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Tayui nodded in reply, weighing her thoughts. She was half glad her sister had refused her offer, since accepting it would be out of the “norm” Tayui associated with Aurèle. But at the same time, she wanted any excuse to spend a bit of time with her sister. They were family and no matter what Aurèle did, nothing could change that. Tayui was too firmly dedicated to the idea of maintaining some semblance of family in AniWaya. Now that she had lost it, she wanted to keep what was left.
She was surprised to hear that Aurèle had ventured north. As far as Tayui knew, there was nothing there. And from what her sister said, all that was left was charred ash and dead earth. Tayui nodded, sad that she would be unable to return to Ashen Mountain. Even though she had a home in AniWaya, she still considered Jaded Shadows to be where she grew up. It had been her true home. And it had even been hers.
Tayui scrambled to remember her French, trying to recall words and phrases to mind as her sister spoke. She recognized the sounds and had a few ideas as to the meaning of the words, but was not entirely sure. It had been years since she had used French. Although she tried to impart some of her knowledge to her children, only Claudius had taken to it.
“The fire happened two years ago, I think. I guess it’ll still be some time before it is ever inhabitable again,” she replied, frowning. She could return to Ashen Mountain later, but Jaded Shadows would be no more. It was not the lands she missed, but the luperci and the memories. They had been her family, and it did not surprise her that it pained her to think of them like that. She had lost them.