Wheeling Gull Isle vanyan sòlda

a weariness dredged from deep in mireille's marrow had smudged deeper hollows around her eyes, which glittered with a fine emerald fire as she turned wind-swept head to face the boy.
he did not want to bother her. and yet he did. 
but at the mention of meerkat, mireille's expression hardened. "your sister chose a man over de pack. i expect dat be where she is. i did not see him on de cliffs. but den i saw very little before i came here."
she had loved meerkat but there was no room for love now. the sea-woman dragged her gaze back to the sea, stance strong and somehow filled with the anticipation which had been her only comfort as of late.
"so you be caracal." mireille did not ask, only pulled his name from somewhere's memory. "meerkat be your sister. who be your da?"
pain in that, in knowing she had lost a father under all this too. the bear aside, the young obsidian's world had been thrashed to bits, starting with njord.