[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180729/2fbb5311a75998e59e501513aa9e6c2c.png[/img][/center]

Her heart was so broken, the thought that someone else should die because of her mistake was soul-rending.  She felt the strong hand at her back and looked up from her hands to find the kind eyes of the Eyrien male looking at her with something like worry.  Perhaps kindness?  Faeril's words made her heart leap with hope but the logical side of her told her to not read too much into it.  She would not ask.  She would not begin to think beyond what was in front of her.  They were dead to her now and she to them.

Fatima allowed the strong hand that guided her back to her chair.  She pulled a handkerchief from between her breasts and wiped the tears from her face and the snot from her nose.  The others left and she was alone with Denar.  She spoke not for a few minutes, calming herself and watching the fire quietly consume the logs.  What was happening now was none of her concern.

With a sigh, she turned her face toward the Eyrien and flicked away the dirty handkerchief into the flames.  [b]"She seems... a strong person." [/b]She said lightly, to create conversation.  A few more beats of quiet and she spoke again.  [b]"For the first time in my life, I am feeling quite lost.  What do I do?" [/b] Her brows knit with her fear for her future.  She hadn't realized she was shaking so badly until she tried to smooth out some wrinkles in her skirt. [b] "I'm just so.... tired," [/b]she murmured.  While, for truth, her body was extremely fatigued, it was her inner strength and conviction which had grown weary.  Her very being longed for a break from the sickness of this world that would rip her away from a home that, a few years ago, she had not wanted.

What the man said to her before he left was lost on the young woman.  Her eyes moved, glazed, toward the fire.  She had to let go of all that was and had been before she could begin to step anew from those flames.  What consumed also brought new life.  The sleepy queen watched while her lids steadily grew heavier until she fell asleep in the chair.