Dragoncrest Cliffs It holds me tight, this sorrow

She held herself together. She compressed her feelings of grief though it seemed to take every ounce of strength from her body, which still needed to heal on the outside as well. The clawmarks stretching from above her hip to the rear of her back leg were scabbing, but she had to move slow or she would crack the healing and the clawmarks would bleed again. The same was true of the clawmarks across the top of her skull. The puncture wounds at her shoulder, however, healed remarkably well. They would scar soon. 

The beige cape about her shoulders was still faintly stained red from the sandy earth of the Roja den. She liked it that way; it was her mother's colour, that deep mahogany. 

When she saw Etienne, she saw Erzulie in a flash. She'd been so grateful to bear a child that looked so much like her Maman, but now, it pained her to see Erzulie's looks, all the while knowing she would never see her Maman again. Her fierce, beautiful smile, and the lyrical sound of her voice. But if she could keep Etienne close...Maybe she'd be keeping a part of Erzulie close with her as well. 

She felt movement in her belly, which had begun to hang lower. Amid the grief, there was some relief, and she motioned to her son. "Sweet boy, my Eti," She crooned. She could see the shock in his features; the long stare, the gaunt expression. "Come here, to me," She invited.