Wheeling Gull Isle sermon on the mount

It was tempting to surveil the children as their mother preached, though Caracal made himself look to her too, attention unwavering. He found himself getting lost in the sweet cadence of his wife’s voice rather more than the message, though of course he agreed with everything in her sermon… until he didn’t.

His spine stiffened in surprise when Heda talked of going to the mainland, then glanced at him. They had spoken of this, of course, but those four words at the end made a huge difference: “for a little while.” Heda didn’t say, “for a few days” or even “for a week.” Caracal sensed she intended to leave the island much longer than he’d anticipated.

He took a breath and tried to keep his composure and present a united front, especially in front of everybody else gathered here. But then Caracal made the mistake of looking over at Dinah. He saw tears streaming down her face. Knowing Dinah, it could’ve been literally anything that set her off. In this exact moment, he wondered if she wept about leaving the island so long.

I’m—I have to—I’ll check on Ana, Caracal whispered a bit nonsensically to his wife, avoiding meeting her eyes. “ANA,” he mouthed to anyone who might glance his way, though he likewise avoided looking too closely at anyone as he slunk from the scene.