Daghbheri and Rhutshald had been playing at the beach all morning. Styrseig watched them from her chair under the canopy, sipping idly at her pineapple juice. Daghbheri appeared to be teaching Rhutshald how to surf. She remembered watching her own father teaching Daghbheri the same, years ago. Greimoen would catch a wave and cut dangerously close. Daghbheri, ever in competition with his older sister, would get mad and catch the very next wave. Their father would laugh and encourage their fights. Styrseig herself had no interest in their jockeying for supremacy. She kept to herself, mostly, and she felt she was better off for it.
It was this competition that led them both into the war, and their mutual undoing. Her lack of involvement left her in the right place to pick up the pieces of their lives. Rhutshald was among them. She remembered holding the boy, just three years old at the time, when Daghbheri walked out of his life. She raised the boy now, and saw all the ways he was Daghbheri's son. His pride, she noticed, was definitely inherited from his father. The same with how he showed emotion. Both Daghbheri and Rhutshald wore their hearts on their sleeves. It's no wonder they got along so well. She loved those things about him. It's funny, she thought, the paradox of loving Rhutshald for all the things she hated about Daghbheri.
Rhutshald fell into the water from the surf board, and Styrseig felt the urge to rush up to check on him. When Rhutshald surfaced, laughing, she relaxed. Daghbheri recovered the board, and swam toward Rhutshald with it, shouting words of encouragement at the boy.
Did Daghbheri really change? She remembered a man so often in trouble that his long voyages at sea seemed strategically planned to let some major issue blow over before he would return. Then the rumors that he was involved with actual pirates. It wasn't until he met Laughing Bird that he began to turn around. And then when she was gone, he got worse than before. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive him for leaving Rhutshald behind. She was sure that she didn't want Rhutshald to forgive him for it, either. All these years, she told him he was an uncle. She watched Daghbheri sit Rhutshald down and, could just barely hear the chatter of soft conversation between them. Her heart tensed. He was telling him the truth now. Of course he was, that's why he brought him here. It's why she insisted she came with them. Styrseig stood, and wiped the sand off of her legs. She waited for Rhutshald's reaction.
The boy turned, and scrambled to his feet. He ran toward her. She could see he was crying. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his head against her body. Daghbheri had got up and ran after. He stopped just short of her.
She turned and started off for the entrance of The Mists. She rubbed the sobbing boy's back as she guided him along with her, then stopped a moment, looking back at Daghbheri.
"Are you happy now?" she asked.
He said nothing.
It was this competition that led them both into the war, and their mutual undoing. Her lack of involvement left her in the right place to pick up the pieces of their lives. Rhutshald was among them. She remembered holding the boy, just three years old at the time, when Daghbheri walked out of his life. She raised the boy now, and saw all the ways he was Daghbheri's son. His pride, she noticed, was definitely inherited from his father. The same with how he showed emotion. Both Daghbheri and Rhutshald wore their hearts on their sleeves. It's no wonder they got along so well. She loved those things about him. It's funny, she thought, the paradox of loving Rhutshald for all the things she hated about Daghbheri.
Rhutshald fell into the water from the surf board, and Styrseig felt the urge to rush up to check on him. When Rhutshald surfaced, laughing, she relaxed. Daghbheri recovered the board, and swam toward Rhutshald with it, shouting words of encouragement at the boy.
Did Daghbheri really change? She remembered a man so often in trouble that his long voyages at sea seemed strategically planned to let some major issue blow over before he would return. Then the rumors that he was involved with actual pirates. It wasn't until he met Laughing Bird that he began to turn around. And then when she was gone, he got worse than before. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive him for leaving Rhutshald behind. She was sure that she didn't want Rhutshald to forgive him for it, either. All these years, she told him he was an uncle. She watched Daghbheri sit Rhutshald down and, could just barely hear the chatter of soft conversation between them. Her heart tensed. He was telling him the truth now. Of course he was, that's why he brought him here. It's why she insisted she came with them. Styrseig stood, and wiped the sand off of her legs. She waited for Rhutshald's reaction.
The boy turned, and scrambled to his feet. He ran toward her. She could see he was crying. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his head against her body. Daghbheri had got up and ran after. He stopped just short of her.
She turned and started off for the entrance of The Mists. She rubbed the sobbing boy's back as she guided him along with her, then stopped a moment, looking back at Daghbheri.
"Are you happy now?" she asked.
He said nothing.
![[Image: BZneHYK.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/BZneHYK.jpg)
No Gods and Precious Few Heroes
