Ankyra Sound whitecaps and driftwood

Illness had kept Aktaiê from being as present on her borders and throughout her territories as she might have liked; a respiratory cough and small fever that drained her of energy. She had left Ankyra under the diligent gaze of Caiaphas, thinking little of giving so much responsibility to one so new to their order. Perhaps it had been the fever, but it was true that the dark woman had done much for their claim on the Sound... far more than her own blood had. It was that fact that concerned her most; that those loyal to her from Themiscrya were slowly drifting away as if on currents.

Her temperature had finally broken, and the matriarch emerged from her den; the time of isolation had afforded her the peace to divine the Sea's Will from the whispering of Her waves; to seek guidance in the phases of Mother Moon, and the movements of the tide. Aktaiê trailed gently along the lapping shallows, her steps as graceful as they ever had been, though perhaps slow. Her stomach was upset, and she sought strands of seaweed along the shore.