Ouroboros Spine sunagnitchuk ⇛

there was something that the duck could not explain to her star, and it was the sort of feeling raimo had given her. this was a conversation that sialuk could not yet know, and yet it had sown itself into all thought and talk of the shadowhunter. she would honor the choice of their world and if that was the ice-man, then it would be so in moonglow. kukutux knew the proper way to observe a decision that the spirits had made.

but are you prepared to bear children to his name, as you have been with raimo? lips tightening, kukutux glanced away. adrastus had caught her eye for more than one occurrence; even now, the man who wore the cloak of the snowbear sought guidance as her people did. he had given himself to the manner in which she had raised sialuk. how it would be in moonglow. i will be blessed to honor sivullik, and it was not untrue, the thought of it, and therein lay the guilt.

sialuk's voice was steady and unmoved by the air of conflict that had rolled through their village. the woman let out a relieved breath, nodding twice toward her daughter. "it is best that he learns what it is to be second."

she was furious with him, but moreso for the awareness that standing before him would only weaken her; she would not deny what they both wished and had indulged. she could not, and yet it was not a weakness. "this is new, all of it, to me. i am thankful each day that you came down from the mountain, sialuk."