Bravery
The Bonfire Bash had worn her body down. Her muscles ache from exertion as she shifts in bed, and her skin was still warm from hours in the sun. Even then, exhaustion didn’t lull her to sleep. Nynxarion breathes softly beside her. He’s laying on his back, head tilted slightly to one side, lips parted the fraction of an inch. She scoots closer, resting her chin on his shoulder as she watches him. How differently could things have done? The day after she returned from the Western Plaguelands, what would have happened if he didn’t admire her bravery? What would have happened if he met her intrusion with violence? Would he have forcibly removed her? Just how close to the border of death did she dance that day? Perhaps there’s another timeline where Nynxarion is her murderer, rather than her fiancée. What a way to go. A betrayer clambering for forgiveness and safety. She’d never have ended up in such a predicament if she never left home. What would have happened if she never mustered the bravery to leave Quel’thalas? Hayden instilled something inside her, an overwhelming curiosity about the world he knew, the world she’d never seen. She wanted to experience it with him. The weeks she spent in the Plaguelands were filled with excitement and then she ruined it all in the course of one lunch. She couldn’t even face him at the Bash. Just talking to Votreo made her think of what could have been - she could have been their friend. Maybe her life wouldn’t have been as safe, maybe she’d have made even more enemies that way. Maybe that wouldn’t have been a bad thing. Solaria curls up into a ball against Nynxarions side, inhaling the scent of his skin. It numbed her thoughts and stilled her heart - made her forget, for just a moment. Brave people don’t forget. She’s not brave. She’s a coward.
