DEVOTION - THE WEEPING MONK [PART 2 COMING IN AUGUST 2023]

"One day when you're older. You'll know why?" Her mother held her in her arms holding her tightly. Gwen warmly embraces her mother, smiling. They stared into the sky in silence. While her brother went to look for something. She sat by her mother's lap in silence. Her mother started speaking in hushed voices.

"You'll see. Have you heard of the story of Aslaug? She was a Viking. Everybody loved her. I mean, Ragnar left his first wife for her. She was very beautiful. She bore him sons, beautiful sons. Legend has it. Ragnar was intrigued by her beauty, impressed by her ingenuity and finding her wide companion. Ragnar proposed marriage to her, which she refused until he had accomplished his mission."

"Mama," Gwen spoke up. "Hush, child." Her mother hushed holding her tightly. "You're my child, Gwen. Remember that. I just want you to remember that, I raised you, I care for you, I raised you as my very daughter." Little Gwen's eyes began to swell, she began to yawn. "Oh, little Gwen. When I first saw you, I saw a little Viking in need of help. My daughter. I took you, raised you even when she couldn't raise you."

"I heard everybody called me a whore. Even my beloved husband. They didn't know the truth. I saved you little one. I saved you. Remember that. My little one. It was me." She quickly hugged Gwen tightly, refusing to let go.

Gwen observed her mother for a while. She didn't know what she was trying to say to her. She saw tears in her eyes, her mother was indeed a very beautiful woman when she was younger but now she looked like a mess. She went through a dramatic phase just to save a child who couldn't be raised by her real parents.

"Just know that. You're the most beautiful thing that happened to me." Gwen held onto her mother and embraced her. Marie held onto her adopted daughter and embraced refusing to let go. She knew they were coming for her. She knew they were coming for both of them.

Her beloved boy. Her baby boy. Her firstborn son will never leave her behind. He has to. He has to leave her behind to save Gwen. She must find a way to make sure he escapes with Gwen. They can't be here, they find her. She needs to be alive and as well as her boy, Boro. Her two children have to be alive.