Swiftcurrent Creek the knot

Congratulations! Anything exciting planned?? :)

We're actually not doing a honeymoon — in general we're just kind of blowing through our savings since we had to move the wedding up by a year, just bought a house, etc. I think we'll probably do what we wanted for our honeymoon on our first anniversary instead (traveling to Europe, specifically Ireland and probably Germany). I do have the whole week off after the wedding and will have nothing truly responsible to do, so there's that at least!

Magpie didn't quite expect the response she received, although she did take a step back out of sudden concern for her own well-being. She had heard of sickness of the mind, and indeed had vague impressions of a relative being lost to it (her grandfather, who had died when she was still developing the part of the brain that stores long-term memory). She couldn't remember if it was catching, but the idea of her mind being lost terrified her. If this stranger was ill and could pass it on, the youth didn't want to risk catching it.

Her little body bristled despite herself, and she took on a more defensive stance. Why doesn't she do the respectable thing, and run into the woods to die where she won't infect the rest of us? It was a thought that was more instinct coursing in Magpie's behavior now, but she did not run. She was the front line of defense between this sickness and the rest of the pack; if she died, it wouldn't matter, because at least the pack would live on.