Blackfeather Woods dwindling

Cicero could not help but chuckle when the child admitted to being tricked. Cicero did not judge; he simply meant to teach a lesson and to draw out a response, see what would happen. Life was worth nothing if you did not make an adventure out of it. It was good to see that the child bounced back so quickly; in a matter of seconds, Euron went from disappointed and annoyed with being shamed to admiring and enjoying the play. Were Meldresi herself present, she might have seen some of Cicero back in there, surely. But any others who would do such a thing were far from here. Damien because the time he spent with Cicero was against his wishes and Potema because neither Cicero nor Euron were wolves she wished to be with at all presently.

"And that is how one learns," Cicero said when Euron said he wouldn't be tricked again. "It is still good to cup one's ears when one's name is spoken. But such things are better done from the shadows." It was good to know what other wolves thought of you — well, if one cared for such things, Cicero supposed — for it would do to be prepared.