Northstar Vale Conversations With Dead People

He spoke in a way that should have soothed her, that would have coaxed her to come and speak without feeling so guarded and ready to dismiss him the way she had done so at the end of the interaction with the Duchess. With stiff limbs and a neck even more so, she offered a gentle kiss to each of her children as if this would be their last, a long embrace before turning to exit the den.

Emerging from the depths was a different woman, all that brightness she once radiated had dulled into a disheveled mess, blood matting her neck, with piercing eyes void of the same love she had felt just weeks ago. She once thought they were friends, but Vespera's words had cut right through the final strings holding the Empress together, she truly believed this was a war only she could fight and only one victor would come out alive; and it had to be her, for her children's sake. Gods only knew what would happen to them if Takeshi came out as the final victor. 

Even the sweet breeze that ran through the veil didn't lift the weight that seemed to sit on the woman's shoulders. She was prepared for whatever Collision was about to throw her way. Hardened by every bad news and bad day that seemed to continue to pile up.