The Floodlands Expense For My Passage

The smell of rotting flesh and crusting blood masked Dawson's original sea peppered scent. Along with the scent of an unaccounted foreign female. At the sound of an adjacent voice, Cordelia sprang up on all fours and turned to face this outlander. She was larger than Cordelia's petite frame and held a variety of colors within her pelt. Her appearance did not sway Cordelia's mind. This was to be one of two individuals. One of the factions or a native of these lands. 

Her mind held a mirrored image of her first day in Teekon and her body thought to react the same. But things were different now. Without injury, nothing kept her from fleeing. Her smaller build was sure to advance this female in pace Cordelia had convinced herself.

Taking a pace backward her body activated her flight response. But as her limb graced the fallen body of her former companion a competing, irrational thought ran through her head. She could not leave him. He had sacrificed much for her welfare and to leave him now was cruel. There was nothing that could be done for him, and to leave him would change nothing, but despite this truth, the thought still plagued her mind.

After the initial graze, she took another wide stride back, followed by another. Till her body stood above his own. With tears still pooling in her ducts she returned her graze to the matron. Her initial words had been neglected. Clearly, they were not of genuine concern, Cordelia though convincingly.

"Save me your sarcasm. Have your kind not done him enough. Leave him rest in peace!" she voiced strongly. Her voice unconsciously beginning to trail as she continued. "If your quarrel lies with me could you not have been more direct. Rather than drag unaffiliated lives in." her voice quite near the end as moisture trailed her cheeks.