The Sentinels yours immortally

she was in utter turmoil. and though she told her father everything, and he spoke to her as well, deirdre knew in these trying times she needed a deeper sign than this. casmir's words had been a balm to her, but casmir was not within donnelaith and had duties to attend to within the creek. she did not wish to distress constantine any more than surely she did, though it was always his counsel she trusted and sought. she trusted him, above all--

but she wished for her father, as all daughters who have lost their fathers were wont to do. she missed his murkwater gaze and the warmth of his breath as he told her a story. she missed the way he spoke of the highlands and his happiness at his dreams, realized.

she wished for her mother, too. her lessons on herbs, and the way her father looked at her-- a way he had never looked at any other. his true love, his partner, her mother. goodhearted, kind, a giver and a lover. but eilidh's presence had been a constant and consistent one. only when eilidh had gone for a short time did deirdre realize how painfully she missed her mother!

deirdre moved to her fathers grave. 'round it, now, was a circlet of flowers still in bloom. she nosed one gently, and moved to collect some rocks she had kept near his grave. she made the circle; she called to the elements; she thanked them, thanked them profusely, before she sang in a chanting lilt:

mi a 'faighneachd sìthiche bho fiadhaich
a 'tighinn agus buailteach a bhith beag seo ròs leanabh
leanabh adhair i an-diugh a 'soirbheachadh
freumh a h-anam anns na ban-diathan ' crèadha
sìthichean a dhèanamh an àite so do sgàil
le bhith a ' agaibh draoidheachd bithidh àm faic i flùr!

she felt spent by this; spent, and something else. she moved to lay; she heard the wind urge her to rest, to close her eyes. and she heard her fathers voice, too, in the wind. it soothed her to sleep, it promised protection--and something more.

entering dream world! :D