It had been more years than she could remember since she last left her mountain. Ju had always stood away from the crowd, but the last several years had turned her into a near recluse. She very rarely left the boundaries of the home she had made herself and could not honestly remember the last time she descended the mountain. Nobody cared about her anymore, so why should she bother going anywhere? But a few weeks ago, a whisper had started to form in the back of her mind. Thoughts of her children who scorned her, her mate who ignored and abandoned her. A combination of curiosity, anger, and boredom had finally pushed her to start descending the mountain to go and find her family. It had taken her days to reach the bottom, most of the trail unfamiliar after so much time, but last night she had finally come to the end of the foothills and spent the night at the edge of a small pond under a sprawling willow tree.
She had risen with the sun and was taking a drink from the pond before setting off for the day when she heard a light flapping in the water. Raising her head, she saw a pair of mallards floating nearby taking turns diving and resurfacing, flapping the water from their wings each time they came up. Though they were completely involved in their task and paying Ju no mind, she curtsied at them, her bangles jingling together. “A lovely morning,” she said to the ducks. In her solitude, the mare had taken to speaking to - or rather at - the animals that shared the mountain with her. “I’m off to find my family,” she continued, as the ducks continued diving for their breakfast. “Not that any of them *deserve* to have me in their lives anymore, mind you.” Her eyes drifted away from the ducks, looking at nothing in particular.
She thought of Raksh, her mate, always gone on his “adventures”, leaving her and the children behind. And how ungrateful those children had been. Never giving her a moment peace, always asking for something, then becoming so spiteful and accusatory as they grew older. Without realizing it, her expression has tightened, a harsh frown upon her face. Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, she looked at the ducks to see if they had been watching her, but they were still at their task. She laughed and rolled her eyes. “He fancied himself some hero, you know. My mate, that is. He was convinced that he was some legend turned true and it was his duty to go about saving the world on heroic missions.” She snorted, her heavy black tail twitching in annoyance. “Raksh, steed of the Prince Rostram, reincarnated royalty. How comical. How *insulting*, when I myself come from *true* royalty. Did you know that??” She looked wildly at the ducks, her agitation becoming evident as she recounted the wrongs done to her. “I was a *queen* in my lands. I thought leaving would give me freedom, but instead I met *him* and fell for his stories and got stuck with his ungrateful children! And then they all left me!” She was nearly screaming this last sentence. She huffed in her fury, her chest expanding visibly with each breath.
“They all left me.” She was noticeably quieter this time, her tone softened with sadness. “He was always gone as soon as the children were born, they barely knew him. He said he had a duty to fulfill. Not to us, of course, but to ‘them’, whoever they were. He’d come to visit here and there, just frequently enough so that the children didn’t completely forget who he was. He never stayed long. And of course they blamed me.” She sighed, watching the ducks as they finished their bobbing and were now preening their feathers. “I know I could have been better. But I just couldn’t handle it on my own. They deserved better.”
She would seek out her family. From the children, she would ask forgiveness and seek to repair their bond. But if she ever found Raksh, he’d wind up begging for mercy rather than forgiveness. He had a lot of work to do if he ever wished to repair their partnership. She jumped as the mallards suddenly took flight. “Good day!” Ju shouted as they flew off, grateful to them for listening to the story of her madness, whether they understood it or not. Telling her tale had allowed her to process her thoughts, and she had a new resolve as she set off in search of her family. She only hoped they’d have the heart to listen to her, too.
[WC: 787]
