Sleep, and I Shall Soothe You

phoebe Sleep and I shall soothe you, calm you, and annoint you Phoebe was keeping it together through most of his retort, standing there quietly, holding his gaze. As he repeated a summary of her words back to her, she supposed it did sound rather cowardly in a way. But to her, it was simply the truth. Neither of them had the ability to change any of this. Period. End of story. It would be like a rabbit trying to fight back against a mountain lion. It was pointless. But then he said he didn’t feel comfortable leaving the children with her, and her whole demeanor changed. It was as if he had stabbed her in the gut and twisted, the look of shock on her face akin to betrayal, jaw slack and lips parted. She was a midwife for Frey’s sake – there could be no greater insult than to say she couldn’t be trusted with the care of children! Tears anew welled in her eyes and she covered her mouth with one hand, the other arm wrapping around her torso to cover the imaginary stab wound. For a few moments she just stood there, staring at him in utter shock, having been brought to a complete standstill. Eventually she turned away from him, pressing her hands against the counter to support herself. Phoebe closed her eyes and focused on pulling herself together, though a few errant tears fell to the wooden surface as she hung her head. What would Frey tell her in this moment? That what she felt was what mattered. That sadness was pointless. That her anger was pointless. What she felt was right, where her heart led – that was what mattered. With shoulders still shaking, she turned back to face him, face reddened from holding back tears. But she no longer looked sad – no instead the young midwife looked more determined than ever before. ”You’re wrong, Emmett. People who make a fuss, people who raise hell in the face of a stronger power – those are the people who have their children taken away. I don’t want to fall out with you either, Emmett. I love you, desperately. But for once, I just wish you would listen to me. Zariah is from the same place I am. I know how leadership there worked and if she is anything like them the only reason Chris or Milly would ever be taken from me is after they were torn from my dead hands because you couldn’t set aside your pride for their benefit.” she said, firmly, calmly, with only the slightest waver of emotion. Once again she turned away from him, cutting a slice of pie and plating it. She walked across the room and set it on the table near him, with a soft muttering of, ”Here’s your pie.” before walking out to the sitting room to sit on a chair near her little shrine to Frey.