Ephiny

She had been in love once, a long time ago. He had been her everything, her love, her husband, the father of the single egg they had made together, the young son she just knew was growing within there. Phantes had been her happiness and her joy, and she had been his.

Even though they had started out as enemies, both from opposite clans that hated each other, that had wanted to see each other destroyed, love had won. She found herself drawn to him, even on the battlefield, and so had rejoiced when the truce between their two clans had been called, because it meant they could be together. Something that she hadn’t thought possible when she first realized she loved him, something she thanked the gods for because that meant her heart could be true.

Only it couldn’t, not for long, at least. Just days before their egg was to hatch, days before their son was to be born into the world, the Beastclan attacked, drawing them, along with everyone else in the now conjoined clan, away from the lair, from the nests, to defend it. To fight the monsters that wanted nothing more than to see dragon-kind driven into extinction. She fought, railing against the creatures that threatened her home, eventually driving them off.

But not without losses. Not without terrible, terrible losses.

It would have been bad enough it she had just lost Phantes- he had been overwhelmed, cut off from others from the clan, and taken down before help could get to it. It would have been bad enough if she had just lost him.

But others had snuck past them, gotten into the lair and into the nests and eaten the eggs, leaving nothing more than a few shell pieces as the remains of her son.

She left the clan shortly after; her and Phantes had been the first marriage to come from the peace, and the leaders of the clan were desperate to show that the peace was still worth it. They had “encouraged” her to look past her pain, to find some other male she could stand to have at her side, and mate with him instead, when she was ready. They “encouraged” her to choose someone they found suitable, “encouraged” her to go along with their plan, and had “encouraged” her by laying out what, exactly, would happen if she didn’t comply willingly.

So she left, left and joined the Amazons, and quickly found herself with almost more children than she could handle. Because most of the females joining them were barely adults, still moving out of the hatchling phase into full dragonhood, and somehow, she became their mother.

Kind of. It was more she became a leader, instated by Cyan as her second in command, a position Terreis kept her in. But even though it was a fancy title, it still came down to the same thing- she became the den mother to the tribe, and while it was hard work, she kind of enjoyed it.

Enjoyed helping the girls train and navigate the paths of life that laid before them, enjoyed herding them away from danger and onto the safer trails, enjoyed arguing with them that just because they could eat the poisonous bugs didn’t mean that they should. She honestly enjoyed it.

She did not enjoy the fact that one of them, little Amarice, had fallen in love with her, and she did not enjoy the fact that, despite herself, she was falling in love right back.

She tried to deny it, tried to deny the fact that she enjoyed it when the girl tagged after her on hunting trips, that she always came to her with her questions about the world, that she always seemed to somehow end up next to her when they made camp. She tried to deny that she loved the way the light shone off her scales, loved the scent that billowed from her every time she shifted her wings, tried to deny with everything in her her clear attraction to her.

Ephiny thought she had succeeded. That she had been able to push Amarice to the back of her mind, making her just another sister within the Amazon tribe, one of the females she would rule if anything ever happened to their leader.

Only, the moment she was hurt, almost killed in the mire, everything changed. Because she had already lost Phantes; she couldn’t lose Amarice as well.

She wasn’t sure how they got into the lair, how they moved from the mire into the warm medical room Amarice had been set up in- it was all one giant blur, where she couldn’t take her eyes off of Amarice’s face, had to be wrestled away from her side so strangers could help her, had to practically be dragged in some random direction to end up here. She wasn’t sure how she had, couldn’t entirely understand it, but somehow it had worked.

Somehow Amarice was alive and would stay alive. Of that she was sure.

She barely moved, those long, long weeks that Amarice slept, kept asleep by potions so her neck could heal. It’d been a bad wound, one Amarice almost hadn’t lived through, though through luck and her own strength she would. She would live. And Ephiny made it clear she was going to watch her do so. So she slept in the medical ward, ate in the medical ward, only left when dragons came in and dragged her to the nearest river to bathe. Otherwise she didn’t leave her side.

She stayed there and prayed to the gods, came to term with the fact that she was in love, and begged anyone who listened to help Amarice live so she could tell her.

And live she did. Weeks, almost two months after they had first been brought into the lair, Amarice opened her eyes and saw her standing there, watching, and smiled. Smiled a lazy smile while she reached out with her claws to touch Ephiny’s cheek, a touch Ephiny happily leaned into, placing a kiss against the claw.

Words weren’t needed, it was so clear- they were in love, they were finally admitting that they were in love, and everything was going to be ok.

At least, it would be in time. Amarice was upset when it was declared that the Amazons were taking on the role of Queen’s Guard, though she quickly became friends with Princess Gabrielle, the two of them about the same age. Even still, though, she felt responsible, guilty, as if the decision for them all to stay was because of her, not because it was best for the tribe. And no matter what any of them said, she refused to believe otherwise. Ephiny, though, was just glad they were going to be somewhere safe, somewhere defendable, that everyone within the clan was trained to fight instead of just a small grouping. Because if everyone could fight, that was that much larger of a group who would help keep each other safe, that many more warriors who would be watching each other’s backs.

That much smaller of a chance that she would lose Amarice as well, something she knew her heart couldn’t bear.

So, she accepted her role as Queen’s Guard (and in truth, she became fast friends with Queen Gabrielle as well, along with her Consort, Xena, making the job that much easier), accepted that if anything were to happen to Terreis she would become leader, accepted what was to be her future and life.

Because she had Amarice at her side, had her love close now that she had finally accepted that Amarice was, in fact, her second great love, and so long as that held true, she was happy and could accept whatever may come in the future.