They hadn't wanted to think about what would happen to them. They'd just wanted to be gone, to start living the life they wanted. But now that the provost was asking, Quanil had to consider it.
"Dad's okay. With one good arm, Mom can still tend to chickens. It's mostly scatter feed and collect eggs as far as the day-to-day goes. Turnips and summer squash have already been planted; the turnips'll be ready to harvest soon, and Kedran can help sort seeds for the late summer planting. It won't be as easy as it used to be, but I think it'll be fine. No one'll talk to the chickens and crops, but everyone thinks I'm crazy for doing that anyway."
It relieved them a little, to actually think about this and work it out. But a literally lost sister still nagged at them.
"Mom taught me to read and do my numbers so I could better haggle with merchants. That's pretty much what Freina's been doing. So, if she's lost, then they'll be back to relying on Mom for that, or maybe Dad."
They risked looking up at the provost of the Loreseekers' Guild, the person Quanil considered the Loreseeker. "Fields folk are hardy, adaptable, and... and used to losing people abruptly." Maybe not in their specific family, but plenty of others had done so. "My parents fight about me, about it being Mom's fault that I'm so curious and want to learn, about how I can possibly be their kid. I heard Mom suggest to Dad once that maybe I'm cursed." Their eyes fell back to the pin, to the symbol of everything they'd wanted.
"They can just tell everyone I never made it out of the festival. I know they'll be sad, because even if it doesn't feel like it to them, I am their kid. But I really do think they'll be relieved, too, because they never knew how to... handle my existence. They didn't know how to relate to me, even though they're my relations. I made things awkward for them. Mourning me is easier; everyone knows how to do that by now."
"Dad's okay. With one good arm, Mom can still tend to chickens. It's mostly scatter feed and collect eggs as far as the day-to-day goes. Turnips and summer squash have already been planted; the turnips'll be ready to harvest soon, and Kedran can help sort seeds for the late summer planting. It won't be as easy as it used to be, but I think it'll be fine. No one'll talk to the chickens and crops, but everyone thinks I'm crazy for doing that anyway."
It relieved them a little, to actually think about this and work it out. But a literally lost sister still nagged at them.
"Mom taught me to read and do my numbers so I could better haggle with merchants. That's pretty much what Freina's been doing. So, if she's lost, then they'll be back to relying on Mom for that, or maybe Dad."
They risked looking up at the provost of the Loreseekers' Guild, the person Quanil considered the Loreseeker. "Fields folk are hardy, adaptable, and... and used to losing people abruptly." Maybe not in their specific family, but plenty of others had done so. "My parents fight about me, about it being Mom's fault that I'm so curious and want to learn, about how I can possibly be their kid. I heard Mom suggest to Dad once that maybe I'm cursed." Their eyes fell back to the pin, to the symbol of everything they'd wanted.
"They can just tell everyone I never made it out of the festival. I know they'll be sad, because even if it doesn't feel like it to them, I am their kid. But I really do think they'll be relieved, too, because they never knew how to... handle my existence. They didn't know how to relate to me, even though they're my relations. I made things awkward for them. Mourning me is easier; everyone knows how to do that by now."
