Sawtooth Spire What will it take to make or break this hint of love?

She responded to his comment with an amused snort, though a thought sparked to life in her mind: why did he feel the need to say that? Nyx wondered what it might be that roused such guilt in him, and her immediate conclusion was that it was perhaps Takiyok who'd made him feel responsible for her absence and the illness that now plagued her.

Still, the lioness continued. Her teeth combed fondly through charcoal guard hairs and her tongue smoothed the furs she disturbed. When he shifted to turn his frosted gaze upon her, Nyx looked right back. Had Ciri inherited such a hue, she wondered, rather fancying the idea of her little blackbird looking like Mahler's miniature. Perhaps both her daughters would.

"All the time," she agreed, recalling the freshness of it all. It'd been around a year since Stigmata had welcomed her and, although Nyx had been and still was a rather private creature, she'd found happiness and stability among them. Before Stigmata and Blodreina's deaths, before Ingram's disappearance, before Takiyok decided that she was queen bee and before Wylla returned to upset the balance. "I do miss it, but..." she glanced longingly toward the mouth of her cave, where two precious little creatures slumbered inside, "we can always make things better."