I couldn’t possibly hope to understand what was going through his mind right now. Of course I knew the pain, the ache of loss. But at least I had been here, been able to say goodbye to them. I harbored no ill will for Swallowbane for his having left home. It was a journey that sometimes needed to be taken. Even now our younger sister Idunn wandered away from Moladion, in search of who knows what. Swallowbane had had his reasons for leaving, whatever they might be. I was only sorry he had not come back sooner, had not been given the chance to say goodbye as the rest of us had. He had been the only child not present for their passing.

The entire ordeal seems to rack his body, mind, and soul. He seems almost at a loss, but also full of intention. So I look away, I give him this subtle privacy for a moment. When I look back to him I make an offer, an invitation for him to stay if it was what he desired. Despite all the animosity between him and our father, despite how long he had been gone, this was still his home. He was still my family. Denying such a thing would never be so much as a possibility.

It would seem I had given him somewhat of a surprise by extending the invitation to him. A modest smile just barely creases my features as he looks upon me for a moment before replying. My tail waved casually behind me, pleased that he would stay at least for this night. Whether it was one night or a year’s worth of nights, he was welcome here. But for now I could feel that Swallowbane needed a bit of solitude, time alone to deal with all that had been thrown upon his shoulders this day. It was a heavy weight to bear, the notion of losing one’s parents. “I am glad; stay as long as you need to, Swallowbane,” I said endearingly. “If you have need of me, you know where to find me.” I still denned in the cavern where I had been born, the hollowed out – almost cave-like – den in the eastern side of the mountain. With a final nod to him I turned and walked away, leaving him to further deal with what he’d learned in whatever private way he found necessary.