i sat with my anger long enough she told me her real name was grief
"My brother is Ascended." It's something she hasn't told many - perhaps any - in Stormbreak, and now she glances sidelong at Finn, wondering how he'll react to the confession. "His - our - father - and his mother - told him to do it when he was young. That it would make him stringers and happier." She shrugs, having come to terms with the fact that at the end, Sam made this choice. It's what comes next that angers her, makes her set her jaw.
"The Voice kept asking too much of her children. Last year, he told me he was going to leave her. Did leave- and she punished him for it. Took away his strength and abilities, so he began to waste away." She'd been so proud of him; the sting of disappointment still tastes bitter in her mouth. Her arms tighten around her knees, fingers rubbing irately over her calves. "So he went back to her. Because it was either that or death. That's what I mean when I say they're trapped."
She moves beside Finn as he takes a book, peering into the faded pages with all the innocent and keen interest of a would-have-been librarian. "Properly Ascended, or one of the prototypes?" Amalia asks, tone distantly thoughtful. "Maybe the Spire Demon or the LongNight monsters? They're said to be early creations of hers. Or the P- the, um, creature who lives under the Grounds."
"The Voice kept asking too much of her children. Last year, he told me he was going to leave her. Did leave- and she punished him for it. Took away his strength and abilities, so he began to waste away." She'd been so proud of him; the sting of disappointment still tastes bitter in her mouth. Her arms tighten around her knees, fingers rubbing irately over her calves. "So he went back to her. Because it was either that or death. That's what I mean when I say they're trapped."
She moves beside Finn as he takes a book, peering into the faded pages with all the innocent and keen interest of a would-have-been librarian. "Properly Ascended, or one of the prototypes?" Amalia asks, tone distantly thoughtful. "Maybe the Spire Demon or the LongNight monsters? They're said to be early creations of hers. Or the P- the, um, creature who lives under the Grounds."
Amalia
