Ravensblood Forest till i’m blind & hiding in the lion’s mouth

Aurëwen drew Dragomir aside from the clearing he was exploring and he went to her, albeit more grimly than ever he had before. His jaw was set as he approached and he left a marked distance between them, settling on his haunches with stiff austerity. He was not one to hold grudges and would forget all this in due time, or if his parents offered the right words of consolation.

What she had to say was more of the same: excuses for dragging them from their beds in Diaspora and excuses for leaving them with a stranger. Dragomir saw through these things, or thought he did; in reality he didn't understand them at all. Diaspora's creed had never made itself known to him, so to be told it was the reason for their leaving meant little to the boy. He had flourished there in his mind. They both had. They had left to find Vercingetorix... but Vercingetorix had left them and not returned. But he was just a boy who felt torn away from home and pack without a chance to even say farewell, so the logic of it failed to reach through his grief even now.

Everything she had to say about leaving them with a stranger, she surely thought would make it better. It helped but only a little. You should have protected us, he said sternly; in that moment he very well could have been a miniature of his father, standing with his shoulders squared, his brow drawn over his eyes, and his voice clipped with impatience. Father should have protected us. We didn't even know that guy and you just left us there. You didn' even say anything. We coulda gone somewhere he wasn't. Or we coulda helped you. That last was perhaps wishful thinking, but nevertheless, the least she could have done was tell them this before simply abandoning them.

Did she not realize the effect these repeated disappearances had on them? Who now could he trust if he could not trust Vercingetorix to return? Who now could he trust if he could not trust her to stay?

She asked for forgiveness, not now but eventually, and Dragomir sighed. He was angry now but it wouldn't last forever. It likely wouldn't last beyond the end of the week. Trust was another matter. Don't do it again, said Dragomir, his frown deepending. No more getting hurt and no more leaving us behind. No more makin' choices for us without us. The worry after her well-being was bad enough when it seemed to be her norm to leave and come back injured. The rest, he could not take much more of. Promise, he firmly demanded.