Sanria slunk down into the comfortable chair in her library and propped her feet up on the table. It had been a very, very, very long time since she had seen Throm - in fact, the last time she had seen him was as she fell asleep in his arms at the Paradise Island Hotel. The thought brought a blushing smile to her lips, and she rested her book on her lap, flipping open the pages.
Boring botany. It's what she had told Lithanus today when she met him. She wasn't sure what to make of the boy. Throm's son didn't much take after his father in the physical sense, which made sense of course, since his mother was elven. White hair to boot... the only feature she knew was the green eyes. Of course it set her to missing Throm even more, so when the boy gave such a cool response to her questions regarding his father, she couldn't help but feel her ire rising. It wouldn't do, however, to pry in family affairs. After all, she had her own to worry about. Still, she wondered what "mess" Lithanus knew Throm had gotten himself into, and worried for Throm's safety.
Her thoughts wandered over where Throm could be when a heavy knock was heard on the library door. Sanria glanced over and a wave of elation traveled through her like a spark. Emalia had come home. "Emalia!"
"Hello mother."
Sanria rose to her feet, snatching Emalia in a deep embrace. Tears sprang to her eyes for no apparent reason, and she stood back finally, gripping Emalia on the shoulders. "Good heavens, where have you been?"
"It's a rather long story."
"I suppose so! You look well... oh so much like your father."
"I finally talked to him."
"I see... what did he have to say?"
"Well, he talked to me about my powers and such... there's so much to tell."
Mother and daughter sat down at the table, Sanria clutched Emalia's hand in her own as if clinging to the hope she wouldn't vanish. There they sat for hours as Sanria listened to her daughter covering the journey, her new friends, her new "interest," and the fact that Thasmudyan was staying with her. The idea of Thasmudyan being in her daughter's home, after having been staying in temples right in Westbridge stung her, but she didn't dare let on in front of Emalia. "It sounds as though you've had quite a time."
"I still have more to do."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm only in the city until Nephesh heals completely. Then, we are going to seek out the Balefire mountains... wherever that is."
"I wouldn't know," Sanria said with caution, "but perhaps it might be better for you to stay. I wouldn't want something to happen to you, and I'm sure the Guardian's wouldn't either."
"Mother," Emalia sighed, "I know you're worried, but I'm a grown woman now."
The idea of her daughter being an adult had certainly crossed Sanria's mind on more than one occasion, but still, her instinct to protect was overwhelming. Only by sheer force of her will could she keep from lecturing her daughter. "I know. I know."
"Besides... I have to do this. At the very least, I'm able to keep people from worrying about me. Sir Throm won't have to come looking for you to give you updates."
"Throm was here? You... were here?"
Sanria watched the red creep into her daughter's face. "Yeah. I brought a friend by to show him the house and Sir Throm ended up here while we were here. I assured him I was alright and would let you know I was ok... once I worked up the nerve. He was oddly insistent about talking to you personally."
"Emalia... there is something you should know."
"What?"
"Well, your father and I aren't together anymore..."
"I thought that might be the case... he mentioned something about you two not being the same."
"And... on some level it's true. Things weren't going the way we thought they would. So, I started talking to Throm."
"He is a good person to speak to, isn't he?"
"Yes, but..."
Sanria took in a deep breath as realization dawned on Emalia's face. "You mean... you and Sir Throm?" Emalia asked.
"Well, yes. Though at the current time it's nothing more than-"
"Than the same thing with Colin and I. I get it."
"I'm sorry, Emalia."
"So life goes. I just feel a little foolish in all of this."
"No need to feel that way. It is how life goes in this case. I hope you're not upset."
"No, I'm just... nothing is as it seems, mother. I came here in the hopes that things would maybe, just maybe, be the same but... they aren't. They aren't the same anywhere."
It hurt to see her daughter so distraught, but Sanria knew it was better to let everything out than to hide anything. At least now, she wouldn't be so separate from her daughter. Emalia would come visit her again, and she had her word. The moon was rising as Emalia walked away and Sanria closed the front door. Thoughts were swimming through her head - old thoughts, new thoughts, and the thoughts of where her daughter's life would take her next.
