Redtail Rise and a five pointed dagger

She moved toward him, to lean against the opposite side of the tree, and stare up at him through the leafless branches. Silhouetted against the sky, she could see the vibrant indigo of his irises, and the way they searched the horizon. She wondered briefly if he was watching, expecting to be ambushed. She felt certain the children wouldn't partake, not when Lilia and Ancelin were so fond of them. But Avicus- yes, Avicus could definitely come from nowhere and seek a fight and if she did, Lilia would be ready for her. 

She feared the red woman very little. 

"We're not." She said, and her heart broke a little. "But she'th thtill what the kidth want," She said, and her voice broke. She'd helped raise those kids and yet because of blood, they'd turned to side with their mother. "They're good kidth, I know they are, an' it jutht....Killth me knowin' that not one of 'em hath come up to me to even find out what happened from another perthpective." 

It felt like they didn't care, not at all, and it gutted her. She moved toward Ancelin, to bury her face in the rough, tangly fur of his chest. She clenched her jaws together. Abandonment was one thing, but betrayal was another.