And the Cat's in the Cradle

*Valentine* · 03-04-2019, 10:57 PM

Of course Rhyme wanted to know about his grandparents, one of Valentine's least favorite subjects. He'd deliberately not told any of his younger children about them because he wanted them both to be forgotten. It seemed a fitting end for wolves who had so thoroughly fucked up the lives of those they professed to hold dear. The oldest litter had met Cataleya and Valentine's youngest siblings, but the rest had been spared from having to endure them.

Valentine answered honestly. "Because they're not worth mentioning." Really and truly they weren't. As a young adult Valentine had tried to earn his mother's affection and he had found out quite quickly that she was incapable of it. She'd left Boreas without so much as word; abandoning her children much like Valentine's father had done. It was ironic, really, that Cataleya had done the very thing she'd lambasted Taurig over.

"When I was a child my mother took me to my father and left me with him. A few months later he abandoned me. Just took off; no explanation, no attempt to return me to my mother. I grew up alone. As a yearling I reconnected with my mother but she was never..." He thought back to one of their first encounters, how at ease she'd been when she threatened to harm him over something trivial. "Never a mother to me. So I made a name for myself, the Imperialis name. Something that was mine." Valentine snorted a quiet, sardonic chuckle. "And then she too disappeared and proved I made the right decision."

Valentine lapsed into thoughtful silence for a moment before continuing, "In general surnames tell others at a glance what an individual is worth. Where they're from, who made them the men and women they are. What they stand for." Names were fragile things. Sadly, it was all too easy for one individual to destroy the reputation established by his or her ancestors. Valentine was well aware of that fact. "My name means a great deal to me. I've worked hard to make it synonymous with strength. It is the thing that will live on long after I'm gone."

"My father was a deadbeat and my mother a heartless bitch, and I didn't want someone to look at me and think of them and all of their fuck ups." The thought of being associated with Taurig or Cataleya annoyed him. As an individual he was stronger than they ever were and the family he had made, while flawed, was one Valentine wouldn't trade for the world.

"Don't dwell on them, Rhyme, they aren't worth it. What matters now is our family and," Valentine's thoughts drifted to The Situation, but he brought them back quickly. Not the time. "The strength of the name we give to our descendants."

""

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