The First Minister wanted to wail, the feeling was like an animal, feral and broken raising its head to howl its pain to the sky, to heaven and whatever gods were listening. But he did not want any gods to see him, he didn't even want the Lady and his own wife to see him. A lifetime of self-control had abandoned him for a moment in the last place that he had been a twin in physical space, that of an infant, but it came back to reassert itself more quickly than he might have wanted.
He was still shaking, still weeping, but any sound that might have accompanied these caught in his throat as he opened his eyes and nodded at the aetherial projection that was like looking into a mirror. What passed between them was immense but it looked so slight to anyone outside of their shared minds. Just eye contact and little nods once in a while. Neither of the women present was lacking in wisdom enough not to realize that something a lifetime old was being expressed, and so they were, all four, quiet for a time.
The second set of twins was not so caught within the spell of intensity but if they did fuss, it was quietly as they drifted in an out of sleep in the warmth of each other and their mother.
When all that had been pent up for so long had been expressed, Stefan was able to compose himself further, murmuring quiet words that were obfuscated by the wide, dark wings that wrapped around him. These were not feathered, as had been all the men of the hated species that had had met or seen. Instead, they were warm flesh, thick and solid, at least, for the moment. A part of Stefan wanted to stay there, but he could hear the voices of his sons, and the quiet of his wife, and beyond that, in the distance, the mechanical hum of the islands on which they lived. So, when he was able, he stood. His twin, nameless, he realized, rose with him, keeping close enough that it seemed as though only not wishing to be in Stefan's way kept him from wrapping around him again. Without thinking about it, Stefan reached back and wrapped both the arms around his chest. Kala had not said how long her gift would last and neither of the Dornkirk twins seemed willing to lose a moment of what they were allowed.
His voice was rough, but steady as he turned his eyes on Lady Leukos and said,
"What... what will happen to him?"
He was still shaking, still weeping, but any sound that might have accompanied these caught in his throat as he opened his eyes and nodded at the aetherial projection that was like looking into a mirror. What passed between them was immense but it looked so slight to anyone outside of their shared minds. Just eye contact and little nods once in a while. Neither of the women present was lacking in wisdom enough not to realize that something a lifetime old was being expressed, and so they were, all four, quiet for a time.
The second set of twins was not so caught within the spell of intensity but if they did fuss, it was quietly as they drifted in an out of sleep in the warmth of each other and their mother.
When all that had been pent up for so long had been expressed, Stefan was able to compose himself further, murmuring quiet words that were obfuscated by the wide, dark wings that wrapped around him. These were not feathered, as had been all the men of the hated species that had had met or seen. Instead, they were warm flesh, thick and solid, at least, for the moment. A part of Stefan wanted to stay there, but he could hear the voices of his sons, and the quiet of his wife, and beyond that, in the distance, the mechanical hum of the islands on which they lived. So, when he was able, he stood. His twin, nameless, he realized, rose with him, keeping close enough that it seemed as though only not wishing to be in Stefan's way kept him from wrapping around him again. Without thinking about it, Stefan reached back and wrapped both the arms around his chest. Kala had not said how long her gift would last and neither of the Dornkirk twins seemed willing to lose a moment of what they were allowed.
His voice was rough, but steady as he turned his eyes on Lady Leukos and said,
"What... what will happen to him?"
