06-22-2009, 12:52 PM
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357.
He heard the pain in her voice, and knew then that everything he had ever believed about her was true. Despite the fact that Kaena had been (and perhaps still was) a monster, she was his mother, and she loved her children above all else. She had loved Eris enough to abandon the others to try and save her from a man who claimed he was a demon. Perhaps if she had loved him, just a little bit more, she might have come after him as well. Resentment burned low in his belly, something that had been present since the day he had realized just how close he actually had been to home.
Then again, he had not abandoned his duties to go after her. “I don’t know if Samael is dead,” he said flatly, feet making a rhythmic noise against the packed earth. It was settling, much in the way the distant roar of the ocean was. But the Waste itself made its own music, between the tall grass and the wind, and this settled him as few things could. Silence was the most unsettling noise he could imagine, which was why Gabriel continued to speak. “A disease tore through here last winter. Took out an entire pack. Ahren caught it too; he went completely insane, from what I saw of it. I think Samael caught the same disease…he was staggering around here before he took off. I saw him a few months ago. He didn’t know who I was. I haven’t seen him since, but he was in a bad way.”
Gabriel shrugged, and fell silent. For the longest time, his face turned dark and stormy, and he struggled with what to say. It had been necessary to kill the boy…but it had been her son. Then, quite suddenly, Gabriel stopped walking. He stood there, staring at his mother’s scarred, worn face, and found that the impulse to lie was not strong enough to defeat the need to tell her that it had been his fault. It had been his right. “I killed Andre,” he proclaimed, and found there was no regret in his tone.
He heard the pain in her voice, and knew then that everything he had ever believed about her was true. Despite the fact that Kaena had been (and perhaps still was) a monster, she was his mother, and she loved her children above all else. She had loved Eris enough to abandon the others to try and save her from a man who claimed he was a demon. Perhaps if she had loved him, just a little bit more, she might have come after him as well. Resentment burned low in his belly, something that had been present since the day he had realized just how close he actually had been to home.
Then again, he had not abandoned his duties to go after her. “I don’t know if Samael is dead,” he said flatly, feet making a rhythmic noise against the packed earth. It was settling, much in the way the distant roar of the ocean was. But the Waste itself made its own music, between the tall grass and the wind, and this settled him as few things could. Silence was the most unsettling noise he could imagine, which was why Gabriel continued to speak. “A disease tore through here last winter. Took out an entire pack. Ahren caught it too; he went completely insane, from what I saw of it. I think Samael caught the same disease…he was staggering around here before he took off. I saw him a few months ago. He didn’t know who I was. I haven’t seen him since, but he was in a bad way.”
Gabriel shrugged, and fell silent. For the longest time, his face turned dark and stormy, and he struggled with what to say. It had been necessary to kill the boy…but it had been her son. Then, quite suddenly, Gabriel stopped walking. He stood there, staring at his mother’s scarred, worn face, and found that the impulse to lie was not strong enough to defeat the need to tell her that it had been his fault. It had been his right. “I killed Andre,” he proclaimed, and found there was no regret in his tone.