Ouroboros Spine old habits die screaming

As they sat, Vairë looked over her sister. Still young, but a mother now in her own right. Part of her wanted to soften, wanted to open her arms just as anaa did, embrace her sister and all the hurts and let them go. It was the rest of her that was the problem, wrapping her heart in a spiked shell, keeping her mind and emotions distant.

I have many questions. She said in reply, instead of accepting the apology, because she could not in good faith accept it quite yet.

Perhaps most pressing. She leaned forward, as if to whisper a secret.

Why? In her voice, all she could hear was a child’s cry, a new mother’s weeping, and the silent hurt she carried on her shoulders felt almost physical.