you're the pulse that I've always needed (any)

[Errant]

when my time comes around lay me gently in the cold dark earth There is no need to confirm the answer to her question, but Errant nods regardless. It must be such a strange thing to grasp, that death had occurred and then – all of a sudden – it had not. That is the type of magic that Errant does not understand and knows that he had best not try; that is the type of magic that might drive him mad. He’s pulled from that dark thought by her second question, and he answers with a single word: “Kars.” The green stallion is long gone from Beqanna and Errant hopes that he is dead. He hopes, too, that the death had been painful and horribly drawn out, but eve that would not be enough of a punishment for his sins. He waits as Lea reconciles herself with the time that has passed, knowing that such a feat must not be easy. He is patient though, and understands when the first thing that she asks about is the child. “I’ve not seen any of them in years,” he says, but that is with his physical eyes. They both know that he knows where they are, and Errant tells her. “Fracta, Abigael, and Ianto have left Beqanna. Aena has a family of her own near the Gates. Carys and Laiken are alive.” He’s not looked for them overmuch, well aware that with their dark coats they would have reminded him far too much of their mother. “Lyric ruled the Dale after you,” he says, neglecting for now the intermediate magical queens. They were not important, after all. “She passed away in childbirth several years ago.” That hurts to say, but it is better than keeping it inside. “We’re grandparents fifteen times over, and great grandparents as well.” She asks about the Dale, and Errant tells her that “Tiphon rules here now.” Then she asks a question that Errant is not entirely sure how to answer. Had he been the one to save her? She’d not called out during a period of his concentrated effort (though those occurred only every few months, and more recently – years. “I don’t know,” he finally admits, “But does it really matter? You’re back now.” And he has no intention of ever letting her go again. e r r a n t no grave can hold my body down i'll crawl home to her