The Sentinels When you come and break my heart, free my blood.

"I don't like it much, either," he admitted with a harsh sigh. It felt like letting go. "But this too shall pass, no? I am hurt that she has done this thing, but in the end..." What harm had been done, except to his heart? He understood, now, that she feared for her children more ardently than she could ever love a man. He had seen it every day of their journey. And he could blame her until he was blue in the face, but in the end? "It is easier to forgive and forget. Like father said - 'unforgiveness is like taking poison and waiting for the other wolf to die.' And I have never been fond of poison."

By the end of the sentence, his words had shifted from frank to playful, and he gazed fondly at the beloved face that could untwist all his problems without even saying a word. "And what of you, minun Pörröinen Tassut Kuningatar? Have you felled any star-eyed boys lately? What happened to Ar-tur-o?" he asked, teasing now, and fluttering his eyes as he spoke the name of the man she'd named during their last meeting.