![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreSummer's Bride
Author: Amber Michelle
Day/Theme: June 23 - some girls were just meant to smile
Series: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Character/Pairing: Milia, Llewelyn, NPCs
Rating: K
Words: 869
Notes: the marigold is also known as 'summer's bride.' I don't know if Llewelyn's parents were alive or not, so I'm just assuming.
.............................................
Milia saw him off at the gates of the city. She couldn't be sure Llewelyn even spotted her, pressed in on all sides by other women waving good-bye to husbands, sons, or those promised to them as he was to her. But he waved. He smiled, even though she knew he was petrified. They had just finished a war three years ago against Artolia; none of the boys she knew who were drafted into the military ever came back.
They were sending him up north, out to sea, probably into Villnore territory - or the enemy would claim the line was trespassed, because the only way Villnore knew how to win a war on water was by striking innocent ships and lying about it afterward. It's only an escort job, Llewelyn had said, but nobody really believed that. Every ship on the northern route was getting hit. He knew it, the navy knew it, and their parents knew it.
Villnore has gunpowder. We don't.
Crell Monferaigne, according to the priests, was favored by the gods. We can't lose, they said. Is the Battle Maiden to be stopped by an iron ball? Hardly.
Hands grasped her shoulders. Milia jumped. Llewelyn's mother stood behind her.
"He's too good to lose to those Villnore bastards," his mother said, and her grip tightened. Her gaze was distant, focused on the retreating company, her eyes gray as if they were clouded over. The sky was clear and her hair shined bright yellow in the sun.
"I know." Milia turned back around, reaching up to lace her fingers with his mother's.
"When he comes back," the other woman said, "we'll make marigold buns to celebrate."
We can't lose, Milia said to herself. Father will try to sell me off to some other family if he doesn't come back. What if Llewelyn was late? What if the news from the front sounded worse than it was, and her parents moved too quickly? Llewelyn's mother had already paid the bride price in the name of her husband, who was still stationed in the mountains. If the draft hadn't gotten in the way, they would be married.
She was expected to go back to her parents and help with the next day's bread, but she stayed in the plaza outside the gates long after Llewelyn and his company had disappeared. The other woman stayed with her. They sat on the ledge of the fountain, in the shadow of a sweeping statue of the Valkyrie, and Milia clutched the pendant Llewelyn gave her with both hands.
We can't lose. We can't lose, we can't lose--
A month later he sent her a letter. The sea is beautiful, he said. I share a bunk with an artist, and he promised to paint it for a silver piece. I'll send it with my next letter.
Milia waited. Marigolds bloomed on the hillsides and her garden exploded with yellow. She dried the petals for tea, added them to stew, and pressed one in her herbal to send off to Llewelyn. When the elder flowers bloomed she harvested them for summer wine. Her sweet marigold buns were his favorite dish, so she made a small batch and took the first vessel of elder wine to the temple as an offering.
It didn't matter if they won. All that mattered was his safe return home. He promised he would be back, and he would bring that painting, which he said the courier wouldn't take. They were only allowed one message per round, and he used his bit of paper to talk to Milia, and sometimes to his mother, through her. She kept the parchment in a wooden box carved with ivy leaves.
A month passed after her offering at the temple, and for the first time, the courier had no letter for her when he arrived. The ships had three more trips to make before the season was over; they'd left already by the time he reached the harbor.
There was no letter the next month, or the month after that. Milia dreamed about the ocean; it looked like blue and violet watercolor washes, the way he described it to her, and the sky was clotted with clouds. Yellow petals were scattered across the surface. Summer's bride, gone to bed with the sun, never to wake. Milia opened her eyes to the early morning light said it aloud, staring at the ceiling: never to wake. She couldn't remember what the words meant in the dark, or where they were from.
He was out there somewhere on the open water - poor Llewelyn, who couldn't swim to save his life, when he should have learned long ago. He must be so afraid every time he looks out over the water. Milia prayed and made offerings at the temple every day, asked the Battle Maiden to take her strength and give it to Llewelyn. Even if Milia never swam again, even if she wilted like a flower and died when winter came, at least he wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. Please. Please.
But though she regretted it, Milia lived, and all she had left of Llewelyn was an empty box.
..........................................................
Author: Amber Michelle
Day/Theme: June 23 - some girls were just meant to smile
Series: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Character/Pairing: Milia, Llewelyn, NPCs
Rating: K
Words: 869
Notes: the marigold is also known as 'summer's bride.' I don't know if Llewelyn's parents were alive or not, so I'm just assuming.
