The sweat darkening the snow-white portions of her daughter's pelt, the alarm in her eyes, and the ragged gasps of night air she hungrily swallows; It is more than enough to stir panic in the queen's breast. Valdis presses her head against her mother's neck, Solace reaches to drape a wing across her back, fearing the worst and pulling her close.
But she had always been practical in her fear, and she hides her distress with the artful elegance of a travel-worn leader when Valdis steps back to relay her message. A frantic mother in hysterics would be of no help to anyone.
"Voices?" The pale gold-and-alabaster woman repeats, each statement Valdis makes only adding to her confusion. But Valdi's demeanor, so different than the last time they met, is what concerns her more than her words. Solace works to put the pieces together and she doesn't interrupt again, tucking away the strange scent of brimstone which clings to the girl's skin.
She follows her daughter's gaze at her final revelation, and this is the information that helps her to begin to grasp what is going on.
Claws.
Her heart rate slows, as she takes a deep breath, the bits of political news mixed in with the flurry of information barely even having registered. "I think that is a bit of your father showing through." She replies, her body visibly relaxing. "For many years he could only shift parts of his body, and those claws look a lot like his." Her cerulean eyes lift again to meet their matching set. "But the voices, he never spoke of anything like that. Is there a time or place when they are stronger?" She questions Valdis intently, but she doesn't bother to hide the relief she feels the way she had her distress.
"That both of these things started happening at the same time makes me think it's more likely some sort of magic than you... losing your mind." Still she reaches out to brush her muzzle across her daughter's fair cheek for comfort, still feeling the residual tingle of her adrenaline surge, and hoping that she is not wrong.
we are the ever-living ghost of what once was
