Eyes Closed

The little wraith made her way weaving among the towering trees that had once belonged to her family. They still belonged to them - now they simply did not have the ability to keep others out any longer. There were traces here and there of her sisters' scents, and her mother's, but Laufey and her brother still had not been returned to them. Without their strength and her uncle's wily loyalty, the Finnvi simply could not continue to hold Yfir. Her mother's sightlessness made her more burden than leader now, so nothing held the family together anymore. Alfrun certainly could not - she was no leader, no warrior. She was a godi, a priest, and while that was important and necessary a godi should not be alpha. One could not devote the proper attention both to the spiritual, and the mundane.

Pausing in the bowl beneath a tree, she considered her sisters. Would any of them take up the mantle of leadership? It was not likely, she decided. They had each of them chosen a path towards independence, not leadership, and it would take a strong leader to bind them together once more. She tilted her head thoughtfully. No one of her generation showed interest, yet Katja had given herself to Odinn to create the children who would be the Finnvi future. Perhaps they were not meant to lead the family themselves, but to birth those who would.

It was an interesting thought, but she could not see any of her sisters taking to the idea of playing broodmare with anything approaching enthusiasm. She, though, who had already given her life to the gods, would she be willing to dare offer herself to them as consort? She touched her tongue lightly to the twisted deformation of her palate, the crooked teeth, the gap in her lip. She would be willing, certainly, to do what she must to preserve her family and their rule... but would the gods not be offended by being offered a stunted, deformed consort such as she, their priestess? Perhaps she should seek more knowledge of the gods' feelings in this - did they not, after all, form her as she was?

She let her delicate body lower to the soft ground, her gaze turned inward and thoughtful as she considered the future of her family.