Overture Downs something wicked this way comes

she was adder-like in the dawn, slithering in a zig-zagging line through the dry grasses tickling at her rib-encased whole, gaunt waist hiding the glimpse of an ember sure to grow in days to come.

but for now, the daughter to madness looked not for a lock-and-key husband, but a companion willing to make a promise.

her one concern was that the blackpelt wolf she approached could be female - his rawboned boyishness wasn't yet evident.