(Ignore the typo’s for now I’m slowly getting them fixed and switching the Gaelic words switched back to English)
Watching the wind lift the red gold leaves from their perches upon the tree branches and scatter them across the grassy ground Raven felt a soft sigh escape her lips. It was a beautiful fall day with just the right amount of wind to fly and yet here she sat upon the ground while everyone else she knew was out enjoying the wind currents. Looking around her Raven wasnt surprised to find herself alone on the tulach.
Rolling onto her back she looked longingly at the sky. The sight of the clouds moving slowly across the multi shaded blue sky causing the need to feel the sharp bite of the wind to be even stronger than before. To feel the rush of air against her face and the currents surrounding her body was second only to the actual experience of soaring far above the earth. How she wished she could leap up, spread her wings, take flight and leave the earth behind for a time. But her right wing would not allow that just yet, the bones had knit themselves back together but as of yet were still too weak to support her in flight.
As afternoon began to turn to evening Raven could still be found lying on her back, delicate wings carefully wrapped around her slight form, starring up at the sky with longing. Finally the chill of autumn crept up her spine as a gentle mist began to cover the ground. Standing she took one last look at the sky before limping off towards a light shining in the distance.
The ground was damp and rocky making her progress across the land even slower than it had been that morning. Almost healed bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments crying out in pain as the damp chill set in for the night and the rocks tested newly formed connections between bone and muscle. Grimacing Raven pushed all thoughts of pain to the back of her mind, concentrating instead upon the trial of putting one foot in front of another in order to get home. Home, it was odd for her to think of a palace as home and the people there as family. She had been born to a poor farming family, or so she had been raised to believe. Her sixteenth birthday had brought with it the true tale of her birth as well as her true relatives. Now instead of being the daughter of a poor farmer she was one of the Banrions Elite Guard, a bodyguard, friend and niece. Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the rocks giving way to the soft sand marking t he path back to the palace and its surrounding village. Groaning softly from the agony of her still healing body, Raven stopped to lean against a tree, trying to regain her breath so she could keep moving. Resting her thoughts returned to what had brought about her injuries.
In the world there existed eight Faerie Kingdoms, of those eight scattered across the Mortal Lands six were eternally committed to a position of neutrality while war ragged between the other two. One kingdom pledged to the Bandia of Peace and Life, Ilona, and the other pledged to the Bandia of Chaos and Death, Ardis. It was assumed that battle between the two kingdoms had begun at the moment of creation, for no one could remember its true beginning. Slowly over the years the war had all but come to a stand still, with open hostility replaced by behind the scenes plotting a scheming, and sword to sword combat replaced by the unseen knives of assassins. While those of common birth had little to fear of an early death due to the war, it was a constant fear for the Nobility. As the number of assassinations and assassination attempts grew the rulers of the Faerie Kingdoms began tempting the most talented and loyal Faerie youth into their service as part of Elite Military Units. The youths would then under go a training regimen designed to turn them into loyal bodyguards and skilled assassins.
Raven had entered into the midst of the Rhine Court at the age of sixteen, after learning of her true parentage. Having had her world turned upside down by the news that Brenna of Rhine, sister of the Faerie Queen Rhiannon, was her Mathair, Raven had need a new purpose for her life. Hailed as the most talented Trodai of the time she had joined the Banrions Elite Guard, or Scail Coimirceoir as many called them. Her skill with a sword honed to its sharpest Raven had become her Aints most trusted guard and deadliest weapon. Dressed in the clothing of a noble woman no one had ever given thought to her place at her Aints side, in fact most never took notice of her presence until it became too late.
Her injuries were the result of the latest attempt on her Aint Rhiannons Life by assassins in the Service of Banrion Valda of Thyne. His Target had been her Aint, but as always before Raven had gotten in his way. Locked sword to sword the two of them had fought, wings beating madly as they moved across the sky. A quick thrust to an unguarded side had won Raven the sword battle, but the possibility of a magical aspect had been forgotten in the rush of combat. As the assassin had tumble from the sky, clutching his hands over the mortal wound, she had found her wings caught in a magical net. Unable to move her wings she was soon spiraling towards the earth with no way of preventing her impact. In vane she had tried every bit of magic she could think of in hopes of dispelling the net, but her decent rate had been too fast to find the right bit of magic in time.
Impact with the ground induced a state of unconsciousness. It had a been a blessing for while she was removed from all sense of the world and the pain invading her body the healers had been able to move her to a quiet room and begin the process of healing her broken body, without having to give her pain blockers, which more often than not ended up causing more damage than good.
