The Sunspire there were floating flocks of small white swans

that avatar looks sooo good with the colors, I can’t get over it

The sounds of footsteps was the harbinger of Cassiopeia’s arrival. As Olive turned to look over her shoulder, the mother almost expected it to be anyone else, for such good fortune was rarely hers for the taking. A small part of her imagined that this surely must be a callous joke — many of the wolves here had known the girl when she was a baby, but none seemed cruel enough to do such a thing. Still, Olive had her suspicions.

— all her suspicions were immediately dashed when the girl, a smattering of stars, was upon her! Olive purred in beatitude at her child’s sudden nearness, not finding the need to announce and define such happiness with words. This, right here — was it not worth everything? Was the chance to embrace her daughter once more not what made Dakarai’s ire, and Aries’s nonplussed loyalties, and Sirius abandonment, survivable offenses? It was this that the druid lived for, these small moments of happiness where nothing was bad and everything was as clear as crystals. The universe had fallen into alignment once more.

Olive loathed to relinquish her hold on Cassiopeia, but after several moments of silent felicity, the sylph pulled back and let her glance travel down the yearling’s form, assessing her outward appearance and health. She took after her father in so many way; but those eyes were distinctly hers. She looked to be hale, but Olive’s sensitive nose quickly scried the saccharine scent of healing, worn as she would wear a necklace across her décolletage. Remembrance suddenly rushed back to the woman.

“My child, are you alright?” she spoke in a hushed tone, gaze brimming with concern and apologies. Olive had always a hard time facing the realities of her family’s state of affairs, but here it was laid out, bare. She clarified, her tone suggesting that Olive knew how painful these specific wounds must be, and not just physically. “I can’t believe he would do this to you…” The thought still baffled her. How could Dakarai ever cause his little girl harm? That must be the difference between she and the dark knight — the ashen fae would gladly lay down her life, at the expense of her babies’ happiness. He, apparently, would not.

But, Olive was not eager to linger on the past, or upon things she could not change. The future was bright, and they must turn to embrace it fully. “Have you been eating and taking care of yourself?” She prodded maternally. “Have you been saying your prayers?”