She collapsed to the ground, devastated. All of it... all of it, all of them, all of everything was destroyed. Her heart ached so much that she choked on it, the sight of the destruction burned so deeply into her eyes that there were no tears. Empty. Empty, this.
And so her maiden came beside her, words soft and calm and fighting desperately to remain so. "And what will you do?"
A pause. One long enough for anyone else to have thought the question lost amongst the rubble. "Carry on. I will carry on."
"And what will you do tomorrow?" came the next test.
Forcing herself to stand on legs that wanted nothing more than to disappear into the earth forever, she spoke through the agony in her throat. "Tomorrow I will rebuild."
"And tonight?"
"Tonight..." There was a pause, gathering her breath. "Tonight, I mourn. At dawn, I rage. Tomorrow, I rebuild."
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