Cedar Sweep narriḷi

She needed his encouragement and reassurance: guidance for a role and mantle she had only just taken up. She listened eagerly, taking in what he said, but quickly doubted her abilities. The last time she'd been questioned by a subordinate, she'd run away from it all to start anew—that wasn't an option anymore. She would have to face her problems head-on and be direct; to be an issumatar was to be in complete control.

I will be all of that and more, she vowed, looking at her beloved with love in her eyes. Not only for us, but for them. Another body rolled within her, and she took that as a sign. Her children believed in her, too.