I promise. Those were his last words. He had promised not to leave her, but here she was, alone. And she wept, the salty tears of the sea, her grief as wide and vast as the Mother could bear. He’s free, she told herself, and he promised. And it helped, but not enough. Not enough. It took her a moment to notice the change, lost as she was to sorrow. It began as the brush of a feather against her face. And then the soft cry of a crow.
