Blackfeather Woods don't ask the gods to help

wintersbane follows astara dutifully, not attempting to breach the silence with one sided conversation. she is hurting and she is cold ...and he feels partially at fault for it; and wants her to know that he didn't abandon her, that he didn't give up on her. perhaps he did, in a way, but not for his lack of trying. he knew he could never sever relmyna from blackfeather woods and her daughters would faithfully stay by her side until the end. ...after the end. it'd taken wintersbane some time to realize that spending his life tending to lotte's grave and keeping anyone out of the strath, chasing off anyone who sought to settle where his mother had died and his family had cracked like a fissure was no actual life at all. lotte was gone from this world and there was no sense in pledging loyalty to a corpse.

he nears the grave as astara brings him to it with a slight bow of his head. some part of him knew relmyna was not going to be around forever, though he hadn't been aware — nor had he cared — how big their age gap had been. he'd loved her anyway.

for a long time, wintersbane is quiet before he turns his head to regard astara once more. her indifference to him hurts him worse, he thinks, that relmyna's death. i'm sorry that she died and i'm sorry that blackfeather woods have disbanded. and he is, but he had seen the latter coming a mile away. the downfall of the dark woods had been his final push towards striking out on his own. i know it might seem like it but i didn't abandon you astara. i haven't given up on you or your sister, he tells her. i won't, not ever. i'm not going to try to convince you but i do want you to know that you and averna always have a home with me. you are always welcome to join me and the vartija. you don't have to and i understand if you don't want to, if you never will. but i will never turn you or averna away.

the stone of his heart still feels heavy in his chest and his glacial gaze studies her for a few moments longer before he turns his head back to relmyna's grave.