Redsand Canyon Tether

The woman showed no sign of recognizing Ruenna's rudimentary ptero. The matrona knew it had been a long shot. 

The woman responded with universal gestures of submission and begging. "She's hungry," Ruenna noted, her gaze softening. Her kind heart went out to the woman. Had this been Redhawk Caldera, Ruenna would not have thought twice about taking her under her wing. ..But hadn't that line of thinking been directly responsible for her former pack's undoing? Redhawk Caldera had disbanded because despite having many members, there was not a single entirely able-bodied, adult wolf among them. There had been far more hungry mouths than capable hunters, in the end. 

"If that injury was inflicted by Mereo, I would like to see her healed before she goes." Malila could use a practice patient. "I wonder..." Ruenna fell quiet for a moment, contemplating. "She's submissive and seems eager. I wonder if Akashingo would..?" Ruenna let the thought drop without finishing it, reminding herself that a woman who could not understand language could not very well provide informed consent to enter into the sort of service Ramesses would desire. 

Ruenna shook her head. "Never mind. I just.. Crowfeather is often on my mind, and.." Again, Ruenna fell silent, this time apologetically. Crowfeather had not been mentioned at all (before this moment) between she and Germanicus, and Ruenna felt the boy had almost become the elephant in the room. Ruenna thought often about how the boy's release to them might be negotiated, but before anything could be done about him it would need to be confirmed that Germanicus wanted custody of his former protege. She did not know how things had been left between the pair. 

In alluding to the possibility of a trade, Ruenna did not know how closely she pressed against the ugly truth about Tamar's release. That was yet another topic that was avoided, shrouded in silence.