Sleepy Fox Hollow Where I thought I knew it all before I knew what love was

in response; tears welled in wylla’s fiery glare, and in the next her fangs were bared again. an angered feline, arched and stonewalled again his words.
a leap to make him burn first with chagrin, then with desire; wylla stalked away and he did not follow, demanding control of himself as he pondered the surprise of what she had shouted.
marriage was not something he had considered since marigold, and now the notion was hopelessly out of reach. the earth was not the only thing that had shifted during her absence.
the gargoyle stole closer on tentative steps; he stood downcast and hangdog, shamed beyond all reasoning by his behavior. the sharp hit of her shoulders turned him away; mahler regarded the earth with a low sorrow.
”i vould never seek to cage you, vylla. i do not even ask that you reciprocate my feeling.” his somber gaze traveled over her stiff frame, charcoal ears folding back at the sight of her soul growing veiled once more.
the general straightened thus, a tense bow marking the overwhelming grief stirring within his own heart. ”i spoke out of turn, vylla. i vill go now.”
a sharp about-face, a hardness thinning his lips against their sudden tremble, against the own salt drumbeats at the back of his eyes. ”i vill not seek you out again. you have had ... you have been spared ... any more of my unfit company.”
mahler began to stride away now, refusing to let sadness overtake him: his legs were heavy, muzzle threatening to drag back down to earth. tired, tired. and now the chapter, surely, must close for the both of them.