and some by virtue fall; Gallows

[Gallows]

I sense Kushiel the moment he wanders across the borders, just as cocky as he's always been. I note with satisfaction that his bravado with me only goes skin deep. He can pretend, and I'll let him pretend, but we both know he isn't pulling anything over on his dear mother. I grin wickedly at his words. Forgive him? I believe forgiveness requires penitence, and I have a feeling that my son is anything but penitent. Sorry he has angered me, perhaps, but nothing more. I make him wait. My heart is filled with irritating adoration for my boy, but I'm not about to let him go unpunished for abandoning the home of his birth. Just thinking about his departure makes me cross. It's not that I thought he would never leave me. I just never thought he would leave the Valley. After a few moments of appropriate pause, I tuck my wings and canter to greet my son. He is tall, much taller than me, and reeks of smoke and flame and burnt hair. He reminds me of his father. "Kushiel." You may not have realized you were coming home to be scolded, my boy, but you will in a moment. "I heard a rumor you're serving the Chamber." Which is bullshit, of course. I haven't heard a rumor. He told me himself as soon as he came close enough to read his mind. I say this in the same tone of voice I would use when he was a boy caught setting blazes. (Let's be clear. It wasn't the fire setting that bothered me. It was his inability to control the blaze, and the possibility that the Valley would burn with everything else.) Poor boy, he's unfortunate in that my mothering instincts are compounded my ability to actually know when he's being rotten. Granted, he could be doing worse. He could be hanging around the Deserts. "Any girls or children I should know about, darling? Or are we going to talk about something a little more serious?" I nuzzle his neck and then nip him once, hard enough to let him know I'm displeased, but barely more than a bug bite. He's a big boy. He can take it. And damn, if I'm not proud of him. G A L L O W S We must all hang together or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately.