Shadewood when the last tree has fallen

Phex's presence was noted, but not a sound slipped from the empress' lips; she regarded the auburn girl with a warm slide of her gaze, a tender breath of the most gentle ocean waves - regardless of whatever occured between herself and her husband, the scout would always maintain a special place in Gwendolyn's patchwork heart. This careful silence was broken when at last her companion parted her maw, but the huntress found herself incapable of becoming disgruntled by the gesture; she did not mind. Besides, it was a question of which she'd pondered countless times before, back in her youth when the world was still new and life drilled excitement into her veins.

"Well," she murmured with a half-smile, "The deer eat the grass, and we eat the deer. Does that not mean we eat the grass, too?" Alighting in her gaze was a shimmer of scintillating glory, a miniscule shard of what once enlightened her mind and freed her from the demons inside - passion was a wonderous trophy, and with it came a glimpse of younger days. The Eruna's fathomless eyes traced the form of a newly birthed calf, fighting to suckle at her mother's belly. "We are all connected somehow."