Blackfeather Woods So what do you want from me

It didn’t take long before he found her, his approach detected and her face seen. He slowed to a stop a few steps away from her, nodded his head, and said, “Salutitsinik.” It felt strange—pleasantly so—to use his mother tongue so freely and still be understood. Whilst he’d tried to share the language with his children, few had actually taken a liking to it, and he doubted that any of them still used it; it wasn’t necessary, not when the common tongue was the prime language of these southern lands. It was refreshing to use it again, however, especially with one not of his own blood; he was reminded of the north, of his extended family, and he wondered how they all were faring.

Lingering no longer on his own thoughts, he focused on her. “ÂkKiven?” he asked, glancing at her body. Searching for her gaze thereafter, he offered the full extent of his attention, genuinely interested in hearing her response; he hoped she was well.