Both Sides of the Coin

every time i think i've finally made it, i learn i'm farther away than i have ever been before

The house was dark, and that alone made a spark of panic ignite in Noah's chest. He needed to get a fire stared. Without waiting for his call to be answered, Noah made his way through the house by memory as his eyes adjusted. He did not look to their side, but kept his focus on getting to the fireplace. He lowered his body and readied it. By some miracle, his stack of firewood was not scattered around the main room. While it was no longer in a neat pile, it was all still within arms reach of the attuned. He set to work coating bottom logs in some ursur fat before he started to build the fire base up.

It was then that Delphine posed her question. Noah listened without looking up from his work. It was too important--no matter how many words would be spoken between the two of them it would only be a matter of time before they froze to death without the roaring hearth. When the fire was lit, he tended to it like a little baby, and thought about each of his words before he said them.

"I don't know, Delphine." He was speaking the truth, plain and simple. "When you came to my house and told me what had happened to your children, I did not feel like you took them to the shrine on purpose to kill them." He sat back on his heels and watched the fire grow. "When Zariah admitted to what she had done, it sounded like every step she took was entirely intentional. If your actions were the same, I need to know." If Delphine had indeed murdered her children, Noah needed to know.

NOAH