Lion Head Mesa Within the garden gates

again the pledge.

germanicus was upon crowfeather before he scarcely felt himself move. he shoved the boy back against the rough-hewn wall of his minimal quarters and stood with hot breath scouring the shadow's shoulder.

inside his chest the eagle's own heart galloped.

"i have heard you say those words over and over to me." the imperator's voice was gravelled and low. "they have had their effect."

the look in crowfeather's eye. the way the soft mouth formed the words. the threat of salt in the air between them now.

"do not ever doubt my care for you. that is why i will not let you go."

the yellow eyes blazed down and then germanicus was gone, stepping back and around crowfeather in the same motion. gone from his own doorway and into the darkened corridors beyond, choosing blindly some path that wound upward to the mesa's summit.