Fox's Glade and who shall wear the starry crown?

She spoke words of happiness, at which he smiled; he found himself happy to be where he was, to have reached a point in his life now where he felt at ease. There were no serpents lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike—it was only his family now, those he cared deeply for and knew he could trust to let his guard down around. No longer was he trapped between worlds, a priest unbelieving of the religion he was supposed to teach, instead now he was himself. Unchained from the shadows and free, now, to live life beneath the soft glow of the sunlight; he felt better, confident again—and the decreased ache in his joints was a noticeable improvement, although he would never be as comfortable in his skin as he was in his youth.

“I hope all goes well for you, too, Maegi,” he returned. “You deserve all that is good in this world.” It would never even the scales after all she had gone through but it would be a start, at least—or perhaps not, as more ill news spilled from her lips, another stone cast at his poor, dear apprentice: a missing child.

“I have not seen any,” he replied with a frown. Had she not gone through enough, and now a child of hers was missing? The poor girl. “But I will keep an eye out,” he continued. “If I find him, I will return him to you myself.” He wondered, though, just how far the child could have gone that his family was now northbound. “I will share the news with those back home, too.” Surely they would help, or at least keep an eye out, too, for any wayward children.