Topic: ?istim leis an ghaoth - I listen to the wind

Hudson Fraiser

Date: 2008-02-11 02:39 EST
O?che 's m? liom f?in - Night and me by myself

Her voice was in his ear, a haunting dark-velvet alto wound in song. Hudson stood at the water?s edge in the dark, with not one candle but many at his feet. The crash of waves on sand was less than a whisper to the song in his memories. Tang of salt in the air over-rode the sweet heavy fragrance of lilies as they washed to and fro with the foam, but the scent of heather and bog-violet was stronger in his mind. He?d not been able to find any flowers but the lilies.

Sp?artha dubh go domhain a cho?ch - Black skies, deeply, forever

Dawn would come in due time, and Hudson would have to confront this day. Chill wind whipped around him, caught at the heavy wool of his plaid, and lashed the candle flames high before it snuffed them. One somehow managed to stay alight, and black eyes fixed on that struggling flame. Protest against the darkness, it seemed to yearn for survival.

Ag cuimhneamh ar laetha a bh? gan gh? agus gan ghruaim - Remembering days without need and without gloom

Continuing, carrying on. One day at a time, but this day hardest yet. Kith and kin and hearth and home ? all but lost, except for the sister he had come in search of and found. Small success to balance against the larger failure. Moira had been one to find the silver lining in the darkest thundercloud, and tried to teach him the trick of it. She?d been his light in the black, fey moods that took him only rarely. He?d been her strength when she wept against the wracking pain, until his strength failed them both.

?istim leis an ghaoth - I listen to the wind

Candle-flame danced and flickered against the spray, and the stem of a lily brushed against the wax. She?d not had the purity of tone Sianna possessed, nor the captivating skill, but Moira?s voice had always enchanted him. She rarely sang, and in the last year not at all, but now her voice whispered the song that had been her favorite. Hudson had hated it ? too dark, too bleak. He would give anything to hear her sing it again; it was raw salt on a wound to know he never would.

Is fada anois an l? a d'fh?g m? mo bhaile - It's long now, the day I left home.

Her grave was worlds and time away. He?d run, fast and far and long, and used the search for his sister as an excuse. There was no doubt of that in Hudson?s mind. He?d been joyful to find Sianna alive, relieved to know he hadn?t failed her as well. It had still been an excuse, a way to escape. Too late he found that he couldn?t escape himself. ?You have to forgive yourself,? memory of Sylvia?s voice wove through the song.

N?l ?thas i mo shaol N?l ann ach an marbh as baile - There is no happiness in my life. There is nothing but the dead from home.

The candle flickered, flared, dimmed again with wind and spray, but did not blow out. Hudson?s voice was a whisper in the night. ?Tha mise Hudson a-nis 'gad ghabhail-sa Moira gu bhith 'nam ch?ile p?sda. Ann am fianais Dh? 's na tha seo de fhianaisean tha mise a' gealltainn a bhith 'nam bhean ph?sda dh?leas ghr?dhach agus thairis dhuitsa, cho fad's a bhios an d?this againn be?. ... dhuitsa, gus an d?an Dia leis a' bh?s ar dealachadh. Nil ann ach an marbh as baile, mo cridhe. Give me th? strength tae let ye rest. Give me th? strength tae move on.?

((?I, Hudson, am now taking you, Moira, to be my wife. With God and these people here witnessing, I promise to be a faithful, loving, and caring husband to you, so long as the two of us are alive, for you until God causes death to separate us. There is nothing but the dead from home, my heart.?))

Hudson Fraiser

Date: 2008-02-14 22:40 EST
Salt water washed over sand and spots of wax. Three days, three nights had not entirely erased the marks of the candles Hudson had lit here on this deserted stretch of beach. There was no hint of the lilies that had been released to drift on the bitter green sea. Hudson crouched to run a net-scarred hand through the wet sand, letting the bits of wax cling to his fingers. Finally he spoke into the night air quietly.

?I still reach for ye in th? middle o? th? night, mo cridhe. Nae as often, though, as th? work keeps me occupied, and I ha?e a friend or twa tae distract me. I wonder what ye?d think o? Sylvia, m'eudail? Th? pair of ye would be th? best o? friends or th? worst o? enemies, I think. ?Tis strange, mo cridhe, tae feel th? missing o? ye sae strongly and still tae be cheered just tae see her.? Knees crackled, popped in protest as he straightened from the crouch. He dropped the handful of sand and rubbed his hands together against the cold and to dry them before he pulled on a pair of leather gloves.

Black eyes rested on the glimmer of lights caught on top of the waves, then turned up to the dusky sky. ?Nach eil aonaranach thu, a ghr?idh? Nae, perhaps ye ha?e nae loneliness left where ye are. I could wish th? same. ?Tis nae a night I wish tae venture tae the company of many. Th? fey humor dae be on me strongly, and ye nae here tae be my light, a soillse. Th? uisge-beatha does nae a thing tae help, and ye?d mock me for th? trying it, would ye nae??

A short laugh rippled over the water, lost in the crash of waves on shore. Hudson gripped the stag?s-head pin on his shoulder hard before he spoke again. ?Ye should see th? L?ir Mothan, mo cridhe. Down tae th? harbor she rests, with th? paint on her trim drying. I?ll ha?e tae ask Juliane tae add her name soon. Aye, and th? name be all ye think it, Moira. Eyes of violet, th? bog violets and th? love charms, th? health blessings and aye, her eyes as well. I ha?e nae seen aught else tae match th? clarity o? color. I be a right fool, dae I nae be? Tae speak o? her tae ye.?

Salt-spray driven by a gust of wind was a cold slap in the face, silent reproach. ?Ach, my bonny sweet Moira, ye ha?e nae lost any o? yer bracing ways. Well ye should mock me, for th? self-pity I ha?e been sinking intae. Mar sin leat, mo cridhe. Ch? mi a dh'aithghearr thu ? but nae sae soon as all that.? Wind swirled and tugged at the plaid, then released it with a last caressing touch to his face. When Hudson turned from the shore, the shadows that had darkened his expression the past few days were almost gone.