Sleepy Fox Hollow when you wake, you're bargaining

"sequoia did not vant it, and i did not think that laurel — vas in a state to accept." he heard her voice crying in anger and sorrow and rage after him again, damning him toward a premature end. wind rose and played along the charcoal edges of his still-rich ruff. 
"i suppose they vill do vhat they think is best," mahler answered hoarsely after a long while. ursus burned through his mind; the teeth, the shouting, the blood. the infernal laughter.
the screaming of children.
"it does not matter now." the pages of this chapter were soaked in red and in salt, expanding past their bindings, yet mahler tried to shove shut the chapter all the same. "ve are here in the sunspire vith phaedra, and vith —" he set his stoneflower eyes on wylla. "vith her siblings who vill arrive in love and in protection."
if mahler could promise nothing else, it would be this last.
he cleared his throat and blinked, facing into the cold wind. "i think you have more than earned a respite, vylla. you rest. i vill hunt for us."
provider. protector. he could fulfill these roles without the crush of leadership.