Phantom Hollow Bridges burn, and so do I

She repeats the name back to him as if it perplexes her and for a second he fears he has mistaken a stranger for Ondine; a mistake too easy to make as he appears to live between the realms of Niflheim and Midgard ( note: now that he is partially blind ). Yet, the black eye is unique and he would know it anywhere. He might have estranged himself from his wife and annulled their mateship but that does not mean he has written her out of his memory; and his memory is still intact. A partially blind eye and new scars haven’t caused him to suffer from a loss of memory …as she appears to suffer from. There is no recognition in her posture at all and he knows with a sudden and crushing grief that it is genuine and she is not being cruel. Intentional or not, it is cruel nevertheless. If she does not remember then that means very well that Arrille is dead: had she abandoned him? Would the wolves of Neverwinter Forest have taken him in? Cared enough to? Or would they have let him die for as much as he is his son he is also her’s? “Ondine is your name.” Atli’s voice is harsh and raw from a grief that he had hoped to never comprehend again. Caiaphas’ death and having to kill his daughters: weak and dying as they were regardless and offer them as sacrifices to Odinn. He knows he can’t blame her and yet …yet he does. “we had a son together. Arrille. He was just a boy.” Just a boy and likely naught but rotting flesh ( if scavengers hadn’t gotten to him ). His lip curls back and his hackles bristle with unbidden rage. At her: for losing her memory, for forgetting their son.