Ravensblood Forest the swirling stream of what is and what was

Lotte moved with haste, but locating the atramentous sheepdog and her three tiny wards proved more difficult than expected. Szymon and Doe’s decision to move the pack further inland and reconvene in the northeast part of the territory made sense, but the empty dens were disconcerting and shocking nonetheless. Lotte grieved for the loss of the two odd, fierce sentinels of the bay despite her general disdain for the black-banded male, and her heart was heavy by the time she found Coelacanth. It was difficult to convince the waiflike girl to come with her, but eventually Lotte returned to Teaghlaigh with the sheepdog in tow — and slammed directly into the wall of tension that had erupted in her absence.

Casting the flighty creature an expression of mingled reassurance and command — “everything will be fine; don’t go anywhere!” — Lotte pressed through the bracken with thickly-furred ears cupped attentively forward upon her skull. She returned just in time to hear Dakarai’s chivalrous plea that all medicine go first to Olive. Olive was pregnant! Shaking away the jealousy for the second time, the soot-stockinged rogue turned her attention to her first and foremost duty: her husband. In this situation, he was Ceannasach — patriarch of the Family — and she attempted belatedly to soothe him in a manner that would be proper given the delicate circumstances. Mindful of the fury and fright and desolation that swirled in the air, she lovingly pressed the wet of her nose against the juncture of his angular jaw and precious throat. Her touch was slow and deliberate — a reminder that she was with him and that she supported him, but if he wanted to sire the few hundred children they’d planned on, he would have to watch his blood pressure.

Although Arturo had made his opinion of the matter clear, and although Lotte’s hormones blared at her to strike fiercely at Dakarai and Olive for endangering both litters — and, more pettishly, at the pale sylph in particular for going into heat and getting pregnant first — she felt that dwelling on punishment in this particular moment was unwise. They could go around a thousand times, Dakarai and Olive believing wholly they couldn’t have made any other choice, Arturo believing wholly he couldn’t make any other choice, but the immediate issue was damage control. Lotte was newly made a queen, but she did not hesitate to take command of what she could take command of. "It was a poor choice," she remarked mildly, seeing no reason to sugarcoat things since emotions had already spilled over, "but we cannot unmake it. We can only move forward. Part of that is getting both of your wounds seen to and making what preparations we can.” Lotte gestured for the sheepdog to come out of hiding, looking at her husband with steadfast love and faith — and a good measure of respect to boot. He was intimidating in his anger — and devastatingly handsome — and she didn’t want to steal the limelight if he felt punishment took precedence, but the situation needed some serious decompressing.