Nimbus Summit I will give you all that I have and then some

Imaq wasn't surprised when he withdrew from where he'd pulled her against his chest -- though it shouldn't have hurt so much. The she-dog couldn't bear to look at him, to see the disgust she was sure was painted across his features in vivid relief. Something long broken in her chest snapped once more, crumbling like dry soil kicked into the breeze. 

The shepherd went still and silent, unable to stop the way her head dropped and chin dipped towards her chest as she curled in on herself -- as if to protect herself from what came next. Her eyes closed though that didn't stop the track of fresh tears coursing along her freckled features. 

As Rye began to stammer, Imaq waited. For him to turn away from her. For the death curse. To be seen as little more than an evil spirit inhabiting the place where her kinnuajok-ijik's wife had once stood. It was a great affront to the spirits to take another life. In Kalallit Nunaat, there was no taboo with direr consequences -- no shaman that could lift the crime from a person's soul. She shouldn't have expected anything else, of course she would be shunned and turned out as Salik had cast her out so long ago -- not only an unwoman but a murderer now to boot. 

Except, it didn't come. 

The kupanuak's sea-kissed gaze flew open in utter shock, darting to her husband's and scanning along his features searchingly. She almost didn't dare to believe it. "Rye...no kongak?" The question escaped in a timid whisper, stuttering across her breath with uncertainty.

kinnuajok-ijik: hawk-eye (in reference to Rye's eye color), kupanuak: small bird not used for hunting (i.e. a wren, sparrow, or warbler).