Ravensblood Forest Give me the burden, give me the blame

She didn't have to wait long to see the masked leader, his piercing eyes met by her expectant gaze for a mere moment before she placed a paw on the cougars skull, picked clean and preserved not only to Palisanders memory but as a gift to the Family as well. She swallowed back a sound, lips pressed together over her teeth as he said her name. "I stalked and killed the cat that took Palisander from me - from us." She said softly. "But.... Isley... Feels like a whole other woman. One we buried." She had not made the choice before she heard her name from another mouth but it seemed wrong. "Call me Hemlock." 

She could not quite put to proper words how she felt. Still hollow. Still broken. Still aching. But the vengeance she'd hoped for had not softened the loss she felt, she did not find any sort of comfort in the minor victory over her husband's murderer. She gave a soft sigh, blinking back the distant look in her gaze and the sadness that rushed to fill it and Hemlock lowered her head. "I broke my word to you - to the Family. I do not ask for forgiveness, nor do I expect it. I brought back the hellcat's skull as an honoring to you and Teaghlaigh." She no fool - even in her anguished, clouded mind she should have done something more, should have reached out and shared her plans. She had not. She did not have the hope of coming back home, but she had the desire.