Shiress stood propped against the wooden bow of the ship, watching as the large vessel floated slow and steady toward the opening of Mathew's Bay. Ever since the large landmass that was Zeltiva came into view, Shiress has been unable to take her eyes from it.
Shiress had just turned fourteen years old when her family had struck out for Sunberth one warm, autumn morning, and she had had no indication that the return journey would take nearly fifteen years.
Fifteen very long, harrowing years.
"Left a girl, returned a woman." Shiress muttered into the wind, long hair stirring around her shoulders, green eyes scanning the coastline carefully.
Memories of her and her brother, Zane, playing along the shore, jumping rocks, chasing crabs, or stretched out on top of a blanket, watching ships come and go from the ports filled her thoughts. They were good memories, happy memories from a different time. A time before chains and whips and subservience. Before pain and heartache and grief. A time before stolen innocence and constrained obeisance.
Shiress sighed forlornly, gaze lifting to scan the columns of Zastoska Mountains encompassing the bay, their snow-capped peaks long ago melted, their skirts a rusty brown, where hues of yellows and greens should be. The absence of cooler temperatures has taken its toll on all corners of Mizahar, it seems. Shiress wondered if the Bonesnapper still slipped from the Zastoska's to chill the backs of Zeltivans. Doubtful.
Though it all looked the same, everything had changed.
As the ship circled to enter the bay, Shiress turned from her nostalgic vigil, turning her attention to her companions, smiling at each in turn.
"We're home." Shiress said, pulling the soft bundle of blankets from Rosie's arms, settling it within her own, gazing down lovingly into her son's face, shrouded by light blue cotton, still and peaceful in sleep, a tiny thumb resting between plump, rosebud lips.
It took another bell for the ship to port and arrangements to be made to deliver belongings. By the time Syna had reached her zenith, Shiress and baby, Ambrosia, Caspian, and Tavi had disembarked, entered the city proper, and slowly began to make their way through the dirt paths toward Shiress's childhood home. With each step closer they came, Shiress's heart filled with more and more memories.
"Everything still looks the same," Shiress noted, gaze flitting from one thing to another. "but maybe a bit smaller." she laughed. "I was last here when I was fourteen, now I'm twenty-nine, and nothing has changed."
Shiress shook her head, a fond smile tugging the corners of her mouth.
"My father's name is Zachiah or Zach, he'll say, and my mother is Lorna. Daddy's a gruff and blunt man, but honest and kind. He's a shipwright and most likely had a hand in building the ship we sailed here in. My mom is a gentle soul," Shiress smiled wide "and most definitely a hugger and will love you as her own, in time. She's a nurse at the infirmary. My brother.." Shiress's voice caught in her throat, smile fading, "Zane's funny and smart. Always joking, smiling, and playing pranks. First to fight for those he loves, and last to get caught." Shiress grew quiet, eyes downcast, as they continued their trek, growing ever closer to the little cottage.
Voices brought Shiress up short, subsequently stopping her in her tracks as one of the voices, in particular, caused her heart to shudder. Her mother's voice. Her mother was walking down the path before them, and she was singing. Someone stepped close, pulling the baby from her arms. Another placed a hand in hers, squeezing gently. Shiress reached out by her opposite side, found another hand, squeezing it, also. Whispers of encouragement flitted around her head, but she only had eyes for the woman now entering through a rickety old gate that led to an even more rickety old cottage.
Shiress dropped the hands that held tight to hers and took a step, then another, then another. "Mom?" she called. The woman stopped but didn't turn. "Mom? It's Shiress." Slowly, the petite woman turned, a hand fisted in the fabric over her chest, as if the voice she had heard pained her heart.
Lorna took several stumbling steps until she was outside the gate once again. "Shiress?" her voice sounded as if she were lost in the dark, calling for someone to find her.
Shiress could only nod through the tears that streamed down her face. Then, Lorna was running, and so was Shiress, mother and daughter meeting in a fierce embrace. Lorna was shaking, and all Shiress could do was soothe her with words that made absolutely no sense. Finally, Lorna stepped back just enough to cup her daughter's face in her hands. "My baby girl." she said, voice thick with emotion, then they were hugging again.
Their embrace lasted for some time until Shiress pulled away, pressing their foreheads together. "I home, Mom. I've come home."
by Shiress on September 1st, 2020, 3:09 am 
