Arrow Lake i hit a wall, i never felt so low, so low

Things got awkward real fast.

Wylla begged to differ the nature of ghosts, but there was still a small, girlish part of her that did believe. It was the same part that sent up red sirens in her head whenever she thought of Ankyra Sound and the grotto. The same part that turned sharply from any thought of Caiaphas now that she knew the witch was dead. If ghosts were not real, as Wylla preferred to think, then what was she afraid of?

It was a lightbulb moment when River mentioned children. She had taken no note of the other's figure before now, but suddenly it was like the sagging tits were outlined in luminescent yellow highlighter. Wylla was not often capable of empathy — that vital life skill was struck from her from a very young age — but she felt a sharp pang of regret now, even though River had chosen to start this whole nonsense conversation.

Tiercel had not died, but her children had. They were buried beneath the dogwood tree.

Thade had not died, but when he returned, a part of him was lost forever.

She didn't answer the question because she didn't owe River any sort of explanation, but she tongued her teeth and then said, they can haunt you or live on in your heart. You get to choose. None of it would ever bring them back to life, but if River chose to view them as ghosts and not guardian angels, then that was her bleak decision to make.