gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit

She spoke of a friendship the likes of which young Sobek could not fathom. Maegi was usually very open when speaking to her children now she seemed guarded, as if she were sharing something deeply precious. Weighted, almost, and then altogether too light for what he was used to hearing. When she spoke it was with a louder voice which he appreciated, but there was a different quality to it that he could not fully identify. He watched her carefully saw the way her eyes stared dimly at the altar the taut curves of her face and where the sadness collected like dark circles under them. He did not know what he was waiting for, but he was quiet and present, becoming a confessor for his mother in the moment. Maegi was unsure if her grown self even had the capacity to mourn, beyond the throes of madness. She would always be that girl.Īnd it was the girl that mourned now, not the woman. She recognized the change and thought nothing of it deep down, she had never really grown up. It rang high and clear, as if she were once more the little girl Cass had stumbled upon all that time ago and not the scarred, seasoned woman that half-lay here now, a child in her embrace. Her voice was changed, somewhat, different from the tone she'd adopted over the past moons. She was kind to me, when I hadn't been shown a lot of kindness. It was all she could handle in the moment.Ĭassiopeia was my first friend, she whispered, unsure if she was talking to the boy or to herself-or to no one, really, at all. The world had shrank to just her son and her, and she was content with that for now. She pulled his still form close, still murmuring in Daedric. When she was finished, Sobek flicked his tongue - almost snake-like - and lightly nosed at her side to try and comfort her.Īs she spoke, she became aware that she wasn't alone, and a familiar, comforting scent wreathed around her. The boy was silent, absorbent, not moving a muscle even when he recognized some of the names she spoke. Rather than interrupt whatever she was doing, he leaned his narrow, runty figure against her hip and propped his chin against her knee. Sobek presumed she spoke to him, and slunk close. His ears trembled and showed his uncertainty in the way they twisted, quick, like the fluttering of moth wings. Her crying had not ceased - merely been smothered with a tip of her chin. They each held their own voice, their calls changing all the time.īut when he slipped around the corner of the altar to the sounds dying out, he saw his mother. What caused the sad song to drift between the trees? It could have been a raven, he thought. He was curious of this sound and that was the end of it. That or he felt safe even in his failures, content to try again and again at things until they were right, but not wasting his energy with unnecessary shows of emotion. Sobek had never cried he had been a sombre baby, growing in to a young boy that appeared to lack the capacity for it. The sound of distant crying piqued his interest, and he followed the tin-sounding refrain until it was at its loudest, which did not take long. A brazen demand of a deity, but she was desperate. Let her speak to me when I need her most. Sithis, she repeated, her voice stronger now.

And yet-wasn't it appropriate now, in the face of death? It had been a long time since her prayers had featured the Dread Father. Peryite, my Lord, my God, she managed in a hoarse whisper, turning tear-swollen eyes toward the Altar.

She was family (now truly in the most traditional sense, after bearing Vaati's brood). She had been captive here she wasn't.obligated. The woman had shown Maegi kindness when she hadn't needed to. Never again would Cassiopeia walk into her life, kindness and ferocity balanced together on a knife's edge. Sometimes they came back, but you couldn't come back from death. The tears came quickly and easily interspersed were aching moans of Cass, and why? Her oldest and dearest friend, apart from her brothers-gone. Chin tucked nearly into her chest, she made a beeline for the Altar and then collapsed before it, completely and thoroughly going to pieces. By the time she arrived at the sacred place, she was practically struggling for breath between hiccups stifling sobs.

She hobbled her way to Nightcaller Temple, feeling the strain of the past several days begin to wear her down.

Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit