Aideen Athesila
She heard the others come, one set of footfalls after another, but she was too consumed by her own grief to react at first. Burying her nose in her mate's dark fur, she held back sobs, taking a small comfort in the light strokes of his muzzle against her back. Nina had changed her world, she'd been a mother and a mentor, helped the flighty young girl find a purpose in life; Everything I am… It was all the golden queen's doing. Now she was gone, and everything threatened to unravel around them. How could the Woodlands possibly go on without her?
It was Bella's soft touch that first brought the alphess back to her surroundings, pulling free from her husband to lean into the caress and glance around the clearing. She saw bowed heads, sorrowful faces, all reminding her that she was not the only one who had lost. And she was their leader, their queen now more than any time before. Taking a deep breath, she finally loosened herself fully, turning to face her pack. She just caught the dark blur of Bane rushing off, quickly disappearing back into the thicket. Her heart ached for the boy, he'd been just as close with the matriarch, maybe even more, halfway raised by her. Feeling a stir by her side, Aideen reached out lightly to stop her mate from following the lad. "Let him go," She urged, voice low and pained. He would need time to calm down, from what she knew of the boy, he'd prefer to grieve alone. And she desperately needed Miccah by her side.
Because just then, Enia appeared, soon followed by Flair and then Cináed. Biting her lip, the mother watched as her children went through the same string of emotion as they all had moments earlier, Flair's desperate plea tearing further at her heart strings. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to be strong, for the pups and for the pack, she could cry later. So she stepped forwards, lightly nuzzling Nia's scruff and beckoning her along as she walked to the other two, giving each head a comforting lick. Then she looked up, eyes travelling from pack mate to pack mate, a light, mournful smile curving her lips. She cleared her throat, breathing deeply once more before addressing them: "I know everyone is shocked by this loss. Nina was the one to found Secret Woodlands many years ago, and through all that time she has guarded the pack and every single one of us. She has been our rock, our queen, our friend and mother," Voice catching slightly, she paused for a steadying breath, finding Miccah's dark eyes across from her and finding strength in them to continue; "We will all miss her dearly. Recovering will take a long time, and it should be no different. We will grieve for Nina, but remember what she has done with her life, what she has build here. Protecting that and keeping it strong, that's the best way to honor her. She rests now, well deserved." Aideen finished her speech, voice mostly steady, and swallowed again, looking down at the still form by her paws. With a small smile she remembered how she had once feared speaking before a crowd; You taught me so much..!
Looking at her children, seeing their hurt and confusion made her wish deeply that this could have waited, that they could have grown up without knowing death and pain so intimately. But such was life, and meeting her dark daughters eyes, she remembered the matriarch's words from Daniel's burial; "But if you close your eyes and imagine a place that you’ve never been before, you can visit her there whenever you’d like. A place only you can go, and if you want her to be there, she will be." Her words were soft, for the pups' ears only, and she gave them with small smile, and a soft kiss on Enia's crest. Then she lifted her head back up, looking at Miccah again but addressing the whole pack: "We'll bury her with Daniel and Tacoma." It wasn't far, they'd be able to get her there easily enough; I don't want her to be alone.
Word count: 702
Thoughts ”Speech”