It's never the same

“The woods, the Col, the Beach” he said a little distractedly, thinking she wasn’t sure which ‘three’ he was referring to. But he had shown her all three by now, hadn’t he? Actually, he couldn’t remember if he’d taken her into the woods. But he was too distracted to remember, because his eyes were on her. She was refusing to look at him, and her body had locked up in a strange way.

“...Hey, Ignita? What's going through that silly head of yours?” he asked, but his voice was gentle as he stepped forward and crouched down before her. Silly slave or not, she was his responsibility. He was starting to realise there was more emotion attached to that than he would have expected. Or wanted.

He placed a paw on her shoulder, steadying her as she seemed to sag against the earth. “Ignita? Is it your injuries?” Had he pushed her too hard, putting her into forms unfamiliar to her while she was still healing?


"Speech"