Myrissa's voice joined in, and it was sadder than Rick had ever heard it. "It happened when I was ten years old..."
"I remember Mother before she betrayed me... she sang while cleaning the ward."
"She thought our silly jokes were funny, and she held us when we cried, stroked our hair, and told us stories about the ocean from long ago."
"When she found out about Father's affair, she turned to stone...It's cold. Present in body but not in any way that mattered." Myrissa's voice shook.
"I thought magic could fix everything, such as cleaning up corruption, healing wounds, and repairing broken things, but it can't fix broken hearts."
"We failed you," she said plainly. "We failed the alliance by making a promise we couldn't keep.
"We failed our mother because we couldn't reach her, and we failed ourselves by continuing to hope after fifty years of disappointment."
Rick sat both of his siblings down and looked at them with kindness, not condescension. "You didn't let anyone down."
