much change had come to the wood, and relmyna had never before felt so true the hand of the mother. it was with little regret that she had come to it late, but time stopped for no creature. the colder air of the mornings had begun to lodge in her joints till morning warmth dispelled it; her tics had become stronger. and while it had been a long stretch of time since a seizing fit had gripped the woman, she feared all the same the one that would one day arrive upon her threshold and steal her permanently from blackfeather.
an heir, then — it was maegi she looked to, simply by dint of being the eldest daughter to cicero. the girl was pious, intelligent; it was she whom relmyna wished in her stead. but blackfeather must have a priestess also. and it was the nightcub she sought for that. her daycub was a creature of moonbeams and wandering, and the listener oft wondered if averna would be the one to depart the wood eventually.
she sought @Astara that morning, trailing through the red forest as she followed the delicate tendrils of her child's path toward wherever the somber girl had gone.