life after loss

She felt only one true reason to keep living, and it was not to be found in the Hallows. While she had managed to relax a little she knew she didn’t belong in Auster anymore than she belonged in the Armada. Ulric and Tamsyn weren’t about to hold her against her will, and as far as she was concerned they met out any promise they had made. Deathbelle was alive and healthy when Tamsyn wished her good luck and returned once they reached Habari’s border. The days she was gone felt like an eternity. When everyday was a challenge to get through days felt like weeks.

Deathbelle didn’t know if or when Sirius had met with Recluse so the once Empress stopped at the border. Hesitating now that she was alone for the first time since.. She tried not to think about it because that only made her decision harder. Return to Habari, to her niece and to her children, or turn and disappear. No one would ever know where she went, she’d dissolve into memory and would slowly be forgotten. It sounded peaceful and alluring compared to the fight that it took to face her mistakes. To try and fight for her children.

Instead of making a real decision she lowered herself to her haunches and hung her head as the sun set over the pack lands. She lowered her gaze in reverence to the mountain that had ultimately been the beginning of her undoing and sat in silence.