"I want to find Master! Let go of me!"
"Behave yourself. He's busy right now, so don't go bothering him."
Isha pinched Yilafren's ear, using just the right amount of force—enough to make the young Aeldari feel pain, but not enough to tear it off. Yilafren followed behind Isha with bared teeth and a grimace, while Yvraine and the other Craftworld Aeldari trailed farther behind.
Yvraine looked at Isha's back with a complicated expression. Visually, Isha's holy appearance was more reassuring than Slaanesh's. The people of Biel-Tan had been devastated by the shattering of their Craftworld just moments ago, only to become ecstatic at the sight of Isha's skirt. Such wild emotional swings felt deeply novel to the Craftworld Aeldari, who strictly adhered to the Path.
That was how the distant crowd felt. But from as close as Yvraine stood, one could detect a seed of obscene depravity taking root beneath Isha's sanctity. For these past few centuries, the one standing before Yvraine had still been Isha. But after another thousand, or ten thousand years, it might be Slaanesh reborn through Isha's body.
Isha saw the worry on Yvraine's face. Was that not the very problem she herself wished to solve? Something like Slaanesh must never be allowed to appear a second time.
With a light touch of her fingertip, she conjured a leaf. It was enormous and tough enough to wrap around Yilafren's entire body. In a few swift motions, Isha tied the restless Yilafren into a rice dumpling with only her head exposed, then looked at Yvraine with gentle eyes.
"My children, has it been so long since we met that you have become this distant toward your mother?"
Yvraine's gaze wandered, and she did not answer. Isha did not mind. She simply opened her arms and embraced