Ankyra Sound there's an oily brine bilgewater baptism waiting below

a shuffle of pawsteps, and a girl approached. she was. . .unsettling, with those large eyes staring at him, much like an owl.

an owl. he remembered bastean—those brittle bones—and felt bile rise up into his throat.

but she did not ask "who?", but "why?", and his glassy gaze rested on her face for a few long moments before he finally responded:

i wish i knew.

then another child, a boy, appeared, looking far warier as he sidled up protectively against what must be his sister. no words from this one, just that hard expression. mistrust. perhaps some anger.

ki moun ou ye? lafayette queried, brow furrowing a bit. not his siblings, nor cousins—at least that he knew of. sobeille had taken in the seal-children recently.

were these more orphans on sapphique's doorstep?