Wildfire

Seventy Nine

I hear the words flow from the mouth of the Djinn, but when all of the chaos around us settles down and a hairpin can be heard dropping even from across the room I find that I am too frightened to open my eyes... I am too frightened to open my eyes because if I believe what has been told to me now and then open them and find out that it is nothing but a lie... The devastation of such cruelty would destroy any hope of today being the joyous memory I know my husband hopes it will be... And everyone around me knows it... They would see it and know my humiliation... 

I may be able to hold back the tears now... But if my eyes go searching for the far corners that have been so very blurred for me since the last ball I attended and find that they still elude me... I think that I might find myself fleeing both from my embarrassment and the room... I know that everyone is waiting on baited breath for me to open up my eyes and reveal the fullness of the world that had been stolen away from me so unexpectedly... They expect me to open my eyes and coo and caw over the finer details of the ballroom that we've set ourselves up in for the celebration... It would be horrifying to disappoint them all... To disappoint Emrys... 

...

Emrys

...

This moment seems so very loaded... More so than any weapon I''    ve ever come across with the way my sweet Moon Beam seems too terrified to even open his eyes despite the fact that Queen Karim has assured him that it is safe to do so... 

I can see the collection of tears as they gather along his beautiful lashes waiting to fall and I cannot for the life of me understand why he is not opening his eyes with more enthusiasm... I do not understand why he is frightened... If he had kept his eyes closed the entire time as instructed he would not have seen any of the smoke or fanfare... And even then, while all of that would have been terrifying for my sweet if he's never been exposed to the Djinn and their natural flair for the dramatics before he should know that no matter what I will never allow a guest to cause any harm to a single hair on his elegant head... I've already made that mistake, and I have no intention of letting it happen ever again... 

He's afraid at the moment... And needs comfort and to be soothed...And while I cannot think of the words to say since I cannot understand his fear or what might be tumbling through his mind at the moment so that I might know how to put his mind at ease and coax him into enjoying his first true feast... I know that today is not a way to make up for the night that we met... For the ball, he never got to enjoy... But I still wish that it not be tainted in his mind by negativity and fear... So I do what I have learned soothes my wife the most and hope that the Gods hear the tune and calm his shivers. 

...

Rayne

...

I find that I am able to brace myself more easily once Emrys notices something is amiss... When my husband warms his broad chest and urges me to lean into him just as his voice starts to croon to me, slowly and steadily... The same song he sings to me when it is time for us to close our eyes every night... And every other time I have needed comfort... It is even the tune that brought me so much inner peace on the day we were wed right before his flame kissed the skin of my back in such spectacular fashion... The song I love... The song that comes to my mind every time there is a worry I am not able to properly voice or make known... The song that had been in my head while trying to convince myself that the food before us hasn't been poisoned, and even if it had, I know what being poisoned feels like, and I would know that something was wrong as soon as any symptoms started... And it seems only appropriate that it is the song that rinses all of the fear from my body in these moments in front of everyone so that I might come to terms with opening my eyes and accepting whatever awaits me...

I know that at this point I should expect comfort from Emrys... I should know that my husband would never leave me victim anything and that that includes my own thoughts... He is much too sweet of a man to sit and allow me to torment me when soothing my soul comes so naturally to him, the song of his beast enough to move me so much that one or two of my tears manage to fall from the beauty of it... That no matter if my vision has returned or if this is simply a cruel trick played on me by the visiting Queen he shall always stand tall and strong by my side and find himself in our bed every night... I know that I will never lose him and that he shall never abandon me... It matters not to him if I am partially, or even fully blinded... I know he shall never stray from me, and I will wear his brand on my back proudly, and with the grace that I was raised to possess... 

With his support, it feels so easy to raise my knuckles up to wipe away the tears from my cheeks, and rub away the water that has pooled in my eyes... So easy to open them... Hesitantly at first... The lighting of the room almost too much to bear for a moment... Only to find myself blinking away the blurriness that has plagued me for what feels like so long, my view of the room where I have found myself sheltered under my sweet husband's chin so much clearer than I ever thought anything would be again...