surely not today

Her offer elicited a charming response in the woman and Tamsyn's entire demeanor perked up. She seemed just as intrigued by the game as Resin had been when she initiated it. And, as she expected it would, it seemed to draw the woman out of her shell a bit more. She told Tamsyn of the bear, and when it was Tamsyn's turn, she told her the story of the scars around her leg. Resin's gaze instantly hardened. She was not one that bowed down to that type of tradition. There was no one that could tell her what she could and could not do. Though she was part of the pack for the sake of her daughter, she was still her own ruler.

"That was wrong of him," she spoke in low tones. Forelegs slowly slid outward and the warrior was soon laying upon her stomach instead. This placed her equally scarred paws much closer to the darker fae than they had been previously. Invading her personal space just the slightest bit. The struggles that Tamsyn had gone through touched something within Resin. Her plight was something that could be understood quite well. Resin's family had initially intended for her to be ladylike. A consort for some neighboring kingdom. The difference between herself and Tamsyn was that, when her father found out her aptitude for battle, he allowed her to embrace it. He encouraged it. Raising her golden gaze to meet minted eyes, she made the woman an offer. "I will teach you to protect yourself, if you'd like."

Sharing a story as Tamsyn had, one that no doubt shaped who she was, made Resin feel as though she needed to share something on a similar level. Lifting her head, she showed a swath of scar tissue on the underside of her jaw and throat. This one meant something to her. Just as Tamsyn's, these scars had shaped her, the ones that Resin now showed were from a major event in her life. "The father of my children almost succeeded in killing me." Lowering her head, she continued to speak. "He was trying to kill my children. They scattered. He hunted them. My three sons were murdered. My daughter, however, is ambassador of the Armada, and the reason that I'm here."

Before Tamsyn had a chance to feel anything about the story that Resin shared, she informed the woman that it was her turn. There was no room left there for pity. Pity was something that Resin didn't want. Though she had mourned the loss of her sons, they were gone. The past stayed in the past. The present and future were what mattered.