Abigail's expression went stony. "I don't have to tell them anything," she said firmly. "I will set my affairs, collect my things, and we will leave. I am nothing but the spinster daughter they never wished for--it will be no great loss to them."
Her hands tightened around Asta's. "And I can never forget or forgive what they've done to us. To you."
"I-I'm alright," the shapeshifter found herself stammering, though she knew it wasn't true. She didn't like seeing Abigail this way--not because she didn't think her mother deserved to be angry, but because it made her chest hurt to think of the life she might have had.
"Oh, my darling." Abigail drew her into a hug, and though Asta was nearly exactly the woman's height, she felt suddenly very small in the embrace.
Over her head, Abigail said to Zephyr, "Just give me a few days to get things in order. Asta and I shall have to support ourselves somehow, but it will certainly be easier to start off with my stipend from the family coffers."