avalon- drukkari x fem!oc

the fires

  Morgana wakes up gasping for air, shooting up from her bed in a panic.  Her hands shake violently, moving up to press against her face, then her hair, then her temples.  The memories flood back quickly- memories of her girls on the pyres, and Druig putting her to sleep, something she was thankful for.  She catches sight of the night sky outside, at the stars twinkling and the moon shining down.  She doesn't even realize she's moved to sit on the edge of her bed until she hears footsteps outside.    

  The door opens, spilling light into the otherwise dark room.  She squints her eyes, blinking against it as she raises a hand to shield her eyes.  She sees a figure moving towards her, and then Makkari is linking her fingers through Morgana's gently, moving her hand down to her lap as she kneels in front of Morgana.  Behind her, Morgana sees Druig rush into the doorway, demeanor slightly worried and panicked.  Makkari turns from where she kneels in front of Morgana, following her line of sight.

  Relief floods across Druig's face, and Morgana releases a breath as he walks in, shutting the door behind him.  He crosses the room to her bed as Makkari stands up, and when the two envelop her in a hug she feels like crying all over again.  But instead, she reaches up with shaky hands, one arm going around either of their necks to pull them closer.  She lost the girls, and she'll be damned if she loses the two of them, too.  If she could, she would hold them for the rest of eternity.  

  When they pull back, Morgana moves backward so she's placed herself in the middle of the bed.  Druig and Makkari follow, sitting on her bed so they're all placed in a circle.  For a moment, they don't say anything.  Morgana's eyes are set on the bed in front of her, images of the girl's burning bodies playing in her mind.  She can hear the men cheering as they burned.  She can feel a spark of anger amidst the sadness and grief.  

  The feeling of a warm hand on her cheek snaps her out of her reverie, and she looks up to see Makkari looking at her, eyebrows furrowed.  Even in the dark of the room, she can see the tiredness in both their eyes.  She wonders if they slept while she did.  

  "Are you okay?"  Makkari signs, though she already knows the answer.  

  Morgana squeezes her eyes shut before she answers, trying to push away the images from before.  They keep haunting her, refusing to leave her mind even as she tries to forget them.  

  When she opens her eyes, her gaze focuses on the wall on the other side of the room.  She doesn't trust herself to look at either of them right now, knowing she'll just start crying.  

  "I can't get the smell out of my nose."  She finally says.  She tries to keep her expression void, but she could never really hide anything from either of them.  "I can still smell the burning.  It's disgusting, and it won't-"  Her voice shakes as she feels tears pricking at her eyes.  She tries to speak again, even as Makkari lifts her other hand to cup Morgana's other cheek.  "I can't-"  

  When the tears spill from her eyes, Druig moves forward to sit next to Makkari, the three of them as close as they can be.  There's no sound as she cries, just the tears that track down her cheeks.    

  "Hey, hey."  He says softly, hands moving to hold her arms, stroking up and down them soothingly.  "It's alright, you're alright."  He mutters.

  Morgana brings a hand up to wipe away the tears, though Makkari is already doing that for her, thumb wiping the tears from her cheek.  

  "I'm just tired."  She murmurs, so soft that her voice is almost lost amongst the silence of the room.  But Druig hears it, and Makkari is close enough that she can read her lips even in the dark.  She's not tired- not physically at least- but mentally, she feels drained.