Firefly Glen spring in your step

Recalling his manners, “It’s nice to meet you — Charon,” Cypress recited politely, hesitating briefly over the older male’s name. He heard the command and not the suggestion, and his tall ears skimmed back submissively as he considered the idea. “I — I’ve met Alya,” he admitted in a low baritenor, “except she was being Lyra to start with. My mama would have fussed over her — over all of your daughters. I think she would have liked to have girls’n boys both.” It was easier to talk about Eshe now that he knew Charon understood. The raven might’ve imagined it, but he would’ve swore he saw a flash of some kind of negative emotion when Charon’d heard about Ondine claiming the forest queen’s throne.

“I’d like to come with you,” he said honestly. He was curious about the mountain, mainly because of Alya but now also because of the unexpected ally he found in its alpha. Still, “I made a promise to my brother and cousin — and to the other wolves who depend on us,” he intoned with all the solemnity he could muster. “We said we would stick together and find a new home.” Hesitantly, worried that denying the Ostrega’s command would brew an enmity he didn’t think he could weather, Cypress scraped up the crumbs of his dignity and asked, “Did you mean come with you to stay? Or just come with you to visit for a spell?” His youth showed in the way his carriage dipped a little more in the face of his unease.