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[eldersister]

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[littlefey]

[There is a rustle that doesn't at all cover up the little giggle as Morgana looks out from the tree leaves and then quickly hides behind the trunk again.]

[eldersister]

Hmm. I don't think I've ever heard a bird like that before...

[ She turns her eyes upwards, slowly strolling toward the tree Morgana is in, trying her best not to laugh. ]

[littlefey]

[Morgana is delighted with an intensity only young children usually are, her cheeks hurt from smiling too much, she feels like she could bounce on the spot. As Sigrid approaches she scrambles to hide better, but her skirt ends up hanging off the branch and she doesn't notice.]

[eldersister]

[ Oh, she reminds Sigrid so much of Tilda when she was little in this moment.

There weren't beautiful gardens to play in back then of course, but they made do with what they had. The joy was the same, and it warms Sigrid's heart to see it now. ]

And I don't think I have ever seen feathers quite as lovely as these.

[ At the last word she reaches up to give that hanging skirt a very careful little tug. Nothing that could actually compromise Morgana's balance. ]

[littlefey]

[The giggling continues, muffled behind her hands but no less plain when Sigrid gets closer. Joy is such a strange, and almost forgotten thing to Morgana that it overwhelms her when it comes and Sigrid's presence is seldom short of it. She tries to hold her breath when she senses Sigrid beneath her, but the little tug of her dress sets her off again in a giggle which is half a squeal before she leans over the branch to look down, her dark braids falling around her face.]

You got me!

[eldersister]

[ Sigrid makes a face of exaggerated surprise, gasping loudly. ]

So it wasn't a bird.

[littlefey]

[More giggling, until she almost can't breathe, but then Morgana moves so she can jump down to the ground with only a slight oof.]

Flying would be much more fun for hiding.

[eldersister]

Yes, but what an awfully hard time the rest of us would have keeping you out of trouble.

[ Said as she carefully plucks some leaves out of Morgana's hair. ]

I thought I heard someone say "ow" before. Do you think one of the castle ghosts stubbed its toe or something?

[littlefey]

[Just the little touches, the care, makes Morgana preen with happiness. Like a sunflower finally getting the first morning light.]

Oh. It's nothin' I just scraped my knee, see. [She said, pulling up her skirts, her petticoat spotted with blood over a not-too-serious but also not exactly mild scrape.]

[eldersister]

[ It makes the heart ache, how this child laps up even the merest hint of affection, as if it's the last she'll ever get.

Sigrid crouches to take a look at the scrape, relieved to see that it's nothing worse even if this will need to be seen to as well. ]

Well there's some dirt in this nothing that we need to get out, or it might become something.

[littlefey]

Ohhh but it's your turn to hide, Sigrid. [She says softly, not ever that fussed over her own injuries. She never had been. It was surely a trait she had gotten from her father.] You're so good at it!

[eldersister]

How come you keep finding me them?

[ She stands back up, and offers Morgana her hand. ]

I'll hide once we've gotten that taken care of, petal. Promise.

[littlefey]

Me Da taught me how to track! Not that you're a deer, though you'd be a pretty one... [She sighs, dramatically, then acquiesces.] Alright.

[eldersister]

Did he teach you how to flatter as well?

[ She starts leading Morgana in the direction of her private quarters, where she still keeps supplies to mend simple injuries. It's a habit all these years of security has not managed to break. ]

[littlefey]

[For a moment the look on Morgana's face is utter amusement and pure Gorlois all at once. Perhaps the Lord had not taught her intentionally, but it was surely in the blood.]

He didn't have too, [Morgana says, cheerfully as she follows along.] He always spoke so fondly of you, Sigrid. 'sides it's true and flattery is a bunch of pretty fibs.

[eldersister]

[ Sigrid treasures these moments of knowing how much the father lives on in his daughter, even if they are always laced with pain. ]

I was very fond of him too. And it's good that you say what is true, my darling.

[littlefey]

[she looks at Sigrid, not quite sure what that look on her face meant, but -] He got that look, too.

[eldersister]

[ Oh sweetie, she was hoping you'd get a bit older before you started saying things like that. ]

What look?

[littlefey]

The one you just had.

A bit sad, but sweet, and maybe... dunno. Lost?

[eldersister]

Oh, sweetie...

[ It becomes very difficult, then, not to simply burst into tears.

But she is a grown woman, and Morgana is just a child. Sigrid is meant to protect her, not unleash a mess of confused longing upon the poor girl. ]

Let's get to my chambers and I'll try to explain, alright?

[littlefey]

[He often got that look, too, when she caught him gazing out the window up to the stars. She had often asked him what was wrong when she caught him but Gorlois wasn't one to share his woe, least of all with his daughter.]

Alright. [She says, feeling a bit like she has misstepped.] I didn't - I mean... I don't want... did I say something wrong?

[eldersister]

Oh no, not at all.

[ Sigrid stops in her tracks to wrap Morgana up in a hug. ]

But some things you only want very special people to hear, when you talk about them. People you care an awful lot about.

[littlefey]

[She's hesitant at first, still expecting some kind of disappointment, maybe, if not outright reprimand - but when nothing comes she hugs Sigrid back tightly.]

Okay. I think I understand.

[eldersister]

[ Never for something like this. Sigrid hopes that one day Morgana will know that. ]

That's good.

[ Sigrid is quiet the rest of the way to her chambers, placing Morgana in a chair and putting her things in order to clean and dress the scrape before she says anything. ]

You know when you want something to happen, very badly, but you know it can't?

[littlefey]

[That question earns its own distant, sad look as Morgana nods and squirms in her chair. She knew all too well. Like the day she begged her Da to stay home, just once. Or when she tried to tell him to get up but he was already cold and ghost white from bleeding out.]

Yes. [She takes a breath.] I know.