Sansa had a secret.
At the change of every season, a beautiful stranger would visit her in the woods. It was a promise made long ago, one that kept her going back into the forest in search of him every day.
Only at the change of the seasons could...
Nova loved the nickname. Soon both her and Sansa were calling Moon River by her other given title.
"Little Moon Child? Why are you not in bed yet?"
Guiltily she hovered in the doorway, staring at both of the females.
"Can Sansa sleep with me?" She whispered.
Nova sighed and looked apologetically at Sansa, but she only smiled and nodded. Moon River's face lit up with a smile as she reached forward and tugged on Sansa's hand.
Sansa curled up on the small bed, inhaling and wondering idly what strange scent it was that Moon River carried. She wondered what herb it could be before she felt her eyes close in sleep.
* * *
Nova and Sansa sat on the peak of the small hill, looking down to take in the sight of the field.
Moon River laid within the wildflowers, her arms extended to the sky.
"It helps calm her," Nova explained, that familiar apologetic smile coming onto her face.
"Sometimes I think she just gets overwhelmed...I'm not sure with what, but when I feel it coming, I take her here."
Sansa watched the girl and the relaxed still motions she carried. She did not bother to move or play within the flowers. She only laid there, as if she was waiting for the ground to swallow her up.
"I think...Have you considered that maybe she...well, it's strange for me to think, but maybe she is sensitive to what others are feeling around her?"
Nova looked thoughtfully up at the sky, slowly nodding her head in agreement.
"I have considered that...I only know she is Moon Blessed because a traveler came when she was only a year old and explained it to me...It makes sense though...her father..." here Nova sighed, "Her father is something from the Moon."
"How do you know?" Sansa whispered.
"He...he told me really...I didn't believe him when he first said it. I can't remember what the exact words were but he said he was lucky he found me, and that he was a...I can't remember- a messenger? A hound? He only said he followed the Moon and her leader's orders. I thought maybe he was talking about something religious..."
"Nova..." Sansa inhaled deeply. She knew instinctively that it was time. It was time to tell her story.
She turned to the waiting female and did just that.
Nova did not say a word throughout her tale. She only nodded when needed, and remained silent throughout as Sansa relayed her first meeting with her dark stranger – until her unexpected last.
"What did you see on his skin?" Nova's eyes were closed. She seemed to be waiting. Sansa hesitated, a pain coming to her heart as images of Night flooded back to her mind.
"Sansa. What was painted on his skin?" Nova's voice seemed harder as she repeated her question.
"A...a chair. A white chair...I saw it on his chest...and dark circles – bands around his forearms...they were hard to make out but he had the Moon, and stars – he had a ...a chain on the back of his neck..." Sansa stopped talking, a sudden realization coming over her.
"It's the same," Nova whispered. She opened her eyes then, tears threatening to spill from them as she stared down at Moon River. Her gaze was far away from Sansa. Far away from the present as she remembered her own details.
"I don't know what these males are Sansa. I don't know where they came from. But I know that this male- your male. He's gone." Nova turned then to face Sansa. Her face softened as she took in the tears that were coming silently down the girl's face. Nova reached forward, wiping away her sorrow.
"I know that once they are gone, they don't come back. I'm sorry."
"No- No he- he always came back for me -at the change..." Sansa was unable to get her words out, her emotions overwhelming her.
"Tonight is the spring equinox," Nova whispered.
"I won't be there," Sansa moaned, "what if he comes, and I'm not there?"
Nova's face fell with Sansa as the two women embraced. Nova's soothing words did nothing to comfort, however. Sansa's mind was racing- calculating how long it would take her to go back to the pack- could she make it? Maybe Night would come here- maybe he could find her-
Her sobs grew louder. The pain ripped into her chest, to the point where she could hardly breathe. She felt Nova's own sobs as she cried out her own pain.
And far off in the distance, Sansa heard Moon River, and the sound of sorrow rise up from the girl while she laid in her field of flowers.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
