Lion Head Mesa all i want for christmas is

Disa placed her paw on the cold little girl.

"Her," she repeated. Gently, taking the utmost care, she scooped the unmade life into her mouth and stole away into the dark.

She was given a name and a funeral.

The garden soil was soft from compost activity, and it did not take Disa long to dig a first and final cradle by the south wall. Hard-won gifts accompanied Serein's firstborn on her journey back into earth. A strip of bark from the Heartwood. A glimmering stone from Luneshale Pass. A perfectly preserved specimen of sacred datura, wickedly poisonous, destined to grow that spring -  and spread and thrive and flower bright, long past the end of Disa's life and the bloodlines of Verapaz.

Nightshade, the gifter had called it.

Disa breathed one last breath in the child's soft ear, then covered her in duvet of still-steaming soil.

Nightshade slept eternal, held close by the garden of poisons.