Chapter Text
– Gale –
The first time Tav sees fit to knock on a door happens to be when my mother answers it.
I hear the scream from my workshop in the cellar.
Rushing upstairs, I imagine all manner of domestic terrors: a rat, perhaps, or one of the local pigeons—creatures which, for reasons unknown to all but the gods, strike absolute terror into my mother’s heart.
I do not expect Tav.
She stands there on the doorstep, bloodied and bandaged, looking altogether too satisfied for someone so clearly injured. That slight stoop of hers betrays the pain, but her grin is unmistakable.
“Hello Gale,” she says.
My mother turns on me as though I am personally responsible for the mess at her threshold.
“Hello, Tav,” I reply automatically.
She looks over her shoulder quickly, checking the street. Though she’s pleased with whatever happened, she’s also afraid. That’s what catches me off guard. Tav is never afraid, not for herself.
But mostly there is relief.
“Is it over?” I ask.
She considers.
“I think I’ve gotten away.”