Redhawk Caldera Do you think you're better off alone?

The lady of the caldera suggested that Issorartuyok and Meerkat speak with each other and then return to her before they left for the glacier.

The northern man regarded his traveling companion with a demur shifting of his eyes. He felt he had dishonored her trust in him, that he had led her mother to believe his intentions were more than a man’s should be. Issorartuyok had said something, surely. If he spoke to Meerkat, he was certain he could offer his apologies and earn her forgiveness.

The duo departed from the scene mutely. Issorartuyok followed the speckled scout away from the caldera and toward the forest that swept out in the distance. Words played on his tongue and never left. He walked silently with Meerkat until he had settled on the things he might say, if he should have to speak to her first.

Thoughts of the glacier had slipped away from him. All that consumed him was the conversation with the Sovereign woman.