Sweiza looks up to her whom has entered the dining area with a plate of food. She sets it down on the table in front of Sweiza. Sweiza’s lips tremble and her tears well up again, her face turns into a pout as she turns back to her father.

“Sweiza, maybe you should tell us from the beginning.” Her father says it with encouragement, but uncertainty as he looks over to his wife.

Sweiza looks over to her mother and then her father and the tears finally break. “Papa, mama; they did terrible things to me.”

Her father looks at her with his full concentration, “What -kind- of things?”

She crosses her head on the table and lays her head down in shame. Her words come out between the sobbing and the tears, “The-y; they- took, my… purity.”

Her father’s hand comes up from the table and he waves it slightly at her, “Sweiza, what do you…”

“Tars!” Her mother gets sharp with him and then points her finger inderectly at him and above his shoulder and gives the same motion to their daughter and then pulls it away, “Honestly! What mattered to her more than being a Shrine Maiden for the village?”

Her father looks up at his wife and it hits him. “For the love of Odin…” He says it as he looks back at his daughter and the realization enters the room.

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She looks up at him, “Papa… Odin is a terrible person…”

Her mother looks from her daughter to Tars. Her father doesn’t know what to say. Sweiza’s tears come out again as she looks away from him. “Papa…”

Her mother interrupts before he can say anything. “Sweiza, you look like a mess. Go take a shower and change your clothing. You stink of the swamp. Get some sleep - you look like you need it.”

“Mama, I…”

“Starla Serif!” Her mother says it sharply and Sweiza flinches.

Sweiza regains her composure as she stiffens her stomach and her the tremoring of lips slowly turn into a lesser emotion, but still determined frown. Her head sinks into her shoulders slightly as she looks again from her mother to her father. She gives a small head nod to no one in particular - but almost between them.

“Yes, Mama. Yes, Papa. I am sorry for having worried you.”

“Sweiza, that’s a good girl. We’ll help you deal with it.” Her father finally knew what she meant. “But get some sleep. You look like a wreck.”

Sweiza gives one last nod towards her father as she regains her composure again and her emotions finally stop. She pushes herself from the able and her chair back as she lifts herself up to her feet. She does so silently as she walks slower than normal to the stairs.

Her parents could see it. One of her silent anger spells that cooperates, but rebels when she doesn’t get her way. The kind that silently retreats when she knows older wisdom is stacked against youthful ignorance. Her parents hear the slow creak of the wooden stairs under Sweiza’s feet as she climbs the stairs. Sweiza takes one last look down over the railing towards her parents in the dining area, and then slowly faces upwards before her feet disappear from view.

Her mother looks from the stairs to the uneaten food at Sweiza’s chair. She looks to her husband. “Tars…”

“Melda, we’ll help her through it.” Her father says it, -not- facing his wife, but looking at the solemn emptiness and despair that followed Sweiza up the stairs.

Her mother nods towards her husband.