The older man kind of let out a breath when he saw his son cleaning the porch, shaking his head a little before trying a familiarly tense smile. He was thinking his words over in his head, trying to soften any blow they would give. As far as he knew, his wife wasn't dead, but that was all he could give him. He also didn't want to give him any false hope, either. He gently patted the boy on the back, takinf the broom from him before nodding his head inside. "Maybe you should sit down," he told him, his brows sort of twitching as he tried not to let them pinch together. Once he was settled in the couch, he breifly went over the events of the last few days, then shook his head lightly. "I can't be sure on what to tell you, Sage. She may be back, but it's not looking overly likely from here," he told him in a slightly more somber tone.

Sage sort of half paled when the man told him to sit down...he'd sort of expected this, though he had dreaded him coming. Or anyone coming and bringing bad news. He moved inside though, and perched on the couch, heart racing. He felt the blood drain from his face more and more as the doctor went on. "I figured as much when I didn't get word for so long," he eventually rasped. Then he frowned, trying to defog his head enough to form words. "Does her family know?"

The doctor seemed a little relieved when the boy seemed to process the news alright... he was a bit worried that he'd explode on him. He knew what he was like, though... he'd make sure someone kept and eye on him for a little while. "No, they don't know just yet," he murmured softly, kind of giving him a reassuring look. "Maybe it'd be best if you told them. Someone they know," he added sombrely. "That way you can go about this in a way you'd like." He then murmured before standing up with a small sigh.

Sage sighed slightly and nodded when the doctor said Edith and the rest of the family didn't know. He sort of gulped when the doctor mentioned he should tell them....he knew he should, he just wasn't sure how to. There was really no good or easy way to tell them...but he did know he probably should. He nodded slightly then frowned, trying his best to think, though his swirling mind just wasn't working very well. "The kids...they're still asleep," he eventually managed. "Can you..." He sort of trailed off, waving his hand slightly. He was asking if the man could watch them while he went to the other house, but he supposed his brain was sort of just short circuiting a bit. The man would know what he meant though, and if he was here then he didn't have any super bad patients he needed to watch, right? At the man's nod, he sort of struggled to his feet and wandered down the path, mind still whirling. Before he knew it, he was at Edith's little cottage though, and he knocked on the door to alert them before sliding inside. He didn't see Anthony anywhere, but found Edith in the kitchen soon enough. "we need to talk," he eventually murmured, shifting his weight rather awkwardly, stomach churning.

The older man sighed softly and gave a slight nod. He was more than fine to look after the kids, though he did sort of hope he was taking this all as well as it seemed. He reminded the boy to come and find him if need be, but nodded his head as he left in a sort of goodbye.

The slightly older woman smiled in response to the knock on the door, but at the somber tone of her son in law she kind of furrowed her brows. "Yes of course," she murmured quietly, gently patting the couch for him to sit. "Tea or anything?" She asked as she poured her own cup, though when he declined she came to sit across from him quietly. "What's the matter," it was a bit strange that her daughter wasn't next to him, or the kids, but she didn't think too much of it.

Sage sort of ran a hand through his hair anxiously in response to Edith's comment, moving to slide onto the couch, shaking his silently when she offered him tea. He waited until she was settled down next to him before taking a deep breath and attempting to think of how he wanted to word all of this. "Mari went to help the doctor a little over a week ago," he sort of started, trying desperately to keep his voice steady. "I guess there was some kind of rebellion or... something....the doctor said Mari.." he voice sort of broke there when he said he'd name, and he cleared his throat harshly before sort of just babbling "he doesn't think she survived it," his vision sort of swirling and his breathing speeding up in a sort of panic. "The kids are at home with the doctor," he explained in a rush, not really knowing what to say or... anything, really. "I didn't...I don't..." He wasn't really sure where he was going there, but he was shaking by now, and was desperately trying to keep himself calm, but it really wasn't working all too well.

The older woman kind of couched her head as he started to talk... she had recalled Mari saying that she was going to the castle for a little while. She seemed to excited about it all. Though, the more he spoke, the more she felt her knees weaken. She placed her mug on the side after a moment and sort of leaned forwards on her knees. "What?" She whispered, her voice low and struggling to break. She'd been so happy when she last saw her, so why on earth had this just sprung on her? What was she meant to say. She just sort of fell silent. This was her little girl, the child that had worked so hard to get where she was, and she was just sort of... gone? She'd have to tell the boys too. She sort of just sat there, though... not really sure what to say or do.

(do you want to do a little bit of a time skip? :))

(lol sure)

Sage sort of just shook his head, still struggling not to panic. "She could still be alive...but the doctor saw her get hit..." He trailed off after that, struggling to breathe. "He doubts it." They stayed that way for a while....Anthony was still gone by the time he'd left, but he hadn't wanted to leave the kids for long. The next week or so passed quickly. He sort of just stayed in a daze when he wast completely freaking out. He'd managed not to break down while the kids were near him so far, which was lucky, but he'd scratched more skin off his arms and legs than was probably healthy, but he supposed he didn't really care. He'd even scratched his face...he'd used some of Maris makeup so as not to worry the kids, but still. It was there.

The woman nodded quietly, and after the boy left she gave him a little wave before going back to the house, trying to console herself the best she could. She was living off the hope that the girl would be okay, but even the thought of her not being alright made her worry. She held herself together through the next few days, before finally deciding to tell the boys what was going on. She sort of broke down during that, but they deserved to know what was going on. And Anthony could keep a bit of an eye on Sage for a short while.

Mari had eventually gotten used to the people around her. The older woman was called Elizabeth, then the man, who'd she learned was called Ned was her son. They were kind to her... making sure she was healthy and had eaten and the wound on her side was healing okay... but she just wanted to go home. Sage would be worried out of his mind, and she just wanted to go and see the kids... hold them, make sure they was safe and sound. She wanted to leave, but in truth, she wasn't sure she'd make it. Not that far. And she wasn't even that sure where she was. Once she was healed, they said that'd take her back... and she did trust that. There'd only be a few weeks here anyway. At least until she was on her feet.

Sage had managed as best he could, but it was really so quickly that everything was in shambles. He'd sold one of the mares, in an attempt to keep food on the table, but they'd need something more than that. He couldn't watch the kids and work with the horses all day, so that had slowed down. Eventually, he'd just asked Anthony and Edith to help watch the kids while he went down to the tavern again. His old boss seemed gleeful to work him to the bone again....but at least he was managing without doing rooms this time. He'd been married to Mari, and she'd threatened the old man before....so he was paying him a better wage this time. It wasn't much, and there weren't snacks or anything in the cupboard anymore ...but they were eating and had running water and heat. He saw Mari everywhere...spinning in the curtains, walking down the street, sitting on the chairs on the porch....he'd even set a plate of food in her spot one day, imagining her there before getting mad with himself and putting the food away again. He really wasn't doing well....he wasn't even sure of when the last time he ate or drank was. Well ..he'd had to drink something to stay alive, but he really only nibbled at things here or there. Meals were out of the question. If he tried to force a meal down, he'd just throw it up....and they couldn't waste anything. He felt sick constantly, and it would just get worse if he kept working so hard, but what else was he supposed to do? He was on his way home now, late at night, and slipped in quietly so as to not wake the kids. He flopped onto Maris side of the bed, which no longer really smelled like her, much to his disappointment, and passed out immediately.