Hoshor Plains We picked up the shards and formed them into shapes of stars

The blackbear laughed as Sumac congratulated her, charmed by his enthusiasm. She was glad that he was happy, but still: "We'll have to see if it takes!" she laughed, but his excitement was catching. Either way, she would carry herself now with the assumption that she was nurturing new life.

They settled down beneath the stars. Her boys were on her mind — Dutch and Valiant were both somewhere nearby, and she still felt a powerful need to lay eyes on them before moving on once more. For the moment, however, she was content to lie down and enjoy a cold winter night. She listened to Sumac's lullaby and thought she might even be able to drift off to such a thing, but instead she hung on to wakefulness so as to memorize every word.

"It's pretty," she said when it was done, earnest in her assessment. "You have a lovely voice."

Easy wasn't a talented singer herself, although she still loved to belt out a song every now and then. She was glad that her children had inherited their father's voice rather than her own. What would these ones be like?

"Did you spend any more time with Minnow while I was gone?" she asked, her tone nonchalant.