...And The Men Wept

A woman in armor sits atop a horse, surrounded by a group of people of varying ages. The men are crying, heartbroken, worried, and the women are proud and cheering the woman on the horse on.

One of the lovely things about stand-alone story-oriented pieces is that there is no correct narrative, and so everyone looking at it can develop their own. A friend commented that he likes this piece so much because each time he comes back to it he has different ideas for what just happened and what is going to happen.

For me, the narrative varied a bit while I was drawing this piece and even now, but I do think that the woman on the horse is a heroine - she has gone to battle before, but she is still young and while the champion of her home, has not seen particularly horrific battle. Women are defenders and warriors in this world. The heroine is about to go on to join a more elite group and fight in a greater war, to defend her loved ones and her country. Her mother held a similar role before her, and is comforting her father who weeps openly - both proud and afraid for his daughter. Behind them is her cousin, whose mother (sister to the heroine's mother) passed in the last great war, and whose father passed away not much later. The man in profile varies for me - sometimes he is a childhood friend, other times they are involved. The man with his back to the viewer also changes, between husband to the heroine and person in charge of taking care of the children (who I frequently, but don't always, think of as being the children of the heroine).

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