair, it was decided that we would travel across the Corvos Narrow and offer aid there as well. I was…unable to go."
Listening as he explained, W'ynter frowned slightly but continued to stroke his hair. Offering support as she shook her head. "You shouldn't feel guilty that you were kept here, love… we were trying to save the whole star." She thought she understood, only to have him give a sharp shake of his head and cut her off.
"That isn't what I mean. I didn't not go because I was unable to leave my task at the time. I… I didn't go… because I couldn’t."
The furrow in her brow deepened as W'ynter made an attempt to decipher his rather cryptic words. Trying to understand what he could possibly mean when he seemed to be talking himself in circles and repeating the same things. He didn't go because he couldn't…yet if work and duty hadn't impeded him, then… Mismatched eyes widened as it hit her like a bolt of levin. It hadn't been an exteriour force that had prevented him from traveling to his homeland…it had been his own internal struggles. G'raha seemed to realize that she'd come to the correct conclusion as he gave a dry scoff and nodded.
"That's right… I was too much of a coward to go back."
That statement was patently false and she retorted as much in no uncertain terms before refocusing on the issue at hand. There was obviously something, either real or imagined, that was daunting her love and perhaps if she understood what it was then she could help banish his worries. "What are you afraid of facing, Raha?"
"My parents. My tribe… everything." He replied in an almost whisper, dropping his face into his hands with a shuddering sigh. "I was… barely 6 summers old when I was sent away to Sharlayan. Because of my Allagan Eye. And I know it's utterly foolish of me… they sent me away to protect me. And if they hadn't, I can only imagine what might have happened. How my life might have turned out. But even knowing that… I can't completely forget it. Feeling like an outcast was nothing new; from the time the children of my tribe were old enough to begin to recognize differences, I was ostracized for my differing eyes. Despite being told by my father that the eye was a mark of pride. That it was a gift given to our ancestor. And as a boy, that reassurance helped, truly. But then Garlemald invaded… and my people buried everything that connected us to Allag. Hiding it away to protect themselves, shrouding it in mystery and legend as though it were all some dirty secret that we should be ashamed of. Including me…"
Her heart ached for him, for that frightened child he had once been and for the circumstances that had been forced onto him, and she did her best to pull his head against her into an embrace as he continued to speak. "I remember that I was excited at first. Sharlayan seemed as a fairytale world beyond anything I could have dreamed of and I was to go there. It seemed like the most fantastical of vacations and I could scarce contain my excitement. Until… I found out that I was the only one leaving home. And I understood. I wasn't being given a rare treat; I was being sent away, and even knowing that I would be cared for by friends and have opportunities I could hardly have dreamed of… to a child all that mattered was that I waa being hidden away like everything else that connected our people to Allag. Another dirty little secret that needed to be covered up for the good of all."
His shoulders shook as he sucked in a slow breath. "I understood as I grew older, of course. What they did, they did out of love. To safeguard my life and I am eternally grateful that they did so. But I…"
"You're afraid to face those memories. To be that little boy again, sent away from everything he knew and not truly understanding why." It made so much sense now, and despite the fact that she also understood how difficult of a decision it must have been for his people to send him away… it made her angry to think of the lonely and frightened child her husband had once been. "There's no shame in that, Raha. And I would never think to force you to confront something you weren't ready for." Softly stroking the red fur on his ear, she felt him relax fractionally against her and her lips curved into a faint smile.
"You are not at all a coward for not wanting to visit painful memories, Raha. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for you to leave behind everything that you knew and loved. And while it may have been the only choice your parents felt they had… that doesn't mean that it was a fair choice to you. Or the right choice to send you away all alone like that."
No doubt with nothing in the way of letters or communication at all. It would have been too dangerous with that line of thinking; too great a possibility for him to have been discovered and knowing what she now knew; that 'Emperor Solus' had been Emet-Selch at the time… she could sympathize to a degree with the parents that had wanted him safe. Twelve only knew what the Ascians might have done had they been aware of him. But even that sympathy didn't banish the anger towards them for the hurt they had caused her dearest love. Small wonder that he balked at the notion of revisiting Corvos, despite how much his homeland obviously meant to him.
"Raha, I will always support you. Whatever it is that you choose to do, or wherever you choose to go we do it together. We have time, love. Going to Corvos is…something you might not feel able to do now, but perhaps in time… you'll feel able to. And I hope that if that day comes, we can make new memories together. Us and G'rehn and any others who might come along." She gave him a wink and a smile at that statement and he laughed in reply before slipping an arm around her waist and pillowing his head against her hip.
"Thank you… Having your support means so much to me. And I hope that you're right… that one day I'll be able to step foot onto Corvosi soil again. That I'll be able to take our son there to meet his people without being afraid of the reception we'll get."
Giving another gentle caress to his ear, W'ynter shifted to step around him and plop herself and G'rehn carefully down onto his lap with a smile. Snuggling up against his shoulder and tucking G'rehn in between them, she gave a playful tug to his necklace. "I have complete faith in you, Raha. Now, I believe you were telling us all about the first Corvosi magic carpet? We need to make sure G'rehn knows it by heart so that when we visit one day he can make all the other children jealous."