Blackfeather Woods garden on bones

It was enough to be frightened of Nemesis' wrath, but the malice of her children was another realm entirely. She had never had cause do be fearful of other children before, especially now when she was much older. And yet the Apaata-Convel children frightened her to no end. The woman was on edge whenever they were around, especially when they were near her children.

Any excursion away from them, however brief, made her anxious. She did not want to seem obvious in her fear of assassination, but she made sure her children were protected by their uncles or great-uncle before she ever left her den. Such protection was not always the best for her children's minds; she did not want them to be spoiled or relaxed.

She decided to make this run to the cache quick, excavating a scrawny pheasant for her before hurrying back. Only she paused in her tracks when she heard the pitiful caws. In the clearing was the eldest and strongest of Nemesis' children hunched over a wounded crow, one of its wings in his mouth. Atshen, She ventures tentatively, knowing how more likely he was to harming her children than the others.