Braided Strength

She was mildly surprised that it was Harbringr that stood before her, and she gave him a nod, but kept the braided cord of her shimmering hair clenched in her front teeth until Ayodele slid a sinew-wrapped moonstone onto the cord, fashioning a necklace and tying off the other end, leaving a two-and-a-half-foot long cord of white hair with a pendant dangling from it. Aurielle released the newly made bauble and the lemur tied the ends together, completing the piece as the women sat up to better greet the other wolf.

“I was half a mind to remain at home, but, as my pack’s alpha, I should be here, if only for political reasons. It’s been a rough couple of seasons. I’m glad to see you’re well. How has Ashen been faring? Did everyone make it through the eruption?”

Of course, she’d smelled the scent of the pack around Redwater Rocks, but she had chosen to leave the other pack to their devices—if they needed anything desperately enough, there was still the offer of trade that still stood. Or they might have been beating Ashen raiders back at the border. But true concern was in her voice and eyes as she unconsciously looked him over as though him being hale and hearty meant that the litter of pups had fared just as well. The thought of any of those children dying. Her stomach cringed at the notion.

Where was her uncle? Geoffrey? Aramis? The last she’d seen of her dark-coated twin, he’d been off to the Nomads to find a cure for—The storm swirled. He hadn’t come back. And the Nomads had not brought word of his arrival among them to her when they visited.

The damage the eruption had dealt her aging Uncle Tornach was horrifying. What if they’d… She clamped down on the swell of emotions and glanced around at the milling festival-goers, searching for an item of small-talk.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think