The Heartwood And will dead lips to speak?

Archiving it here!

This beast knew well. He had not been as stubborn as the damned one. Perhaps she had been right to hold her judgement, for now she was almost entirely content with this individual.

Voice rasped and expressing oncoming exhaustion, the woman dipped her head in return to the harbinger. 

He would leave, and she would clean up the remnants from the sacrifice and return to the hollow corner where she would sleep.