Wheeling Gull Isle screaming meemies

Caracal was an interesting figure in Abel's life.

He did not provide milk as the seraph Heda did. He had not plucked the child from the water, nor bestowed him with a name of his very own.

But he was a constant. He was there, and that was all Abel really needed. Occasionally, there was an undercurrent of uncertainty about them, but it was far away now, nearly forgotten as Caracal reached for the boy.

Abel took his comfort eagerly, desperately, the way he did with any other crumb of attention. Ava was the only one he was truly comfortable with — for some reason, one he didn't understand, he felt as if everyone he ever loved might disappear. Maybe one day he'd be cast into the lion's den.

But not today. Abel leaned into the crook of Caracal's arm and reached back for him with his own tiny limbs.