Altar of Twilight Never had so[M]eone to call my own

Heph was reckless, but still she was attuned to the words of the wolves in front of her, to what was said and what she wanted. And it was not for her safety or the safety of others that was her concern. If this Malacath wished to rain down destruction and fire and suffering on the surrounding packs and the surrounding wolves she supposed he could do his best. But the words.

I will not limit your freedoms as long as you bring information we can use.

What good was freedom if it was conditional? What use was information when one did not know what it was for? And what promises could, even the second-in-command in the Forsaken, make if he did not know the vision for the future of the pack? No wolves could make promises about the future, to know with certainty exactly what others would do and how they would change, how the world would change and force them along their certain paths.

A part of her was tempted, to take the offer and act as she pleased with the knowledge that even if they wanted to chain her down she would simply slip free and ride along the ever-changing tide if she did not like the terms they offered. Promises were words, not broken bones or blinded eyes and they only slowed one's progress if one let them.

But it would be, in its own way, a lie. And while she had no qualms about lying to the face of Dreven who Atka had named she did not wish at all to lie to Atka, to tell her things which would not be true and might very well prove to be false from the moment of inception and not even true for a moment or a heartbeat that she spoke them in.

She narrowed her eyes. In some ways the words were spoken in good faith, but in another way, somewhere deep in her heart, she felt them like a trap closing over. "Then for now I'll keep my distance, once I have traveled for some time I'll return and we'll see if it's the kind of information you're looking for. No matter how tempting the offer it would be foolish to accept before knowing if it is within my means." Her voice bounced over the words with a lightness that betrayed the seriousness of the undertaking. But she heard and saw Atka's attempt to lighten the mood and had no desire for their little meeting to turn into a bloodbath.