She sat amidst the crowd, tables full, conversation a dull hum in the air. A stray lock of hair, red now, escaped her hood, falling over her chest.
"Why won't you come home, Amelin?" Her sister asked, blonde hair tied in a bun, her attention flicking fretfully to her daughter.
She sighs wearily, idly swirling a glass of water.
"You know why..."
"Oh?...oh.... But he hardly mentions that now...I'm sure he's forgotten."
She shakes her head, pale grey eyes meeting her sisters.
"You know he hasn't, he just has a better option...possibly..."
Her sisters brow wrinkles in thought.
"You heard him say I 'ruined myself' as well as I did..."
Her gaze drops from her sisters, looking at her niece pointedly.
They sit in silence for a long moment, one shaking her head, the other nodding slightly.
"Come with me Tess. Both of you."
"Where would we go...we can't abandon our lives."
She sighs again, deeper, louder.
"We'll make new ones, the ones we want to have, not the ones he tells us to have."
Her sister sits there in silence, her gaze drifting to her daughter once more.