as long as she's alive, you're not alone

The boy's voice was shaking, hiccups interrupting his speech. Dagrún didn't recognize the name but as soon as the boy began the description of his mother and mentioned the ram horns she knew exactly who he was talking about. Dag grimaced. "Ahh, shit." That matched the description of one of the patients in Ethne. The poor woman had been jumped and beaten and as far as Dag was aware the woman was in piss poor shape, unlikely to survive. Of course she'd have kids, Ethne seemed to be a magnet for tragedy and violence lately.

"Listen kid, she's with our healers but she's hurt bad, really bad. I'll take you to see her but don't expect any sort of welcome. Last I heard she was still out cold."  Dagrún stood and turned back toward the packlands, waiting for awhile in case the boy needed a moment to process the news.