Homeless

The feel of wood beneath her feet - wood that wasn't bucking and twisting like an ill-trained horse - drew a sigh of relief to the woman's lips.  For a moment, her knees buckled and she wanted to do nothing more than sit and relax and take refuge in the steady, solid feel of the docks.  The desire didn't last long, however.  The stench of the city wrinkled her nose and the sounds of drunkards in the nearby taverns had her hand tightening around her willful young son's.  Despite struggling to carry her ill daughter, and the typical curiosity of young children, she tugged him along towards the gates.

There were faces here she did not want to see, people she did not want to speak to.  And try as she might, standing on the docks brought his memory to mind.

~*~

Winter snow fell on her hair and about her shoulders as she stood on the docks.  He stood there, not too far away, swathed in white until nothing but his blue eyes could be seen.  If it weren't for her nose and the ache in her breast, she'd have walked right past him without a thought.

Everything in her wanted to cry, to plead, to stay.  But there was something beneath it all.  The same willpower that'd kept her alive through many a bitter Darkfall held her shoulders back, her chin up, and allowed her to look him square in the eye.

Then she'd turned and boarded the ship, intending never to return.

~*~

Yet here she was...

Her bare toes curled into the sand of the beach as she released the lad's hand and sent him scurrying off to dance in the surf beneath the warmth of the setting suns.  Her daughter slept feverishly in her arms, giving her plenty of time to think while she watched her son with an aching heart.  He looked so much like his father...

The Gods were cruel.  She'd always known it and They'd proven it time and time again and, now, once more there was proof - as if she needed it.  Not only did They tear him from her, they refused to allow her to actually keep that distance.  They tried to seal her fate, to force her in line.  They tried, and she was firmly convinced They would continue to try.

She turned her head to look back at the looming city walls as the last rays of the sun drifted away.

In that instant, the mournful reflections on her past ceased.  Hugging the red-haired little girl close, she turned east with a defiant determination. She could, and she would, carve a niche for her children, somewhere away from the shadows of her past.