Vindications

Present Times

Valerian was still resentment for how Blaine and Dorian had blindsided Rena and he.  He knew it wasn't fair to not include Thane, but Val also knew the two older men had used military tactics in order to make sure the younger man had obeyed his orders.

He recalled the days after, how it took all of his being to handle even the most menial of tasks.  

Seeing Rena in the state of catatonia worried him, it had been nearly six years since that heartbreak.  In those six years, she hadn't fully recovered.  While he had his military tasks to keep him focused and busy; Rena had barely left her private chambers.  It had disturbed him immensely as she had recently taken on an apprenticeship as a healer.  She had been avoiding her duties in her apprenticeship; he worried what it would mean for her.  When the master healer, Ivian; called on Valerian about Rena, he explained to her the whole of it.

Ivian had promised Val that Rena would retain her apprenticeship and could continue her work when she was feeling well and able.

Months had gone by however, and as Valerian recalled; it had been months before Rena finally went back to her old duties before Blaine had entered her life.

Despite her studies taking such a long pause, Rena moved from apprentice to second master healer fairly quickly; Valerian and his other sisters couldn't have been more proud.

But even years after her heartbreak, Valerian had noticed that all the life had seemed to have left her eyes.  All laughter she laughed, only seemed forced to the others.  

Val stared into Rena's pure violet eyes and shook her gently; not knowing exactly how to pull her from her catatonic state.

"Rena, dearest; sister, won't you even see me?"  Val said quietly, as if not to forcefully jar her from her slumber.

Rena's eyes twitched as they moved to stare blindly at Val.  She blinked many times as Val sighed heavily from relief.

"Oh!  Val!  What..what happened?  Why are we in a dressing chamber?"  Rena asked quizzically, looking around her in confusion.  She pulled her mask off and rubbed her eyes; her mind exhausted from seeing what felt like a phantom of the person she wised she'd neverm met.

"Dearest, you went nearly catatonic on me as we were dancing.  I had to carry you into the dressing chamber because the guests were starting to crowd around.  What or who did you see that distressed you so?"  Valerian asked fretfully, but Rena didn't answer immediately, she didn't want her brother thinking she'd gone 'round the bend mad.

"It...it was nothing Valerian.  I just...I thought I had spotted someone I hadn't seen in ages."  She said gently, while not meeting Val's eyes.

Valerian stared at her shrewdly with narrowed eyes but lost all chances to inquire further as the door burst open when Sandrine and Valena came rushing into the room.

"Valerian, what happened?!"  Sandrine spoke in an accusatory tone as she scowled down at Valena's twin.

Sandrine in no way cared about who Valerian decided to be with intimately; but she just could not wrap her head around his flamboyant mannerisms.  Not to mention his clothing choices, even in the dead of winter; the man would wear the brightest of colours.

Valena only rolled her eyes at her wife's tone; surely it was ludicrous to think that Val had anything to do or even knew the cause as to why Rena had gone into a daze.  But her wife and twin seemed to constantly argue with each other regardless of how many times she spoke up about it.

" 'Drina, Val is not the cause of Rena's affliction and you well know it."  Valena said sharply; practically chastizing her partner.

Sandrine merely raised an eyebrow, remaining silent and not wanting to begin an arguement with her wife.

Sandrine was aware that Val wasn't the cause, she was fairly positive on who had caused little Rena to go into a fit.  It depressed her; Blaine had been like a brother to her, the very best of friends and he had decided that horrible order from his brother would be the one that he completely followed?  As she watched Rena, she looked for some remnant of light that had not been in Rena's eyes for nearly six years.

Rena was an unfortunate shell of herself, Sandrine wondered if Blaine knew how bad he had damaged the young woman.  Sandrine had made a silent promise to lay one good swing on the human prince for Rena's troubles.

The look on her baby sister's face only soured Sandrine's mood further.  She decided to take her sour mood out on Val as he was the closest male to her.

" 'Drina, instead of taking a swipe at me; how about you take it at the person who caused Rena's distress?"  Val stated dryly as he felt the tension between them both rise rapidly.

"Or better yet, you and Valena ought to go back and finish enjoying the festivities.  I can handle this situation with Rena."  Val drawled on even as Rena groaned.

She moved away from the small group to stare out the window in order to think and to stay out of the line of fire between the two of them.  Rena never understood the constant battling between her brother and sister-in-law.

She thought about Blaine, ignoring the others as she thought of those eyes under that mask.

It had to have been a trick of the light, Blaine had made his feelings about Rena quite clear.  Rena sighed, she would be lying if she said she was over the way she had loved him or the heartache.  Nearly six years was a mere blink of the eye for an immortal like an elf; but it didn't help the shattered heart she still suffered from.  Or the sheer loneliness she constantly felt.

Blaine had been her choice, she had thought they had been so happy; but to learn she was merely a playing piece to him hurt her more than any other words he had said.

"....you've got less fight in you off the battlefield than a rabid dog Valerian."  Rena came out of her stupor to Sandrine's snide comment to Valerian.

"Sandrine!  That is enough!"  Valena said sharply, glaring up at her wife.  Sandrine was non-plussed as she shrugged.

"I speak the truth on the matter; he rolled over and allowed his love to leave him.  How can we trust him to handle any situation again?"  Sandrine drawled out, she understood heartbreak it was certain; but being a military commander was a top priority above all.

Rena placed a hand on Val's arm, he had suffered just as much as she had; and yet he'd proven over the past five years that he was reilient as he worked to better his military.

Val's relationship had been more subdued than her own.  It made no sense to her however, many in the outer villages were married to partners who shared the same gender.  Even the Valkyrie were mostly partnered with other women.

She recalled briefly however, nearly seven years prior; how Val had run into her healing lesson in tears holding an unconscious Thanerick.  Rena and Ivian were unable to fully heal him and agreed to rush the young man to the Valkyrie healers.

Valerian kept quiet to Sandrine's taunts, and Rena only had to glance at him to know why.  His eyes burned with tears that he refused to shed as he rubbed absently on the scar on one of his wrists.

Sandrine lifted an eyebrow and began to start another retort as the chamber door swung open.  A giggling Vera traipsed in with a mysterious human suitor in a wolf mask.