In Disbelief, I Didn't Know (EBONY)

Walk | Talk | Think

She smiled as her daughter leaned against her, feeling how much Anais had grown since she was smaller. She may have grown a lot since then, may have acted very differently than Tahlia wished her to most of the time, but still she acted like a child, giving her mother little moments to indulge in her girl's sweetness. And it was made all the more delightful when Lior arrived, coming to sit on Tahlia's other side. She smiled at her little grey girl too, reaching down to nuzzle her gently atop her head. "Wonderful to see you too, darling," the happy mother whispered, righting herself and sitting up to pay attention to those who were still arriving. Bane and the boys arrived after a bit and settled around her and the girls, a nip given to her ear by her husband. With everyone together, she settled and waited, watching and listening.

She recognized Vaughan as he walked onto the scene, catching the concerning look about his face, and then heard as he spoke heartbreakingly to Katja, asking after their absent queen. Now that he mentioned it, Raisa had yet to arrive, though Tahlia at first thought little of it. She supposed leadership must have been a particularly challenging and time consuming occupation, but as her gaze shifted across the faces of the woman's children and Katja again she began to reconsider.

Katja began the meeting without the normal ceremony Tahlia was accustomed to, and the news she delivered was that more shocking for it. Raisa, gone? That hardly sounded right. She may not have been there at the front of everything that went on inside Ebony but she had always been there, tending to her personal business while still doing her part to make her presence known around the pack. What could have driven her away? She frowned, puzzled, and continued to listen as the changes to the pack that were to be made were stated, name changes and nothing more. Though she had rather liked the simplicity of the rank setup, Tahlia said nothing, and continued to stay silent when the topic of promotions was breached. She may have liked a higher rank, but asking seemed too...pretentious. No, she could wait, would wait, and accept whatever was offered to her.

She glanced to look at her family and immediately noted the absence of Lior where she had been beside her. Her gaze traveled swiftly about, her single functioning eye searching for her, and found her seated beside Adelaide. Tahlia relaxed, trusting the woman enough to see little wrong with her daughter seeking her out, and paid no more attention than that. Instead she turned her head toward her husband, nuzzling his cheek as he kissed hers, sure that their family, after everything they had so far been through, could weather through this as well.