Maelfic! Challenge response
Ishtar sat by herself on a bench in the silvery light of the stars. She was silent and still, a pale statue under the Equinox moon, if seen from afar. But up close, she was shaking with the effort of keeping still, her claws digging into the bench as she struggled to keep her breathing slow and steady- the last thing she needed was to faint. Though the night was cool, and a soft breeze continually fanned her grateful temples, her body still prickled with sweat dampening her fur.
Under her breath she cursed her body- its unfortunate timing, and the irony that the time she most ached to lie with her husband and lose herself in breathless passion was when she could not. Instead they would have to lie at opposite ends of their tent, in separate bedrolls, with their staffs lying between them. It was not yet the right time, it was not yet safe to even consider bringing a family into this New World…
She blamed Marcus, damn him for almost getting killed. A friend already taken from her by Bakhana, then almost taken from her forever into the endless night. That was what had done it, that was what had set it off. She knew it had been coming, but had been resisting. Then she saw the blood, saw the wound in his chest, and suddenly all her defences were gone. In the swoon that threatened to overcome her, she had felt the wave of scarlet darkness take hold, and knew that there was nothing she could do.
And now, of course, she was unclean. She had hoped that the months he had spent in the New World had rid him of the superstitions of home, but it seemed that it was not the case. He flinched from her touch, not letting her touch him when he was being treated, nor later when he was far too drunk.
It hurt. The awful, dragging ache was made worse, so much worse because she had to go uncomforted. As a kitten, whenever she was hurt, whenever she was sad, Inanna had always picked her up and held her in her strong, wonderful, perfumed embrace. But now Ishtar was stuck: a husband who could not touch her, and a friend who would not touch her.
Who could understand her loneliness? Who would have the compassion, the heart to hold her, to ease her pain?
In the silence that surrounded her, Ishtar whispered one word: “Mummy…” before breaking into shaking sobs, for a few minutes, a scared little girl again, trapped and terrified by her own body.