Neverwinter Forest So, what's the problem?

>:D ♥ He’s a young upstart, for sure!

The last Frostfur watched with detached fascination as Ondine inched closer, lowering her muzzle in turn to protect the soft hollows of her throat. What would happen, he wondered morbidly, if he broke the cardinal rule and attacked Kjalarr’s mate? Eshe would have been disappointed in him — and utterly heartbroken that her son had stooped to such cruelty — but Eshe wasn’t here anymore, and it was her place he was defending. Scimitar would have been gravely upset and angry with his son — but, as Ondine had reiterated so succinctly, Scimitar was dead. It occurred to Cypress for the first time that he didn’t have to answer to anyone. Kjalarr had immersed himself in fatherhood, and Cypress’ discomfort in Arrille and Ondine’s presence kept him from visiting. Too, the gargoyle felt a certain betrayal that Kjalarr had placed his mate at the figurehead of Neverwinter — she, who had no relation to Scimitar and could not hope to understand the history of these evergreens. Torgeir seemed very far away to the boy now.

Doubt hummed through his steely musculature. Maybe Rannoch wouldn’t have agreed with his elder brother’s actions. The boys had been taught to act like gentlemen — to respect their elders and their betters. Still, the raven was dogged by a feeling that what he was doing was noble in some way. He’d rather defend Eshe’s honor and die trying than let Ondine skate to a position of dominance over him without ever knowing the beauty of the former queen’s golden eyes. Breaking his silence in earnest at last, “My family already got murdered,” Cypress retorted flatly in a cutting snarl, lifting a brow at the paltry female without breaking his eye contact as he advanced another step nearer. He made to rip apart her taunt in a series of cold, calculated points: “Winter wasn’t lean — just cold. There’s meat enough in the caches to last until the game returns. I know it because I’ve been putting it there — and it won’t spoil in this weather. You are worth nothing here. The only reason you’re a ‘leader’ is because Kjalarr said so. You haven’t earned anything.” Kjalarr’s word meant a great deal to the young wolf, and it hurt to know he was burning a very significant bridge by defying Ondine, but Cypress couldn’t help it.

Maintaining his insubordinate posture and his fierce, sulphureous stare, he waited for the storm.