Post by Karina Mikhailova nó Valerian on Sept 15, 2009 12:52:21 GMT -5
Second week of autumn, first year of Queen Sabrina's reign
It was autumn now, a season to the day since she had passed. I had brought lilies, and laid them with care at the base of her stone. It was so hard without her, my mother had been the cornerstone of my life, even after I entered the Night Court. Through my training at Cereus and then my transfer to Valerian, she was always there.
Now she was gone.
My mother had always been a strong woman. She had come to the City alone, fleeing from a realm that had stolen her husband from her with accusations of treason. She had fled here, without money, connections, or even knowing the language. She made a new life, got a job mending and doing laundry, met new men. She had raised me for as long as she could, and even after she swallowed her pride and fostered me in the Night Court, she still came to visit as often as possible. She taught me Ruskovian and the customs of her homeland, told me stories of her departed husband with a smile.
I’ve always wished I could be more like her.
All I had to do was close my eyes, and I could hear her voice again. “Karina,” she said to me before she died, mother tongue coming so much more easily than D’Angeline. “I am so proud of you. Do not let my countrymen make you think less of yourself. They will come, now that Prince Alexei will marry the queen. Like me, they will learn how wonderful religion is here if given the time. I knew that it is difficult, but keep your head high. I love you my angel, always and forever.”
“I love you too Mama,” I whispered, tears pouring down my face. Her words meant so much to me, for we had almost never spoken again after I had accepted my place at Valerian. To know that she was proud of me filled me with joy made bitter with grief.
“And that is the greatest blessing I could ever hope for,” Was her reply. Then she smiled, squeezed my hand with as much strength as she could muster after weeks in her sickbed, and closed her eyes. They would never open again.
“Always and forever Mama,” I whispered now, kissing my fingertips and pressing them to her tombstone. I let the tears dry on my cheeks in the cool breeze before slowly rising. “I miss you.”
It was autumn now, a season to the day since she had passed. I had brought lilies, and laid them with care at the base of her stone. It was so hard without her, my mother had been the cornerstone of my life, even after I entered the Night Court. Through my training at Cereus and then my transfer to Valerian, she was always there.
Now she was gone.
My mother had always been a strong woman. She had come to the City alone, fleeing from a realm that had stolen her husband from her with accusations of treason. She had fled here, without money, connections, or even knowing the language. She made a new life, got a job mending and doing laundry, met new men. She had raised me for as long as she could, and even after she swallowed her pride and fostered me in the Night Court, she still came to visit as often as possible. She taught me Ruskovian and the customs of her homeland, told me stories of her departed husband with a smile.
I’ve always wished I could be more like her.
All I had to do was close my eyes, and I could hear her voice again. “Karina,” she said to me before she died, mother tongue coming so much more easily than D’Angeline. “I am so proud of you. Do not let my countrymen make you think less of yourself. They will come, now that Prince Alexei will marry the queen. Like me, they will learn how wonderful religion is here if given the time. I knew that it is difficult, but keep your head high. I love you my angel, always and forever.”
“I love you too Mama,” I whispered, tears pouring down my face. Her words meant so much to me, for we had almost never spoken again after I had accepted my place at Valerian. To know that she was proud of me filled me with joy made bitter with grief.
“And that is the greatest blessing I could ever hope for,” Was her reply. Then she smiled, squeezed my hand with as much strength as she could muster after weeks in her sickbed, and closed her eyes. They would never open again.
“Always and forever Mama,” I whispered now, kissing my fingertips and pressing them to her tombstone. I let the tears dry on my cheeks in the cool breeze before slowly rising. “I miss you.”