Badalle sensed someone standing near her. She turned to see the Adjunct. ‘Mother,’ Badalle said, ‘you should be leading your children.’ ‘Did you truly think I would miss this?’ Sighing, Badalle stepped down from the carcass of the horse. Reached out and took the Adjunct’s hand. She flinched as if stung, stared down at Badalle as if in shock. ‘Don’t do that,’ she said. ‘Mother, when will you let yourself feel?’ The Adjunct backed away, and moments later she was gone, lost in the crowd. If it made a path for her, Badalle couldn’t see it. ‘There is a mother this night,’ she whispered, ‘but to her
...more
