Was it even worth thinking about how much had happened since the fay woman last set paw in this territory? No. Orin reminded herself. No, it was not worth thinking about. Still she couldn't banish the toxic thoughts from her mind – attack, blood, murder, rape, identity, darkness, fear... terror... terror... Damning thoughts. Her family would never be complete. She would never be whole again. Something was taken from her that would never grow back. Damn the scar on her arm, what had been done to her body, the false appearance, the lies, the hiding. It was all something she could live through. The one thing the Takekuro girl could not survive, though, was the murder of Demetrius, her son. Not alone, anyway.
A soft yip at her side brought Orin back to her senses, and her wheat-gold eyes turned to gaze down at the white and silvery-gray pup that sat by her side. The girl stared up at her distant mother, pink tongue lolling out of the side her her mouth in anticipation. No, I could never have done it alone, Orin though as she knelt down to hug her daughter, only to have the creamsicle girl nose under her arm a moment later. The girls had survived the ordeal; there was no reason why she shouldn't. And though Orin put few of her problems onto her daughters, they somehow knew how to bring her out of it every time.
“Now, you two need to be on your best behavior,” she said in the traditional, motherly way, holding Juliet back as she tried to steal the hug. Orin did her best to embrace both excited daughters equally.
The two began to talk, both at the same time, but their mother's deft fingers snatched the twin muzzles. “Ah ah ah. None of that right now. I told you little imps already; they don't know we're coming so we need not startle them. We'll find your uncle soon enough.” Orin waited a moment, and then released the snouts, her only response was a couple of emphatic nods.
“That's good. Now, it's raining, and we can't see far, so you two stick with me. We'll eat dinner soon,” she promised as she stood back up to her full height (which, honestly, was not very tall) and started moving down the path again. She did not know where her brother lived anymore, but she knew she and her daughters had made it to the Court. Fate would do the rest.