Wapun Meadow If I was out of my body you would see the truth

two howls to the wildwood. one the sonorous voice of her rook; the other sultry and strange. 

astara nudged her children, rising curiously to the summons. some bitterness remained in her stare as she arrived, combing over each participant with hard-lidded contempt. 

which of these strangers captured the heart of her merrick? she had seen little of him as of late, and that absence grew to a keen and ravenous paranoia. it had not escaped her notice merrick made causal strolls beyond the blackstones; no doubt to some hidden lair to lay alongside and inside one of these women. one of these ugly, lesser dogs, had 
surely felt 
HER 
king, her rook her knight her lover her bane — 

the only problem was — which one?