It had taken the four Palace Healers almost a week to move bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments back into their proper places. Having accomplished that they had spent hours with each area of injure encouraging rapid healing. Drained of energy and magic they had then left the rest of the healing up to Ravens body.
Four months after the assassination attempt the healers had allowed her out of bed and today, the fifth month of her recovery they had allowed her to venture beyond the walls of the palace and village. Having already gone stir crazy due to the restrictions placed upon her Raven had not stopped to consider how far she had gone. Now as she stood leaning against the tree Raven knew she had walked too far for her first excursion alone since being injured. Catching a glance of the full moon floating through the clear night sky Raven was struck, again, with the longing to fly.
Pushing away from the tree slowly, Raven resumed walking, hoping that she could reach her home before too many people began to worry. Moving as quickly as she dared over the soft sand of the path Raven was for once struck by the loneliness of night across faerie lands. Few faeries possessed the skill to fly at night and few were willing to walk any distance if they could avoid I, to most faeries walking was an activity that was beneath them as they possessed the ability to fly. That left the sky and ground clear of faerie folk and what animals would fill the night with their presence normally had long ago been driven off by the magic infesting the air and land. As she walked there was no sound other than the soft thud of her feet upon sand to fill the night.
Walking, alone in the night, Raven was forced to face some things the healers had said and some things she had been thinking of. If the healers were right, and they seemed rather assured that they were, her body would fully heal, but it would never be as strong as it had been. Her wing would support her in normal flight but would more than likely never allow her to maneuver as quickly or as accurately as she had been able to in the past. Her leg and her arm would be much the same. The healers were confident that her arm would heal enough that she would be able to hold a sword again and perhaps be strong enough for her to fight briefly and her leg would heal to the point it could hold her during a training session. But all four Healers agreed that she would never again be strong enough to stand at her Aints right side, as her most trusted guard. While they had done what they could, the fall had cause too much damage throughout her body, enough that she wouldnt have survived if not for their skill. From the moment she had woken up she had been faced with two options, but she had avoided thinking about what she would do until now.
She could upon the healers declaration of fitness try and return to her position at the Banrions side or she could admit now that she would never be well enough to protect her Banrion. Option one held the appeal of not giving up, while option two held the appeal of her Aint being safe with a guard who they knew could protect her.
Walking down the sand path Raven began to understand why she kept avoiding making a decision. To choose either path would mean she had to admit that she was not as strong as she had been. To her that was in a way something of a death sentence. She had always been the smallest of the faerie at court, her small frame, emerald eyes and long black hair marking her as a curiosity among so many tall blue eyed blonds. Add to that the fact that upon entering the court she had been hailed as the best trodai at court and you have a recipe for denial should those skills ever be called into question. Protecting the Faerie Banrion had been her life since entering the court, her mission and now with her strength to do so called into question Raven was at a loss as of what to do. Sighing yet again she stopped to rest, sitting on a rock. Looking around she tried to find evidence of someone close by but all she saw was darkness and all she heard was silence.
The pain at bay again for the time being, she pushed herself to her feet, groaning as tired muscles protested yet again what she was doing. Placing one foot in front of the other she began walking again as thought of what to do romped in her mind. Time seemed to move slowly as Raven walked, weighing her options and trying to seek a balance between them. She was so lost in her thoughts that she walked by four dwellings without even noticing.
The moon was directly overhead, signaling midnight, when Raven reached a decision. It would not be right to return to her position at the Banrions side as a guard; even fully healed she would still have to many weak areas, but that didnt mean she would be leaving her Aint unprotected. In all her haste to reassure herself that she wasnt less of a trodai because she was weaker Raven had forgotten one of the most important lessons the man she though of as her father had taught her before his death, Those who cant do teach. That she realized is what she would do, she would become a teacher to those who joined the Banrions Service still protecting her Aint if only from a different angle.
With a lighter heart Raven picked up the pace towards home, ignoring the pain of her body in her eagerness to begin the next phase of her life. She had been offered a second chance, something not normally granted, and now she finally knew how she would use it. Passing through the village and into the courtyard surrounding the palace Raven was too absorbed in her excitement to notice much and so ran into the broad chest of one of her childhood friends, Adri.
Looking up into his clear blue eyes Raven was confronted with yet another set options, things she hadnt until this moment considered. Shooting Adri a sensual smile Raven raked her gaze from the top of his head to the tip of his toes, liking what she saw, before she slipped around him and into the Palace on her way to inform her Aint of her choice and to think on matters pertaining to the opposite sex, for it would be a shame to waste such a wonderful specimen of the male Faerie body on a air head of the court.
