Just like the trip she had before she was wed to her bard, the trip from the Pictland seemed longer than it took a season to change. Going back to Inver Colpa would be a raging storm of emotion for not just Verctissa, but for a lot of others. Mostly her Husband…if he would still have her call him that, and her son, Kaelen. Her heart beat faster and rose into her throat as the boat pulled to shore. The very same shore she and her family came upon years ago.

The years she spent in Pictlands proved nothing to her heart. What she was looking for ended up being what she had in the end. The love of her HusbandBard and her song was all she ever needed. Nothing could ever change that. She jolted back to reality as the boat hit the shore.

The men who helped anchor the boat and unload supplies were all-to familiar. Some men stared at her and whispered; she was a friend to their wives, and they would all make sure merriment at every festival that came along. The aches within her heart twisted around her churning stomach. She deeply inhaled the salty air; she was prepared for whatever battle came her way. And there would be many. She betrayed so many people, and the trust she ripped from their hearts scattered on the wind with a fury. She’d wished someone had come with her, Huctia and Gaelen, but it wouldn’t have made this trip any easier. She had no one in her corner, and she knew it. But, this was the path she had chosen, and it was time to step up and face everything.

As Verctissa made her way to the Keep people stopped, stared, whispered. Chills ran the length of her entire body, tingling the backs of her arms. She swallowed the fears within her and entered the Keep.