Jade Fern Grove You assume I'm fine, but what would you do if I

wylla shot back a rebuttal and mahler, again, held his tongue, nostrils flaring with the effort. he had whelped stag and all his siblings; that memory brought to him mind of takiyok, and he felt the rawness writhe slowly over his spirit again. too many things piled haphazardly upon one another, and mahler could not allow them to collapse. he had been more father to the pale boy than his kill-brother, more father to the children stigmata had sired with ketzia. more father to marble and calcifer than he had managed to be to any of his own. he must end the bind here.
the gargoyle did not approach, merely inclined his head toward wylla and began to shoulder his way between the snowy trees, back the way he had come. if she did not follow, he would send down their pair, but now he kept the lilac stone of his stare trained upon noctisardor —
which he had won
and there was no sweetness in it.