Alothia steps out into the garden, the soft grass tickling the underside of her toes, making her smile softly. She watches as Sahji and Mhikaa tackle each other, moonlight flickering in the silvery tendrils of their hair, braided on opposite sides of their heads, mirror images in the cool of the eve.
She sits at the small table and watches her girls play over the rim of her tea cup, a brew that Zanin had clued her into all those moons ago. On nights like this, she liked to remember them, those she had known before the Calamity, and after, and had been there on and off ever since. She curls the fingers of her right hand around the handle, and her left hand strays toward the papers in front of her. Letters, many of them, delivered by the Postmoogle over the past few suns.Â
She reads them all, one by one, fingers sometimes tracing the quillmarks that her friends made. Lily. Eric. Kass. K'ajia. Nel. Each one malms away, but still close to her in heart. She closes her eyes and sighs at the end, letting the memories soak into her, envisioning the smile of Kass' little girl. The fierce growl of K'ajia as she taught the others of her tribe how to fight. Lily's stoic expression concealing so much more. She missed them. But this was...right...
"Sahji, go get your father!" she calls to the young girl, who comes bouncing over to the table to plant a small rosebud of a kiss on her mother's cheek before running inside the house. She pauses and pulls Mhikaa's tail softly as she trails after her sister, a small fanged grin peeking at the corners of her lips. Twelve, Alothia thinks, It is finally over. There is peace. She looks up at the moon, and whispers a faint prayer of thanks to Memphina, before she stands and faces her husband.Â
Peace. Both in and out.
She sits at the small table and watches her girls play over the rim of her tea cup, a brew that Zanin had clued her into all those moons ago. On nights like this, she liked to remember them, those she had known before the Calamity, and after, and had been there on and off ever since. She curls the fingers of her right hand around the handle, and her left hand strays toward the papers in front of her. Letters, many of them, delivered by the Postmoogle over the past few suns.Â
She reads them all, one by one, fingers sometimes tracing the quillmarks that her friends made. Lily. Eric. Kass. K'ajia. Nel. Each one malms away, but still close to her in heart. She closes her eyes and sighs at the end, letting the memories soak into her, envisioning the smile of Kass' little girl. The fierce growl of K'ajia as she taught the others of her tribe how to fight. Lily's stoic expression concealing so much more. She missed them. But this was...right...
"Sahji, go get your father!" she calls to the young girl, who comes bouncing over to the table to plant a small rosebud of a kiss on her mother's cheek before running inside the house. She pauses and pulls Mhikaa's tail softly as she trails after her sister, a small fanged grin peeking at the corners of her lips. Twelve, Alothia thinks, It is finally over. There is peace. She looks up at the moon, and whispers a faint prayer of thanks to Memphina, before she stands and faces her husband.Â
Peace. Both in and out.
![[Image: DI0sJH6.png?1]](http://i.imgur.com/DI0sJH6.png?1)
