Dragoncrest Cliffs you taught me the courage of stars

Fleimkepa. Keeper of the flame. The breath that draws in betwixt Eske’s lips is ragged and she nearly chokes upon it as her throat swells with emotions; and not a single one of them good. The occasion in which she has become Fleimkepa is far from joyous, after all. Though she does not wish to part from her Commander’s side she is trusted to take care of the things that Heda is too indisposed to do. She agreed because she does not want to fail Thuringwethil but the truth is that Eske is perplexed as to why it is her. Why would Dio, who is already a leader, not be chosen to act in Heda’s place instead? And then there was the illness itself; how bad it must truly be! Especially for Heda to promote a keeper of the flame to act in her stead until she recovers. And what kind of illness plagues her? Eske does not think it is contagious because she is almost a constant in Heda’s presence and she is fine. Worried, of course, but otherwise completely healthy. Neither are any of her and Wildfire’s children ill; but Eske does not try to understand the illness or it’s cause if only because it is not anything she truly understands. She is no medicine woman, not like Portia.

Her patrol is agonizing because she wants to be by her Commander’s side — despite that the illness is not something Eske can protect her from — thinking that as her Cheka that’s where she needs to be. Yet, she made a promise when she agreed to temporarily step up and she will fulfill Heda’s duties with nothing short of a hundred and ten percent. If the occasion were less bleak and worrisome Eske might’ve laughed at the irony: that she now bears the title that her sister had coveted; that Freyja had been groomed for. Thoughts of Freyja, however, were unwelcome and she turned Eske tucked them aside, steeling her shoulders as she continued along the borders.