Lion Head Mesa Heart went boom

Her question broke into his thoughts, scattering them like pieces of dust to float away on the breeze slipping through the threshold up ahead. Atreus took a deep breath as it flirted with his forelock, contemplating where to start. Perhaps it made sense to begin at, well, the beginning.

I was born in my Aunt Avicus’s pack, Redtail Rise, but I didn’t fit in there. She actually chased me off when I was still pretty little, Atreus said, squinting against the brightening light as they finally stepped outside. I found my way to Mereo, he continued, wondering if Toula knew anything about it, and life was pretty good there. The barracks where we lived were pretty sparse compared to this place, plus we were doing drills and stuff from sunup to sundown. It sounds like a lot but it suited me, I guess.

He wasn’t entirely sure life here suited him, though Atreus didn’t share that part. He sneaked a glance at Toula’s expression, wondering what a princess would think of the paltry life of a soldier. She didn’t seem to look down on him any way—nor did her sister—but surely their upbringing couldn’t have been more different.

Have you lived here your whole life? What’s that been like? he asked, tilting his head toward the sun as they walked along the foot of the mesa.