“Neith’s Arrow” Part I
A Nesryn Faliq Fan Fiction *links are broken, there are more parts*
Synopsis: Nesryn and Sartaq have returned to The Tavan Mountains after the War. Along with the surviving rukhin, they are rebuilding their home, lives and are learning how to come back from the darkness of war, together.
Part Two
Nesryn Faliq loosed a shuddering breath, watching it cloud and twist before her as she sat on the ledge of the aerie. The Tavan Mountains, Rokhal specifically, had been her home for over a year and yet the view continued to steal her breath away, each morning and night. The first frost had come two weeks ago, and though she spent plenty of winters in the North, during those long nights serving on the King’s Guard, she was grateful for the warmth her new boots and leathers managed to retain against the oncoming winter.
Sartaq, apparently, had them ordered during their first visit to the aerie. The prince had intended on gifting them to her after the Gathering of Clans until word from Chaol had them barrelling for Antica as fast as their ruk’s could soar. When they finally returned, after the long months during and after the war, they were still folded neatly on her bed. Sartaq made it clear- well before their return- that they would be sharing his quarters in the aerie. Nesryn made no protest.
Sitting on the ledge, feet bouncing off the ancient stone, Neith’s Arrow savoured the mountain air now filling her lungs. Clean air. Not the thick, suffocating and toxic smoke of the battle field. Forcing itself into her lungs, her ruk’s lungs, Sar-
Nesryn blinked. Sartaq had sat beside her, his shoulder brushing hers enough to shake the panic she let take hold. Foolish. She took a deep breath and sighed, resting into the prince who wrapped an arm around her middle, pulled her into him, and kissed her temple. Nesryn let his scent, worn leather and sweet cardamom, soothe her tensed muscles and still her traitorous thoughts.
“A flight around then pass might clear your mind, Wind-seeker,” Sartaq murmured, resting his chin on her head.
Nesryn settled against him but kept her gaze forward. They had discussed the nightmares they each suffered since returning. The flashbacks. Sartaq had stroked her back through many nights, helping her breathe and find her bearings. She had soothed him through just as many.
“Salkhi and Kadara put on a rather impressive show of being asleep earlier, I decided to let them rest,” Nesryn said after a beat. Truthfully she woke, passed around the great curtains across the mouth of the entrance, and nearly collapsed to the stone beneath them, doing her best to school her breathing.
“The smoke, again?” Sartaq asked. Soft, but without pity. Never pity, or doubt, not from him.
Nesryn nodded against his chest. They had survived the war together, and they would continue to walk together through the darkness that followed them home. “Borte-” she tried and failed to share more of the dream, the memory. Her hearth-sister screaming, hidden from Nesryn in that sea of black smoke. The shrieks of wyverns and ruks clashing, clawing in the air as the others battled below.
Sartaq rubbed a warm, steady hand up and down her back in repetitive strokes. “Borte is here, snoring beneath our very feet,” he shifted, making her meet his stare. The assurance in the prince’s face was enough to melt some of the tension bundled in her chest. “You are here, in our home, with the Eridun,” he continued. She nodded, but he gently took her face in his hands, his thumb caressing her cheek bone. He rest his brow on hers, their breath mingling as he whispered, “I am here. Beside you, forever- or until you tire of me.”
Nesryn couldn’t help the snort that escaped, or the smile that flashed across her face. She nudged her elbow into his side, “How could one ever tire of your company, Your Highness?”
Sartar’s answering laugh was her tether to this world. “There’s my Wind-seeker,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to her lips before returning his focus to the view before them. Nesryn smiled and settled into him again, watching as clouds heavy with snow slowly crept across the mountain range.
“We need to prepare for that,” Nesryn said after a few quiet, peaceful moments passed. They had already moved the hatch-lings further within the mountains, but the storm those clouds promised would require sheltering as many of the ruks as possible. After just a moment more, stolen for themselves, they rose and began alerting anyone awake to start preparations.
[Part II] , [Part III]
