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Sionnach (closed)

"If he weren' guarded by th'best the Empire 'as to offer, I'd launch a rescue mission. But if I did that, we migh' lose more'n jus' him. Maybe I can work somethin' out..." Sam sighed quietly. "I don' want t'lose 'im... But I don' know if we can save 'im now."
 
"Give Dani the lead. Let the riders rescue him. After all, as Reven reminded me, riders are loyal to one another and their caller. Not to any certain government." Fiona said as she fiddled with the edge of the blanket.
 
"Th'Riders aren' my domain, love. I'm jus' one of 'em. They're your soldiers," Sam reminded. "I'll even go with them t' get him if you think it'd help."
 
“So, go back to Inverness and wait for you?” Fiona asked, looking into his green gaze with a bit of apprehension.
 
Sam went quiet, knowing he was trying to leave her out of the fighting again. "... Jus' this once, yes. You've 'ad enough. It won' take long- there's only a small window o' time t'get Ezra before Barbarossa kills 'im. An' Danica's made it clear I can' die while she's around, because I need t'be here t'be a husband an' a father."
 
Fiona was quiet as he explained that and she looked down at her lap. With a long sigh, she knew that he was right. She was ready to go home for at least a few days.

“You’ll take Schaller. I think being away from me would do him some good.” Fiona said softly, knowing that she had to give the elder dragon some time away. “I’ll take Invah back to Inverness.”
 
Sam wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'll see if I can' talk with 'im a bit... Seems like 'e's not too different from me. I'll go talk with th'others. You get some more rest. You look like hell." He stole a proper kiss before rising to head out.
 
“I feel like hell...” Fiona muttered as Sam left the tent.

Her mind was turning over violently, thinking about everything that had happened in the short amount of time. It was enough to shatter anyone, but Fiona simply felt numb.
 
By the next morning, a plan was set in place. Reven would make her way to the coast and set about her own work, promising to report in to the harbor where Edinburgh's ships hailed from every so often. Fiona would head straight for home with Invah, while Sam and the other four Riders and their dragons would head for the front line. They would take the end of the temporary ceasefire to launch a surprise assault on the camp where Ezra was being held. If they couldn't get to him without sacrificing their own lives, they'd retreat.
 
Fiona made it a point to avoid Schaller, giving him space as she bid Sam farewell. She found it hard to let him go as her arms wrapped around his neck and she held him close. What he was about to do was dangerous but she had to trust that he would come back to her in the end as always.

“I love you.” She whispered against his ear, holding him just a little bit tighter. “And I’ll see you at home.”
 
"You will," he promised her. "I love you too." With a proper kiss that he let linger, he finally pulled back and turned to Invah. "Gaiann'll be at home by now too. So you spend plenty o' time with 'im an' look after 'im."
 
Fiona nodded as she took a step away from Sam and climbed into her saddle. She was strapped in as she looked over at Sam and Schaller, disappointed that the dragon still wouldn’t look her in the eye. She knew this was for the best and she hoped in time he would see that she wasn’t like the other callers he had encountered in his long life.

“Let’s go home.” Fiona said softly as she gave Invah room to run into flight.
 
Invah set off straight for Scotland, eager to be home herself. It would be a quiet, even lonely flight as they considered being home again, but also who was still out fighting and in danger.
 
It was late one evening when she and Invah returned to the familiar sights of Inverness. There was no fanfare for the queen as Invah landed in the court yard and Fiona carefully disembarked. She was sore, exhausted, and she was sure that Invah was much the same.

"Go see Gaiann. I'll come see you in the morning." Fiona said softly to her dragon as she hugged Invah once more and then sent her on her way.

It was very quiet around the keep as Fiona entered, pausing when she saw the hearth stoked as high as it possibly could go. Rho was sitting there, not moving, ragged and unkempt, staring into the flames. Beside him was Loren, the little cub sound asleep and wrapped in a blanket that his mother had purchased long before he was born.

Fiona didn't even stop herself as she made her way towards her husband's twin and kissed his cheek, wrapping him up in the tightest hug that she could muster.
 
The normally well-groomed and handsome Rhodan Ghis was a shell of his former self. Previously, Fiona had known him to be bright-eyed and excitable like a child, and he'd kept his face cleanly shaven save a trim goatee, and he'd had long, beautiful dark hair. But now, his hair had been shorn short like Sam's normally was, and while it seemed he'd shaved his face entirely clean at some point, he now sported an unkempt short beard. His clothes, while clean, were simple and baggy rather than his former perfectly-tailored attire, and he seemed terribly pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun since the news about Naiya.

When Fiona wrapped her arms around him, Rho knew he should've been happy to see her, but all he could muster was a weak hug in return, no heart left to him. "Welcome home," he muttered hoarsely.
 
