Nova Peak If you must work, work to leave some part of you on this earth

She found him not too far away, and found herself awash in guilt when Thade rolled upon seeing her. Her discipline from earlier now seemed horribly short-sighted and cruel. Her poor son had spent a lot of time on his own with some stranger that called herself his Mother; could Wylla really blame him for not understanding the norms of the hierarchy, when to behave as a subordinate and when to behave as a child?

Baby, she tearfully crooned, ignoring the fact that he was approaching his ninth month earthside and stood taller than her when he was not bowed in submission. How could she hope to take him from the home he'd only just rediscovered? Even if it would spite the man who had crushed her completely under the heel of his indifference? The choice wasn't hers to make, but for just a moment, she wanted to pretend that she hadn't drawn a line in the sand and pounded it into a fracture.

I'm so sorry, she murmured, lowering herself alongside him to press her face into his shoulder, gasping in a desperate breath of him.