Stone Circle how we love is what will last

Tauris. There is something wild in the looks of the earth spun girl, but there is a kindness there, too. Wild, but not feral, as though tossed by the world and wind.

They are, she murmured in agreement. It’s okay, she wished to say. From all her aunt and cousins had told her, she did not think her mother was sorry she had died. It meant that she and her brothers had lived.

This one, Taktuq sought to guide Tauris’ eyes with a gesture to the twin stones the tiger lily lay beneath, this is the Pilgrim Stone. My auntie named it in honour of my mother, Nanook. She died protecting me and my brothers. They told me she was fierce, and overcame much. So Auntie Val gave her this stone to remember her journey. To remember and take wisdom from her growth, from birth to redemption to death.

It was like she could hear auntie Val speaking the words behind her, as if she might look down and see the grass clawed away where they had dug the grave. As if they had only just laid Nanook down to her eternal rest.

Taktuq raised a paw to her cheek and turned her face away when she felt her lips begin to tremble. I’m sorry, she said softly to Tauris.