The Secrets That You Keep
Mama Tam
05-02-2021, 09:54 PM
Tamsyn turned back to him with such a start that it shocked Artorias, almost not fully registering the big fraud of a smile on her face between that and her glassy eyes that betrayed her lie. Then, all at once, Tam's facade buckled under itself, and his strong, loving mother dropped the phony smile and slumped against the parapet surrounding the tower's edge. He could see his mother's smaller, sleeker form quivering with the effort of each sob that rocked her. Artorias didn't wait to move closer to his weeping mother, brows knitted tightly together in concern and his breath held in his chest. What was going on? Was the weight and grief of their situation just getting to her? He could understand that, the tension had become almost unbearable with Resin's suffering. He had to remind himself that, although she was his mother, she was also Tamsyn's mate. They shared a connection far more intimate. It couldn't be any easier for her than it was for him or his siblings.
Artorias moved up closer to Tamsyn and rubbed his side against hers in a comforting nuzzle to announce his presence beside her. He leaned his muzzle down to his smaller mother's face, ginger licks swiping away the tears on her cheeks, being extremely careful around her scarring wounds on the right side of her face. He looked at her with such heart wrenching sorrow and empathy. This was what Sirius had been talking about when he said the hardest thing to do was watch other wolves fight their battles with things he couldn't attack. He wanted to fight his mother's sorrow, to tear it to shreds and obliterate it so she could smile more genuinely again. Art just wanted her to be happy again.
"It's gonna be okay, Mama," he spoke softly, moving to date a foreleg across his mother's heaving shoulders to bring her into a loving embrace against his side. He knew it wouldn't be okay. He knew what the outcome of their situation would be. Whether it came in a day, a week, a month, a year... it would only turn out one way. But he could be strong for her, help keep her standing tall and push through the pain. Tamsyn was never alone as long as Artorias and the rest of their family was around. "Did something happen...?" he asked, still trying to figure out what had broken his mother's final resolve. She had been so stressed and angry when she came home yesterday, and although there was still some tension between him and her, it didn't diminish his care or concern for his mother.