03-22-2019, 12:35 AM
There was a twinkle of pride in her eye. "Very good, Seda. Self-forgiveness is the hardest step. One that I, too, struggle with, even now, years after my own failures."
She reached over to the satchel with her left hand and holds it into the air. She upends the bag, emptying its contents. A dozen or more stones, each a different color, shape, size than the rest. They spill out onto the snow before her before they, too, hover into the air, surrounding the air around Khojin. Her face grows somber.
"We all have forgivenesses that we must accept. Some are harder to grasp than others. These are but a few of my own burdens. The souls that have been lost to my mistakes."
A blue stone, and two smaller green stones spin before her eyes.
"Arasen. Alaqa. Ajai. Cota's family. Arasen and Alaqa gave their lives to protect me when I betrayed my clan for love. Ajai when Hinanjo was destroyed."
Another, a deep violet stone that had lines of red that coursed through it.
"Saran. My only sister. You remember her from Hinanjo as well. Perhaps the only woman whose face was... recognized as less-inviting than my own."
The stones joined the dance among the others.
"Few among many forgivenesses which burden me... but their weight is to not to be compared to your own. You and I, Seda, are the same. Two souls in this world, burdened by their own sins, struggling to grasp the forgivenesses that bind them to their sorrow. But we must, all the same."
Khojin reached a hand out. A beautiful orange stone floated down and landed within her open, pale palm. The stone shone like Pumpkin's eyes - and like Reydan's.
Her eyes met Seda's as her hand gently wrapped around the stone in her hand, tenderly caressing it. A single tear escaped the corner of Khojin's eye and fell into the snow, melting a small portion before freezing.
"Will you grasp this forgiveness that binds you, Seda? Will you begin the process of breaking this seal upon your soul?"
---
Quietly, Suke, Lunis's arms wrapped around her neck, ducked out of the house. She was wearing heavier furs than she had entered with, as promised. Quietly, she scooted over to a nearby tree, its boughs bare of leaf, and sat nearby, sitting the toddler in her lap. Both of them watched the two as the mystic ritual continued with a quiet pall of reverence.
"What are they doing?" Lunis asked quietly.
She smiled. Young Lunis was still learning how to sign; indeed, he was still learning to speak Common and the Xaelan tongue, and even a bit of Doman. He didn't quite understand that Suke couldn't speak, but he never seemed to be upset.
She simply signed down to the little boy in his lap. "Make Seda Happy."
Lunis nodded, and then turned back to watch his mother and Seda. "Okay. Good. Seda's smile is pure. Mother will bring it back."
Suke beamed and nodded. "Yes," she signed. "It is beautiful. Mother will do it."
Leave it to little Lunis to say what I feel upon my heart, Suke said. Seda deserved nothing less than to smile that pure, beautiful smile for the rest of her life.
She reached over to the satchel with her left hand and holds it into the air. She upends the bag, emptying its contents. A dozen or more stones, each a different color, shape, size than the rest. They spill out onto the snow before her before they, too, hover into the air, surrounding the air around Khojin. Her face grows somber.
"We all have forgivenesses that we must accept. Some are harder to grasp than others. These are but a few of my own burdens. The souls that have been lost to my mistakes."
A blue stone, and two smaller green stones spin before her eyes.
"Arasen. Alaqa. Ajai. Cota's family. Arasen and Alaqa gave their lives to protect me when I betrayed my clan for love. Ajai when Hinanjo was destroyed."
Another, a deep violet stone that had lines of red that coursed through it.
"Saran. My only sister. You remember her from Hinanjo as well. Perhaps the only woman whose face was... recognized as less-inviting than my own."
The stones joined the dance among the others.
"Few among many forgivenesses which burden me... but their weight is to not to be compared to your own. You and I, Seda, are the same. Two souls in this world, burdened by their own sins, struggling to grasp the forgivenesses that bind them to their sorrow. But we must, all the same."
Khojin reached a hand out. A beautiful orange stone floated down and landed within her open, pale palm. The stone shone like Pumpkin's eyes - and like Reydan's.
Her eyes met Seda's as her hand gently wrapped around the stone in her hand, tenderly caressing it. A single tear escaped the corner of Khojin's eye and fell into the snow, melting a small portion before freezing.
"Will you grasp this forgiveness that binds you, Seda? Will you begin the process of breaking this seal upon your soul?"
---
Quietly, Suke, Lunis's arms wrapped around her neck, ducked out of the house. She was wearing heavier furs than she had entered with, as promised. Quietly, she scooted over to a nearby tree, its boughs bare of leaf, and sat nearby, sitting the toddler in her lap. Both of them watched the two as the mystic ritual continued with a quiet pall of reverence.
"What are they doing?" Lunis asked quietly.
She smiled. Young Lunis was still learning how to sign; indeed, he was still learning to speak Common and the Xaelan tongue, and even a bit of Doman. He didn't quite understand that Suke couldn't speak, but he never seemed to be upset.
She simply signed down to the little boy in his lap. "Make Seda Happy."
Lunis nodded, and then turned back to watch his mother and Seda. "Okay. Good. Seda's smile is pure. Mother will bring it back."
Suke beamed and nodded. "Yes," she signed. "It is beautiful. Mother will do it."
Leave it to little Lunis to say what I feel upon my heart, Suke said. Seda deserved nothing less than to smile that pure, beautiful smile for the rest of her life.