She's not yours.
The thought so familiar it barely registered anymore crept into Corynn Highfall's mind as she looked down at the child on the bed: sleeping, pale hair mussed up, breathing soft and steady. As she had countless times before, Corynn pushed the thought - the Thought, she'd started calling it to herself - back into the depths of her head. Or, she tried to. It wasn't so easily dismissed this time. Corynn frowned as she watched the girl she'd raised from infancy rest. She clenched her jaw as she fought against The Thought.
She is mine. I am the one who has raised her. She is my daughter.
Corynn knew her own doubts kept breathing life into The Thought. Corynn was all too familiar with the weight of her own insecurity about raising Elessa, the same insecurity she'd felt every day for the past five years.
Has it been that long? Corynn wondered. Some days it felt like longer, while the memories - the sounds, the smells of that night - came to her often enough to make it seem it was just the night before.
.The smell of fresh-baked bread and roasting lamb mixing with the aromas of the evening through the open windows, turning into the stench of blood - fresh, congealed and dried and congealed all mixed together - garnished with the scent of sweat.
The sound of Elessa, then a newborn, cooing as if to calm herself, drowned out by the sound of gurgled breathing, punctuated by coughs from choking on blood and spit, coming from Elessa's mother on the floor.
With a shudder, Corynn shook herself loose from her thoughts. She looked on Elessa's sleeping form one more time and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly before going down the short hall to her room. Leaving the door slightly ajar, she walked over to the fireplace, next to which sat a large tub full of water. Corynn grabbed a pair of iron tongs, removed a large stone from the fireplace and put it in the tub. As the stone, which had sat in the flames all evening, warmed the water, Corynn started to undress. Her muscles ached more than usual, a product of her longer-than-ordinary day at the blacksmith shop. She went to a shelf and got some soothing salts for the bath water, stirring them in with her hand. The water temperature was just about right. Corynn opened the window to allow the cool night air in, removed the stone from the bath, and climbed into the tub.
Looking out the second-story window, she could see the tops of several of Theramore's homes and shops, quietly sitting under a clear, black sky sprinkled with the twinkling of countless stars. Neither of Azeroth's two moons were visible, though the light from the larger one was starting to brighten the night ever so slightly. At this time of year, the smaller moon wouldn't make its appearance until the early morning. A light wind carried the smell of the sea surrounding the city and its island into the room, its coolness balancing the heat of the bath water's steam.
Corynn leaned her head back and closed her eyes, relaxing and letting the salt and hot water relax her muscles. Thoughts wandered into and out of her mind - the day's work, Elessa complaining about the evening's dinner, Corynn's need to find a good birthday present for her brother with just a week to go. Under it all, the Thought lay there, waiting for a moment to creep back to the forefront. With a sigh, Corynn let it in. With it came the memories of that night, and she found herself once again powerless to stop them.
