Broken Antler Fen We don't need to be related to relate.

Although she knew Wraen was only kidding around, her words made Towhee think. At age two, she'd thought herself barren. At age three, she'd delivered a miraculous child: Meerkat. At age four, she'd somehow produced six children. What might next year hold? She found herself recoiling at the thought of reproducing again, although surely she would change her mind by then...

Following her friend's words required enough concentration that that line of thought slipped free of its moors and drifted away on the spring breeze. Towhee gave Wraen her undivided attention as she spoke of Ibis's litter, then Maia's. She felt a little lurch in her gut at the news of the latter. She supposed she should be happy for him—and she was, somewhere inside her—but even after all this time, she still felt the sting of Eljay's betrayal and found his name turned her stomach sour.

"None of that was about you," Towhee pointed out when Wraen finished, arching a brow playfully at her companion.