Dragoncrest Cliffs edge

@Mireille?

the north had not been for her.

jutting and cold, even with the not yet frigid temperature. she returned to the coast as she always may.

the clear skies of starshine welcomed her too. unmistakably at the fringe of the cliffs. she remembered the agemate girl she had quickly become fond of. the wealth of knowledge and powerful mothers.

it was why she came now, a crooning note in the night.

it was good to have njord back. it was odd, too. she meant over and over to seek out her mother's advice but the tasks of the day wore on.
the call came when the crimson girl was marking the borders. her ears lifted; her freckled face turned. and then she was loping forward, a growing look of interested amusement making its way onto her face.
"you're back," mireille greeted with a grin, taking in the other's appearance. "did you be makin' a meetin' wid dat man?"

although her features remained stone, there was warmth in her eyes. humor even.

the iron guardian. she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. struck by the title in a peculiar way. the man had seemed less of a guardian. more something out of reach.

beyond her.

he left his island in the face of winter.

what was left unspoken?

the iron guardian.
but he was no longer there.
did all men give themselves such pretentious names? she was suddenly glad for her da and her brothers, and their ways. "i be leader here now. my mot'ers, dey stepped down." her smile was wry. "an obsidian can ask if you be wantin' a place to be for de winter."

her ears pushed back against her masked skull for a moment.

the girl (woman!) had excelled in such great leaps from when they had met in the sound. the storm. had its churning of tides been a sign?

enigma did not feel meek before the power of the redhead.

but she did feel awed.

what will i give in return?

it was for the sea siren to answer.

mireille shook her head. "sapphique donnae be dealin' in debts," she told enigma with a proud toss of her head. "you be a woman, dat be enough. you can hunt." her eyes were bright. "if you be willin' to live beside de sea an' learn her moods, den come."
she stood aside, hiding the flash of excitement that accompanied leading her first recruit into the heart of the territory.

she laughed.

a warm and delighted sound, humored! no debts? not even an instruction of things to be done?

her womanhood was enough, apparently.

she wasted no time in a quick pace alongside the redhead's flank.

you said your mothers step down. are you the only one in their place?

mireille shook her head happily. "i be de obsidian. my older sister chacal, she is de tanzanite. an' our brot'er, sobo, he is de jade of sapphique." she grinned in pride. "he is de firs' man to be a leader here. our mot'ers trust him not to do what men have done in de pas'."
she knew nothing of how njord had shaken rosalyn's faith in her own son.