Fiona knelt at his side, her heart aching for her normal jovial brother in law. She knew that he was struggling, but she hadn't really been expecting this. Naiya had been his heart and soul and now she was gone, leaving behind a shell of a man and a very young son.

"Come eat with me. I need something warm after that long ride." Fiona said softly, looking down at the slumbering cub. "And give me an excuse to spoil him. I've been itching to do that."
 
The only response Fiona got was a quiet, "Okay..." Rho picked himself up, gathering Loren in his blanket and placing him in Fiona's arms where the cub grumbled softly at being moved and quickly settled once more. Rho walked alongside Fiona, noticeably glancing at Loren every so often. Even if he was in a haze and he trusted Fiona completely, his only point of real focus seemed to be on Loren.
 
Fiona stepped into the kitchens and was immediately set upon by Chessie. The older cook fussed over her like a nervous mother, sparing a glance down at Fiona's growing waist without comment before she directed both Rho and her to sit down in front of the fire. Fiona did so gladly, relaxing with a mug of hot tea as Chessie put together a meal for her and Rhodan. She could see it in the way that Chessie watched them both from the hearth that she was concerned from him as well.

"I wish I could say something to make this better." Fiona said softly as she cradled Loren against her chest, glancing down at the little cub as he settled in his warm blanket. "She was so in love with you and this baby. I do know that for certain."

Looking up at Rho, Fiona knew that he deserved to know being Sam's twin brother. "Sam sent me back for a reason, Rho. I'm pregnant...and I'm not doing well. I think he's afraid that I'll lose this baby and we'll both completely fall apart. Nothing is certain."
 
Rho looked up as she explained the situation, his expression going from tired and miserable to much more grave. It was like looking at Sam before he'd fallen for Fiona, too serious and dire. "Then this is where you should be," he murmured. "The more you fight, the more you push your luck. And that luck is going to run out."
 
"My luck ran out a long time ago, Rho." Fiona said softly as he looked up at her with that familiar, grave expression. "That tail strike when I was first expecting did more damage than we realized. Nothing's certain in this. I could still lose this child, but it's proven more stubborn than I anticipated."

Fiona went quiet as Chessie came and served them both up a portion of meat and potatoes before she retreated back to her work. Looking over at Rho, she could tell that he wasn't eating very much from the way that his clothing hung off his thinner frame. She was sure that the entire family was worried for him.

"I'll say my peace and then not say anything else. Naiya loved you with all of her heart. You completed her in a way that I doubt you even realized. She died doing what she was destined to do. I know she would have much rather been able to see her cub grow up, but she knew what the life of a soldier and warrior meant." Fiona said in a soft tone, not judging or pushing him in any way. "You have to honor her, Rho. You can't simply stay on the floor with your grief. It's not fair to Loren, to this family, or even to yourself. Your brother needs you now more than ever in this fight."
 
"What am I supposed to do...?" Rho murmured. "All I can do is take care of Loren, and I can barely do that. I spent most of my time learning to govern and trade and be a diplomat. I'm doing those things when I can. What else do you want from me? If I had my way, I'd be out there fighting too, beside Naiya. But no one wants a one-armed soldier."
 
"And who believes that besides you?" Fiona asked him, glancing up to look him straight in the eye. "Do you know how many riders out there are in your position? They're missing limbs or are half blind. Sam won't let you fight now because this cub needs you. He knows you'd fight blindly until you were dead and then Loren would grow up without a mother or a father."

"Sam spent your entire childhood supporting you and trying to make sure that you wouldn't want for anything. That you could stand on your own after losing your arm. Now, I'm telling you that he needs that favor returned. He won't admit it himself, but he's struggling." Fiona told him in confidence, letting him know how dire the situation was.
 
"Then tell me what to do," Rho insisted, already quietly frustrated. "I don't know what to do for him other than listen. But Sam doesn't talk about things. I'm happy to support him, I really am. But I can't make him accept that support."
 
"That's why with Sam you don't talk or listen, you simply do. He loves you too much to stay mad for long." Fiona said simply as she saw the quiet frustration on Rho's face. "Get cleaned up, start eating again, and we'll get to work. I think it'll do you some good to have something to focus on besides your misery and grief."

The feeling of being watched had her looking down at Loren, a pair of soft green eyes looking up at her from a dark shock of fur. Fiona smiled gently as her nephew looked up at her with a curiosity as if to ask who she was.

"I know, little one, I've been gone far too long." Fiona said softly as the cub yawned and stretched, his little fingers spreading wide as he reached above his head and finally settled.
 
Rho averted his gaze, finding her words offered little help. But he let her keep Loren as long as she liked. Eventually he retired and put Loren to bed as well.

Come the next morning, the keep was quiet, everyone focusing on their own work. But in the great hall, Brogan was silently waiting for Fiona to wake, anxious to see her with his own eyes.
 
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