they had not returned to akashingo after visiting with the people of the caldera. it was important to follow through with their duty, yet in the time between jawahir had noticed changes to themselves.
hunger pains. dizziness in the morning. an increased appetite but also increased illness; and now, despite poor hunting, their sides had swollen.
sneaking around the palace grounds would only tempt fate. jawahir knew the signs of pregnancy in others -- so when they recognized these within themselves, they became focused. avoidant.
they found refuge in a hovel cut in to the mountain.
hunger pains. dizziness in the morning. an increased appetite but also increased illness; and now, despite poor hunting, their sides had swollen.
sneaking around the palace grounds would only tempt fate. jawahir knew the signs of pregnancy in others -- so when they recognized these within themselves, they became focused. avoidant.
they found refuge in a hovel cut in to the mountain.
February 18, 2022, 11:32 PM
The girl still doesn't understand what happened to bring her here, into this terrible world under an unfamiliar sky. She had forgotten her sister's hiding place and then she had remembered it. Why was she being punished?
She can still see it - her mother and her red-rimmed eyes. I wish it'd been you instead of her. She wept mindlessly, without true comprehension, until her body ran out of tears.
A strange new smell distracts her. Her mind is a freight train and in the distance there is the mechanical groan of a railroad switch as it locks into place. She trails the scent until it brings her to a steep, rocky incline.
She scales the slope.
She can still see it - her mother and her red-rimmed eyes. I wish it'd been you instead of her. She wept mindlessly, without true comprehension, until her body ran out of tears.
A strange new smell distracts her. Her mind is a freight train and in the distance there is the mechanical groan of a railroad switch as it locks into place. She trails the scent until it brings her to a steep, rocky incline.
She scales the slope.
the longing to be pure
is over. you are the stranger
who gets stranger by the hour.
is over. you are the stranger
who gets stranger by the hour.
February 28, 2022, 12:56 PM
The wind was full of caterwauling. The sobs plunged down every slope and erupted over the crest of the ridge, to where Jawahir had cloistered themselves. The courtesan was on high alert. They could not tell the sound of a screaming cat from a crying goat, and there had been sign of both in this place.
Better to stay in the burrow they had dug. Entrench themselves. It had taken hours to reach this place and cut in to the rock so that there could be safety and Jawahir would not leave the burrow unless forced.
On and on the crying went, until it died down to silence.
What was worse than that?
Better to stay in the burrow they had dug. Entrench themselves. It had taken hours to reach this place and cut in to the rock so that there could be safety and Jawahir would not leave the burrow unless forced.
On and on the crying went, until it died down to silence.
What was worse than that?
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