𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 / 𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒃 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒌

𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆

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𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦, 

𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 

𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 

𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 

𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘳

𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘰 

𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦.

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»»————-　♔　————-««

𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐋𝐘, like a wild animal in a cage, fiddling with the fraying sleeves of her shirt if only to distract herself from whatever important conversation was about to be had. Her mother was not normally a secretive woman, not with her eldest daughters. Dacey, being the heir to the House, partook in most, if not all, council meetings, and half of the time Alysane was invited too. Both girls were mature and responsible enough to be privy to the ongoings of the House, and their mother's affairs. Certain things were kept from the younger daughters, if only because it was not necessary for them to hear of it or because it involved matters beyond their comprehension. But the older two, they and their mother were incredibly close and rarely were secrets kept from each other. Dacey and Alysane told each other everything, they had always been inseparable for as long as anyone could remember, and that had not faltered at all in their aging or amidst the complications their lives seemed to throw at them; and that close relationship had always extended to their mother. Maege told her eldest girls everything – even things she should not tell them – and they did the same for her. The idea that, whatever this matter was, her mother had not told Alysane prior to now, was unsettling. It made her fiddle more with anything that she could grasp, trying not to let herself believe that this conversation was going to be as dramatic as she was fearing.