some simply become it
It doesn't surprise her that the monk has met her daughter. Maeve has a way of meeting everyone in the Court it seems. She's quite the social butterfly (she definitely doesn't get that from Morr) and it seems that she can cheer up even the grumpiest of beings. Morrighan can't remember a time when she had been so innocent and actually enjoyed all the wonders of life. Now she has seen and felt too much, there's no going back. She hopes Maeve can hold on to her innocence for as long as she possibly can. Morr doesn't want to see the horrors of the real world blacken the girl's pure soul.
And what Tenebrae says is true, although Morr is a bit taken aback. No one has directly said anything like it before and it makes her feel… different. She's not sad, but actually quite the opposite. "Thank you," she says, her voice much quieter than it has been. Maybe she doesn't want to hear the words echoing along the walls. "She is certainly a special girl. She tells me all the time that she's named you Shadow Man, so you must've made a good impression on her." Morrighan remembers the fall festival and how she carefully crafted Maeve's phoenix costume. It was a way to get her to embrace fire without fearing it. Even though neither of them have seen a phoenix in person, the legends have always described them as beautiful creatures. They didn't have to be dangerous.
When the topic changes to Tenebrae's heartbreak, it brings Morrighan back to where she had been a season ago. She wanted to drown herself- figuratively and literally. She wanted to forget so badly, she tried to do so many destructive things to accomplish that and none of them worked. Who is she to be telling him to forget them anyway?
They have to, or else they'll lose themselves.
"I haven't," she admits, feeling her legs quiver. "But after a while, it was clear that she was not worth my time and energy. She never loved me, so maybe that made it easier at times when I didn't think about how she didn't love me." There's a reason Morrighan has never been a philosopher or ever boasted about giving the best advice. Tenebrae must be desperate if he's trying to get wisdom out of her (but then, isn't that what she's doing- trying to get wisdom out of a monk? The last person she'd ever confide to, until today).
"You just have to find a new purpose for yourself, I guess," she adds, not sounding nearly as confident as she'd like to be. Maybe that's what she's been trying to do with Maeve by trying to prove to Al'Zahra (or perhaps more to herself) that she can be a good mother. It's given her a purpose and one that she can properly focus on. At least there's someone who recognizes it.
@Tenebrae <3
