the maddest woman this town has ever seen

Sohalia

Soh couldn't pretend to understand what Noe was going through, but she had tried on those late nights when Noe's nightmares had woken her, and she'd gone to check on the girl to find her thrashing, tangled in bedsheets and terrified. Sometimes, she was afraid that the Family had come to take her away again. Other times, she refused to talk about what she'd dreamed. Somehow, Noe had seemed to separate Vox from the Family, and she mourned his loss even as she celebrated the Family's departure. It was... strange.

"There's no rush," Soh pointed out. "Even if we took Stormbreak back tomorrow... you can still take your time to decide." As long as Noe was safe, that was all that mattered. And for now, she was.

fin

these aching memories still dance around me