Larksong Grotto With apple blossom in her hair

Saena and Casmir called for them with sweet notes. Laurel was more inclined to listen to Casmir than to Saena, for he'd actually been there for her when her mother had left. Her father looked less confident than ever, desperately asking their mother silently if his daughters could stay, saying he loved them more than anything.

Laurel felt prickly, knowing he had promised to get rid of Jhala — well, indirectly — and that didn't happen. But then, Casmir had treated her like a child instead of a princess, and Saena, well... She'd just left. The hermit life — sister hermits, of course, for Indra was the only constant in Laurel's life — didn't seem so bad, but Laurel wasn't stupid, she knew she needed food and she also craved deeply for the love of the wolves present.

Her face was made of steel with a twinge of her frustration shining through. She moved over to Indra as she guiltily returned to Laurel and Reek and softly nosed Indra's cheek to let her know that it was okay. Indra was the only one here that had never betrayed her.

Then she looked between the adults defiantly, as though she was part of this discussion, as though she held all the power, for she was the only one who could say 'yes' or 'no'. She looked at them as though they'd better start making some damn good offers to Indra and Laurel, or they might just choose the other party involved if the terms were any better. Reek had the upper hand in this — he treated her like a princess even though he hadn't kept his promise to get rid of Jhala — but she also missed Silver Creek a bit and wondered what had made her mother come back suddenly, claiming that she wanted her daughters to come home alongside Casmir. Laurel wanted all their reasons and all their offers, and at the same time, she just wanted them all to become friends and live together — being tugged at from two sides was beginning to wear her down.