.............................................
Milia saw him off at the gates of the city. She couldn't be sure Llewelyn even spotted her, pressed in on all sides by other women waving good-bye to husbands, sons, or those promised to them as he was to her. But he waved. He smiled, even though she knew he was petrified. They had just finished a war three years ago against Artolia; none of the boys she knew who were drafted into the military ever came back.
They were sending him up north, out to sea, probably into Villnore territory - or the enemy would claim the line was trespassed, because the only way Villnore knew how to win a war on water was by striking innocent ships and lying about it afterward. It's only an escort job, Llewelyn had said, but nobody really believed that. Every ship on the northern route was getting hit. He knew it, the navy knew it, and their parents knew it.
Villnore has gunpowder. We don't.
Crell Monferaigne, according to the priests, was favored by the gods. We can't lose, they said. Is the Battle Maiden to be stopped by an iron ball? Hardly.
Hands grasped her shoulders. Milia jumped. Llewelyn's mother stood behind her.
"He's too good to lose to those Villnore bastards," his mother said, and her grip tightened. Her gaze was distant, focused on the retreating company, her eyes gray as if they were clouded over. The sky was clear and her hair shined bright yellow in the sun.
"I know." Milia turned back around, reaching up to lace her fingers with his mother's.
"When he comes back," the other woman said, "we'll make marigold buns to celebrate."
We can't lose, Milia said to herself. Father will try to sell me off to some other family if he doesn't come back. What if Llewelyn was late? What if the news from the front sounded worse than it was, and her parents moved too quickly? Llewelyn's mother had already paid the bride price in the name of her husband, who was still stationed in the mountains. If the draft hadn't gotten in the way, they would be married.
She was expected to go back to her parents and help with the next day's bread, but she stayed in the plaza outside the gates long after Llewelyn and his company had disappeared. The other woman stayed with her. They sat on the ledge of the fountain, in the shadow of a sweeping statue of the Valkyrie, and Milia clutched the pendant Llewelyn gave her with both hands.
We can't lose. We can't lose, we can't lose--
A month later he sent her a letter. The sea is beautiful, he said. I share a bunk with an artist, and he promised to paint it for a silver piece. I'll send it with my next letter.
Milia waited. Marigolds bloomed on the hillsides and her garden exploded with yellow. She dried the petals for tea, added them to stew, and pressed one in her herbal to send off to Llewelyn. When the elder flowers bloomed she harvested them for summer wine. Her sweet marigold buns were his favorite dish, so she made a small batch and took the first vessel of elder wine to the temple as an offering.
It didn't matter if they won. All that mattered was his safe return home. He promised he would be back, and he would bring that painting, which he said the courier wouldn't take. They were only allowed one message per round, and he used his bit of paper to talk to Milia, and sometimes to his mother, through her. She kept the parchment in a wooden box carved with ivy leaves.
A month passed after her offering at the temple, and for the first time, the courier had no letter for her when he arrived. The ships had three more trips to make before the season was over; they'd left already by the time he reached the harbor.
There was no letter the next month, or the month after that. Milia dreamed about the ocean; it looked like blue and violet watercolor washes, the way he described it to her, and the sky was clotted with clouds. Yellow petals were scattered across the surface. Summer's bride, gone to bed with the sun, never to wake. Milia opened her eyes to the early morning light said it aloud, staring at the ceiling: never to wake. She couldn't remember what the words meant in the dark, or where they were from.
He was out there somewhere on the open water - poor Llewelyn, who couldn't swim to save his life, when he should have learned long ago. He must be so afraid every time he looks out over the water. Milia prayed and made offerings at the temple every day, asked the Battle Maiden to take her strength and give it to Llewelyn. Even if Milia never swam again, even if she wilted like a flower and died when winter came, at least he wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. Please. Please.
But though she regretted it, Milia lived, and all she had left of Llewelyn was an empty box.
..........................................................
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-06-24 02:48 pm (UTC)I think it's a great expansion on Llewelyn's story. Of course, I used Llewelyn almost all the time (though he was useless against Loki), so I guess my liking it's to be expected.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-24 09:12 pm (UTC)Pretty much everyone but mages and Lenneth are useless against Loki, though.
But anyway! Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. The Llewelyn/Milia story has always made me sad, but nobody writes about them.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 06:58 pm (UTC)