Heron Lake Plateau Tyrants and kings both meet the same fate, strung up at your city gate

He accepted readily enough and Towhee shot him a quick smile before her face resumed its more usual stoic expression. She began moving, oblivious to Quixote's (over) thinking and the words he said to her back. By the time she thought to glance back at him to make sure he was coming, he had already resumed walking and so she remained oblivious to the fact that he'd drifted off for a second and that he'd spoken at all.

Although she had been thinking along the same lines prior to running into him, Towhee's mind was now on a totally different plane. Turning to face him through the gathering gloom, she said, "I'm happy for you and my sister and excited about the pups. I feel like that whole thing's been overshadowed by everything else." She paused, then said, "You're going to do right by her, right?" There was no threatening note in her voice—it was as flat and toneless as ever—but there was a sharpness to her orange eyes as she looked in the vicinity of his mouth. There was a delicate balance here: she needed to be able to read his lips, in the dark, without presenting a challenge by looking too directly.