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And when a monster and knight joined forces, they were unstoppable.
They would come for me.
They would always come for me.
Daddy, please.
I let the silent prayer be carried by the darkness as I closed my eyes and surrendered myself to sleep, my soul battered but not broken.
* * *
“Hó bha ín, Hó bha ín.
Hó bha ín, mo ghrá.
Hó bha ín, mo leana,
Agus codail, go lá.
Hó bha ín, mo leana,
‘Is hó bha ín mo roghain.
Hó bha ín, mo leana,
Is gabh amach a bhadhbh badhbh.
Hó bha ín, Hó bha ín.
Hó bha ín, mo ghrá.
Hó bha ín, mo leana,
Agus codail, go lá.”
She was singing again. The hauntingly beautiful melody she sang to me each night before bed echoed through the dark kitchen in the middle of the night. I’d gone to bed hours ago, readying for another day of school, but she was still awake.
And crying.
This wasn’t the first time I had come downstairs to find her weeping at the kitchen island, her golden locket clenched tight between her hands as she sobbed.
Alone.
She never spoke of my father. I didn’t even know his name, but I’d peeked at the man inside the locket. His hair was red like mine, eyes the same shining green. It definitely seemed like it would be him.
Where was he?
Had he left us by choice?
“Mama,” I whispered sadly as I walked into the kitchen, rubbing at my tired eyes.
“Avaleigh.” Turning away, she quickly wiped at her wet eyes and cleared her throat before she turned back to face me. “What are you doing up,mo réalta?”
I stepped into her side and wrapped my arms around her waist. “It’s okay to be sad, Mommy,” I told her. “You don’t have to hide it from me.”
My mother smiled down at me gently. Tears still clung to her thin, fragile lashes, and pain danced across her face so starkly it almost looked physical.
“Some tears need to be shed alone, my star,” she whispered, her words dripping sorrowfully. I crawled onto the stool next to her and leaned in, surveying the picture she had tucked away. The one she always cried over.
