Speed of Change

He didn't speak, but the shake of his shoulders and his down-turned face was a pose she had recently become all too familiar with. He was still a boy. On the cusp of his adulthood, so much had happened to him all within the span of barely two seasons. She was still young herself, She had barely touched her own adulthood on the day Basilisk had claimed her. Now she was Consort, fiancee, and new mother. Their lives had run in opposite directions and his exuberant joy had been ripped from him by the handfuls of all he had come across. Even her...

She laid her head down over her paws with a sympathetic whine. There was nothing she could say that would soothe him. She reached a golden paw out across the floor. Inviting him to touch it. She didn't know if he'd accept a hug from her just now, but this young man really needed one, he just needed someone to stay with him.

"Ignita"