Ouroboros Spine uivigginattuk ⋬

She stood and slipped away, out of the ulaq, to be alone. Her words faded to silence in her absence and Raimo sat witht he silence as he often did, feeling a weight to it now. He was angry with himself for becoming so lost in his own story that he failed to see what was right before his eyes: his greed, his ambition growing beyond himself.

He sat there in the silence until only the sound of Kukutux' nearby crying drifted to him. In time his anger would cool — it had started already — but he still felt wounded, raw and vulnerable. These were aspects not fit for a sivullik.

When eventually Raimo moved to leave that place, he lingered behind Kukutux. He did not touch her; he did not think she would want that. In his low voice, still ripe with the tension of emotions he was trying to contain, he murmurs: If you ask it of me, I will step down.

He would give up the role — and give her up as well — if it would fix this. Besides, what was their connection but an expression of her grief? She did not love him; she was not ready for that.