Day 2: Glass
(Oc-tober prompts by @oc-growth-and-development )
(Sorry I’m late yesterday was homecoming so I was mega busy.)
Kaemon and Rehks had been gone for over a week now, all that was left in the house was Suehm and the baby. It was normally pretty quiet when it was just Kaemon, but she had gotten used to the energy that Rehks had brought. She missed it.
Suehm spent her days now sweeping the floors, sewing, and tending the garden. Sure, everything felt less anxious with less icaranians in the house (and less children to harbor from soldiers), but it also felt less exciting.
Suehmleu had no desire to witness the horrors of the battlefront, but she always felt as though that was selfish. The rebellion was a righteous cause, and she knew it and she wanted to help in any way she could. She offered her house as a sanctuary to the rebellion, fed everyone who needed it, and did everything she could… from the comfort of her own home.
“Hm.” She sighed.
She found that she was incredibly unhappy with the placement of the flora in the vase that she had been adjusting for over five minutes. She moved a flower, frowned, and moved it back. She growled under her breath, annoyed, and left it be.
Hopefully both Kaemon and Rehks would be back soon. They had estimated that their mission would only take about a week, Suehm didn’t like it when they were out longer than estimated, though it happened often. Maybe she would write a letter.
“Yes.” She thought, “That’ll keep my worries at bay.”
Perhaps she thought this in an attempt to convince herself of that fact.
She typically wrote with a charcoal pencil she had crafted herself, though on occasions she would use ink. Given that in this case Kaemon nor Rehkslayask would ever read the letter, charcoal seemed like the best medium.
“Dearests.” She started, “I hope and pray that you are doing well and that you are safe.”
She wouldn’t have had to worry if she had simply joined them.
What else was there to say?
Frustrated and at an utter loss with herself Suehm ripped the page and shoved it into the hearth. She decided that she would feed the baby and go to bed early, all the stress and worry was getting to her head. She could feel her stomach churn with the headache.
“Pathetic.” She mourned to herself, “Look what you did, you went and made yourself sick.”
She shook her head in shame.
………..
Suehmleu suddenly bolted upright. There was a sound, she swore that there had been a horrible sound. It sounded like a wagon full of soldiers grinding along the road and it sounded like swords.
She immediately rushed to the cradle to make sure the baby was alright. They were, but was she? Suehm quickly tip-toed to the hearth and grabbed the fire stick, just in case there was danger lurking at the door. Then, she backed slowly into her room again with the poking stick.
Another sound.
It was glass shattering on the ground, tiny pieces of it littering the floor.
Suehmleu let out a quick yelp of strangled fear. She could hear her shaky breathing, the glass still twinkled on the floor, and ever so slowly, she could hear the beginning of a cry for the baby.
“I’ve killed us all.” She thought in a blurry panic, “They’ve heard all of it. They’ll knock down the door any minute now.”
Tears streamed down her face, and she was plastered to the ground. She couldn’t move, she had too many things that she needed to do. The baby still wailed, so her panic had to scream louder to get through. Glass pieces dug into her bare feet, and the metal of the fire stick grew warm under her ever-tightening grip.
Everything was happening at once, nothing would stop for her. Her stomach felt achy and she was dizzy with fear. The baby continued to sob from their room.
Suddenly the door burst open and Suehm held her ground, refusing to budge, either from fear or forced bravery she did not know.
“Careful dumbass! Not so loud!” A voice hissed under their breath.
“Sorry!” Another voice replied in a hushed voice, “It was jammed.”
There was blood on the floor, her feet hurt, but she did not move.
Suddenly the cloaked figures emerged.
“Suehm?”
It was Kaemon. Rehks stood behind her, fiddling with the door in an attempt to keep it from jamming up again, but she stopped for a moment when she saw what was going on.
“Did we wake you?” Rehks couldn’t see the glass or the poking stick.
Kaemon walked forward, hurriedly, quickly blubbering out a sting of questions “Are you alright? What’s wrong? Why’s the baby crying? Are they alright? What’s going on?”
Rehks cursed violently, “-——Did we scare you? Dammit, I knew I was being too loud.”
Kaemon got closer, but Suehm backed up further, nearly slipping on the glass.
“Hey,” Kaemon murmured, “Hey, it’s just us. You’re safe.”
Kaemon shot Rehks a worried glance.
“I’ll take care of the baby.” They mouthed in return.
Kaemon nodded, and Rehks left without a sound.
“Just breathe, Suehm.” She touched her cheek, hesitantly, “Everything’s ok.”
The baby began to calm down, they could hear traces of Rehks’ voice humming a lullaby.
“We hadn’t meant to scare you.”
“I- know.” She choked between sobs.
“You’re safe.” Kaemon held her face in her hands, “We’re home, we’re safe. Just breathe. Everything will be alright.”
“I- … I- bro- broke the…. Broke the v- vase. It woke- … woke up- the baby. Th- thought we were-… Thought I had-.” She explained between gasps.
“No. None of this was your fault.” Kaemon explained seriously, “You are one of the bravest icari I have ever met.”
“No- no I’m not.” She protested.
“Yes, yes you are.” She insisted, “You have persevered through heartache and death. You have conquered your fears time and again. You harbor the most wanted criminals in your own home because you know it is right. Just now you were prepared to defend our baby with whatever it took.”
“I- I’m too afraid to fight.”
“But you already are! You’re fighting with us everyday. Haven’t you been listening?”
Kaemon finally looked down at the glass.
“By the spirits, Suehm have you been standing in broken glass this entire time? You’re bleeding!”
She quickly scooped her up in her arms and brought her to the couch.
“Here.” She set her down, “Stay here. I’m gonna go clean all this up.”
Suehmleu watched as her fiancé rounded the corner into the other room, presumably conversed with Rehks, and came back with a broom. Now that the adrenaline had stopped coursing violently through her, she felt the pain in her feet and cringed. Everything hurt.
She was still scared, and she still felt sick, but she was left unbroken.
