Miss Mysterious

It brought a sympathetic pang to her breast as Acere confirmed that he, too, had missing wolves. It was such a common malady, wolves wandering away and not returning, and never knowing why, or if they were hurt… or killed.

“Thank you…” It wasn’t the same band, not the one that had taken her family and torn it in half for so long, but the blow was surely a good one. Hopefully, more could be brought down over time.

Her eyes followed Acere’s to the foxes, and a faint smile fluttered over her features as she explored the wares the King had brought. As he explained Polar bears, she nodded, filing away the information. Perhaps this would be one of the first items that she traded for with Acere. “Aside from insulation for armor, it might make for a wonderful den lining for after a birthing…”

As her suggestive query as to the use of heat to work the metals received a good response, she pondered, smiling faintly. Did they already have fire in Winterfell? If not, she wasn’t against giving Acere a Coalhorn, with instructions on how to keep it alive during his journey back to his domain.

The conversation turned to politics, and she moved to sit before the King, posture straight and attentive as she listened to his suggestions. They were all ones she found agreeable. As he asked what Valhalla was short in, she paused for several long beats.

To be honest… every Circle was much smaller than she wanted. And she had to balance the natural wariness of letting too much slip to another leader, and giving her trust to an ally. Honesty, or deflection?

Honesty, she decided. This would be a test of Winterfell’s trustworthiness, so she offered, “We are small. We’ve gone many years without enough adult wolves experienced enough to train the last litter we had. I agree to these terms. My own are similar. Do you have anyone in mind that you’d like to come here in our first trade of training?”

Her own mind shifted to those in her pack—who might want to go North to learn for a while? Caelia might gain a great deal from a trip to Winterfell. Viviane might enjoy meeting new wolves and learning from other healers for a while… Really, Aurielle herself thought it might be interesting to spend some time learning at Winterfell.

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