Stone Circle c

Kove did not know his daughter, not as a father should. Her response that came was as much of a shock to him as his actions were to her; they would likely never know one another as deeply as other parents and children did but, perhaps, they might someday forget what it was like to surprise the other. “I’ve always cared,” he told her. “From the moment your mother felt a change within her womb, I cared—for you, your siblings, and your mother.” For all this time, he’d cared—although he’d never known how to go about showing that, after their family was split apart. There had been so much anger, so much hurt, that even now he still wondered if it was truly okay for him to be there now.

But, if it wasn’t okay, then would the offer had been made?

The Inuk’s body grew still and he struggled to decipher her words, searching for a hint of anything that might paint him a fool. He had to remind himself that he was in Blackfeather no longer, that those around him now did not intend to smite him. Only then was he able to relax and lay his anxious thoughts to rest, gaze drifting between his daughter and granddaughter. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I...” Would things be okay? Eventually, perhaps—only time would tell, and a chance taken only if he took a step in the right direction. “I would like to stay.” His obligations to the Woods had long since been fulfilled and he was now free to start a new chapter in his life. A chapter that would not be plagued by traitorous beasts or the stench of the swampland.

Things would be different this time around.