and as you leave there are children playing at your feet

Losing her mom was so hard. Poem at the same time was consumed by the thoughts of loss and desperate to be rid of them. In the hours and days following the news Poem had spent as much time with her sister and father as she could, they were all similarly broken and showed this in different ways. Their family was never going to be the same again, and the weight of sorrow pushed Poem lower than she had ever experienced. Her childhood was officially over, and her adult life was quickly sweeping her up and away.

Being back in Abaven lands, even if it was horribly temporary, was the one good thing. She had Motif back beside her, but she wanted her mother. She left Rhyme and Motif sleeping, needing to get some air and collect her thoughts alone. In a few days she would need to return to Ashen and live out the rest of her debt to the Warlord. She hated leaving her family, but had to be thankful for the time she was allowed.

Poem sighed heavily as her tall form walked the ashen borders of Abaven, her thoughts on a time when she paced these same paths with Shaye. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she quietly mourned her mother alone.