Blackfeather Woods hello? is there anybody in there?

it should have come as little surprise that maegi did not greet her with the childhood warmth. much time had passed; something or someone had tormented the young melonii into lasting scars. beneath the soft insistence of maegi's gaze, relmyna's own softened with something akin to sympathy, before she took up her usual focused expression. hello, maegi, the listener mouthed, moving slowly as always, as lip-reading must be learned and was not innate.
i am glad you are home, she added, settling herself upon the ground. turquoise gaze drifted back to the tree; for a long moment the patchwork priestess beheld it, before her attention returned to maegi. you still follow them.
it was a statement not of challenge but of assessment, approval — it remained to be seen how the yearling would take it. in truth, relmyna knew her heart had chosen well; the piety tied to the melonii blood had not abandoned maegi, and for that was she grateful.