Since the death of her son, she'd been quiet, perhaps brooding. Who was there to comfort her? Lucero had disappeared, her best friend disappeared just like her son's life had. She strove to become a more attentive leader, keeping to the confines of the Glen, though she seemed to neglect the matters of her people, which was likely the key to solving all of her problems. Yet she avoided this like the plague, fearful of what they would say, or what their sad eyes might convey. She didn't want pity, only normalcy. But it felt so wrong to put it behind her. Her darling son whom she had believed so hardily in, who, only weeks before, was certain that the water being frozen meant they would all die. And...And...She had promised him that no one was going to die. She'd lied to him in the worst way. She'd only wanted his utmost happiness, and he'd died alone, and she'd lied to him. Dark lips drew back as she paused in the snow, shoulders pushed back as her throat strangled her emotions.
She saw his pretty blue eyes in her mind, knowing that she would never forget them. She held onto that image for dear life. Tipping her head back, her rump dropped into the snow. She let the cold air in, golden eyes staring into space as her lungs burned. Was it like spitting on his undug grave to accept the slowly settling reality that spring was very nearly here? The whole time she knew what was "wrong". This truth that she wasn't sure she could accept and yet it was her duty. Some strange way of proving that she was dominant by creating new life. But how could she accept that when she could not even support what she had already created? Could she bear losing again?