The Realm of the Sun

A Noble Coward

                 
Nessie's wise and calming assurance made the confrontation Eirainna feared seem far away, almost fictional. When Eirainna was a small child much like Furbaide, Nessie would calmly talk her out of a nightmare and Eirainna would laugh at her own silly delusions once she realized she had been dreaming. She had tried to push it to the back of her mind in the same way, but the time came to address the matter all too soon, when there was an unforeseen knock at the door the following night. Nessie and Eirainna locked eyes in a panic, first hoping the knock was a figment of their imagination blending in with the tapping of a light rain on the roof. But the knock came again, louder and more deliberate.

            "Hide behind the stairs," Nessie whispered, gesturing for Eirainna to stand in the shadow of the wooden staircase. Restoring her soothing manner as though she had been knitting, Nessie answered the door.

            "Good evening. Are you Nessie?" asked the voice. It was Connor's. Eirainna jerked her head toward the voice, but made no sound and restricted her body from movement. His long shadow fell onto the cottage floor and Eirainna traced the blurred edges of his silhouette with her eyes.

            "I am...can I be of service to you in any way, young man?" Nessie asked, unassumingly. Eirainna was impressed by the calm, indifferent tone in Nessie's voice.

            "I sincerely hope so...you see, I am in search of...Eirainna..." he replied, purposefully neglecting to mention his realm of origin. He waited to see her reaction at his mentioning of the name, and then continued, "You see, I'm worried she's hurt...I thought you might know where she is..."

            "I'm sorry, Sir, but I...I cannot help you..." Nessie began, calmly, with every intention of feigning ignorance and letting him go without ever knowing the truth.

            "I am here," Eirainna interrupted her, emerging out of the shadowed corner and into the light. He was impossibly tall in the tiny threshold, and though he was disheveled and weary from his journey, he stood strong and proud nonetheless. Nessie stepped aside, hanging her head. Connor's face lit up at the sight of the woman he had so longed to see. He blinked a moment to process his thoughts, looking her up and down quickly to find the injury or the illness or the tragic reason she could not meet him days before. She bore no physical scars, which confused him for a brief second, but did not stop him from running to her with open arms. She stood still as he embraced her, unresponsive and rigid. Now bewildered, he withdrew his arms uneasily and stepped back, the smile on his face beginning to dissolve.

            "Eirainna, are you all right?" he asked, his hand tenderly on her shoulder. She nodded, unable to speak just yet. "You didn't come—" he said, his eyes wide and waiting for her explanation.

            "No..." she said, looking straight past him to the door, which creaked open as Nessie stepped outside to leave them alone. 

            "Are you sure you are all right? I was beginning to think—"

            "I'm perfectly fine," she replied, though her face was drawn and still.

"Then why..." he tried to make sense of it all.

            "I have decided not to run away," she announced, steadily. Connor tried to speak, but instead shook his head, incomprehensibly.

            "I don't understand. You said..."

            "I know what I said, and I've changed my mind. We cannot keep doing this—trying to steal away from the world when we are so needed in it. We can't be together anymore." The words tugged on both of their heartstrings, winnowing and wearing them thin like splitting threads. He kept his eyes focused on hers, though she looked straight ahead as though he were a ghost.