There was no instruction to take him in her arms. There was no mandate to soothe him, but she didn't need instruction to treasure him. There were no guidebooks on how to cherish a man you never married. But treasure him, she did. Themis could only pray for tomorrow, that maybe whatever was ahead of them was brighter than their present. He was her lodestar, the compass she followed into the great unknown. Watching him tremble, watching him struggle, both made him more human and frightened her. She pressed gentle kisses to his hairline, whispered his greatness in his ear, anything to reassure the exhausted man in her embrace.
She reluctantly relaxed her grip on him, freeing him from her worried hold. She tried her best to smile, but it was watery and halfhearted. "I know. I know you have to go. I will be here when you return. I promise you that." And perhaps she should have been kinder to the women that came before her, the ones that maintained a brave face as the men in their lives vanished for adventure, because Themis couldn't currently think of a fate worse than staying behind as the man she loved walked beyond her sight.
She reluctantly relaxed her grip on him, freeing him from her worried hold. She tried her best to smile, but it was watery and halfhearted. "I know. I know you have to go. I will be here when you return. I promise you that." And perhaps she should have been kinder to the women that came before her, the ones that maintained a brave face as the men in their lives vanished for adventure, because Themis couldn't currently think of a fate worse than staying behind as the man she loved walked beyond her sight.
![[Image: Bka0H0x.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/Bka0H0x.jpeg)