Everlight Family/Nerida/Frontier

Frontier Reflections

(in Celtiberia)

Salt air tossed Nerida's silvering hair as she stood overlooking the sea. Her dark brows drew a flat line across her face, expression somewhere between thoughtful and troubled.

Birds wheeled above, riding the wind toward the mountains of the roguelands west, not lingering over Celtiberia where ranks of soldiers gathered around evening fires.

The knight was deep in thought.

She had been in D'Hara for thirty years. Three decades of serving, commanding, managing, travelling, and fighting. Her realmmates were strong and noble folk she was proud to stand beside. Admirable as they were, none had become close. None knew her young history, her hopes and desires, her fears. Only her horses over the years had heard her stories and musings, wondering where the people of her past were now and where she might have been if things had been different.

Was she proud of her work? Yes. Was there anywhere she would rather be? Likely not.

She smiled and ran a finger over the emblem embroidered on her glove, a parsley sprig on a chevron, that had become her personal badge. All those years ago at the tournament--was it in Golden Farrow?--when someone had mistaken her region's name as Parsley, and she had gone on to grow her own cultivars of the plant at her Paisland manorhouse. A bit sentimental, but the joke made her smile.

Cool droplets began to patter on the sand, slowly approaching. The chill of the air would have lifted goosebumps on her neck had the knight's hair not been loose, but it sat as a heavy warm cloak over her neck and shoulders against the damp sea air. Nerida nodded and turned to look back toward camp.

Namika was not with them this night, but Pryde was a friendly character and Prestongreen she knew well enough in passing. Liverpool was an unknown. Perhaps she could find one of them around a fire to spend some time before any late night rogue incursions.

With a sigh, Nerida straightened and began her careful plod through the sandy coastal dunes back to camp.