*Saoirse*
I stood in the bedroom with my children by my side as I watched Rhys stride away from me. Fingers trembling, I held onto Aiden and Adelaide as their father left us behind. The sun cast his departing figure in a golden glow like a hero of old stepping into legend. But no amount of romantic imagery could soften the sharp edges of my fear.
"Mama?" a small voice tugged at my dress, pulling me back from the haunting visions of war that clawed at my mind.
I kneeled, my gaze never leaving the retreating shape of Rhys, and scooped my son into my arms. His sister, not one to be left out, clung to my leg until I gathered her up as well. They were warmth and life against the chill of dread that had settled in my bones.
"Will Daddy bring me a dragon scale?" Aiden's innocent question was punctuated by the bright expectation in his eyes.
"Maybe a whole dragon," Adelaide chimed in, her laughter a salve to my fraying nerves.
