Solace's question is deflected carelessly - that is enough of an answer - and the fact that she had been proven right is no reward at all. But she doesn't feel anger, it is too late for that, only an acute deepening of the dread which has been haunting her since the plague struck.
'You mean dad,' Valdis corrects, and Solace swallows hard. She feels like the foam on the waves, vapid and disconnected, lacking substance in the shadow of her daughter. She is tossed effortlessly away from her train of thought by this soft admonishment, too easily caught off her guard.
(i thought you had outgrown this, Sol)
He and She had met only twice before the conception of their twins. Before lust had bound them by blood.
The first time they had been children, or at least she had been.
(you were enchanted by him, dreaming of his handsome smile for weeks)
The second time he had ripped her blemishless skin with his claws, perched on top of her as he battled to take control of the dragon he had been hiding.
(you thought it was over)
On the third time, she had gone to confront him, and instead let him sweep her into his embrace and press himself into the untouched places of her. She had felt something very like love for him (it was love, don't change history) just for him to disappear again.
It had made her feel small. It had made her feel expendable.
(Kagerus never made you feel that way)
But these are not things she wants to tell her oldest daughter.
"We were never right for each other." She says instead, unsure of how to defend herself or if she should even try. But Valdis doesn't push the topic and Solace isn't about to linger there. Uptight was far from the worst thing she had been called, and she attempts to regain the control over her emotions she let sip too easily.
Other questions are percolating: bubbling up to the surface only to be suppressed and once again, but she respects her daughter's silence.
(you are foam, she is the wave)
Valdis continues on, telling her of her success in the quest. "Of course you did," she smiles, easily slipping back into the roll of proud mother - even if her child was a woman now. "I should have known not to worry about you," she says, and it would be hard to tell she didn't feel it. Concern for her daughter was the one thing which had drawn her out of Hyaline today.
With that in mind, Solace hesitantly circles back to the topic which won't leave her mind. "I'm proud of you for stepping up to help fight the plague. And I want you to think about coming home, of using some of the fire I know you have to help The Sanctuary." She pauses, gauging the reaction on her daughters face as she speaks as a Queen. "We need strength now more than ever, and you have as much as anyone I know. You could make a name for yourself, if that's what you wanted, I don't think there's anything you couldn't get if you fought for it."
By her side her wings rustle as she shifts, a part of her hoping that Valdis will agree to leave this moment. When she speaks again her tone is softer and as motherly as it has ever been. Titles and crowns were of little value if she couldn't keep her children safe. "Velk or Kota could help you with that cough..."
And whatever comes next, she doesn't add out loud.
we are the ever-living ghost of what once was
@[Valdis] I know you have plans, but thought i would give her a little something to wrestle with
