Dragoncrest Cliffs We are painted with the fear that if the sea recedes, it never comes back...

She related on a few of those points, but the legacy of Sapphique was something she only cared about in part. If their children all chose other paths, and the cliffs died with them, then Rosalyn doubted she would mind much. She would not be around to see it.

She'd never considered that her wife might feel otherwise as it hadn't crossed her mind. But talk of successors, and now children, left her to believe there was more there. At one time she might have agreed, back when her legacy was meant to be as captain. But she'd found a more lasting, and profound, impact in the title of "mother". So much had changed because of it.

They always leave, perhaps because we only ever have one thing to give them. She could have made a joke of this, but she did not. Perhaps it was a fault that all they offered the men of Sapphique was belonging, family. Perhaps it was a curse of men to crave ownership, power, and claim over others. Njord had proven himself different so far but Rosalyn still waited, her own outlook perhaps not so optimistic as her wife's. She'd never really allowed herself to see him so fondly. She would not reflect enough to see that perhaps this was the true failing.

I would help if I could, but I know that you'll choose right. And you know that I'll be here either way. Every year I think it is the last, and every year it is enough. She said finally, after a slight pause. It was hard to find the words, to sort the true feeling from what might be perceived as apathy.