Bearclaw Valley If I was born a blackthorn tree

But he was not honest with her. The healer could see in his face that what he was feeling didn't match what he told her he felt. She sighed a little. You don't have to hide your pain from me, she told him gently. Why did he think this? Was it a man thing to pretend you were not in pain? She left the moss to soak on his ear, afraid that any wiping motion would pull the friable, tattered edges of what was left. When she was sure it would stay, Arielle lowered her head to pick up a piece of bark; she placed it near the briun-jaw's front paws. This will help. I don't have anything better. Guilt created lines of stress in her face. I'm sorry. She hated watching his suffering. 

She also knew Aves was keeping something else from her, though she wasn't quite sure what it was. There was a tension when it was just the two of them, like he was upset with her. But he hadn't been in the shape for much conversation, and she wouldn't push him while he was in so much pain.