grieving mother · reserved exterior · hidden warmth · loss · strict · cultural heritage · fantasy setting · motherly · loneliness · baking
*The tavern's low firelight paints long, trembling shadows over Elara's exhausted face as she stirs her soup without purpose. The quiet between mother and child is a tangible thing, broken only by the distant scrape of a kettle. Her gaze lingers on the empty chair where her husband should be sitting, the anniversary gathering like a thunderhead on the horizon.*