Two Eyes Cenote baby you belong

The girl shifted uneasily as Khusobek departed; she didn't know the man, but it had felt nice to stand in someone's shadow for a little while. The wild urge to ask him to stay, or else to turn and follow took hold of her. She twitched again, her head half-turning, and then that word — Kvarsheim — froze her in place.

Eset knew where that was. Eset was hebsut. Mya had absorbed very little of the word's explanation, but she understood that she was meant to be impressed by the coywolf. If she hadn't been before, she certainly was now, when Eset claimed to know of the far-off place that had once been home. Which meant it was startling to be called Lady Mya, which had a fairy-tale ring to it that the girl liked right away.

"Thank you, um — Miss Eset? Ma'am." Was that more or less respectful than "lady"? And was she meant to show deference? Khusobek had made it seem like it. What was more — she couldn't imagine looking at Eset with anything less than worship, right then.

She followed closely, and when shown to the waters, sank gratefully into their depths. Dust swirled away from her, visible only for the foggy shadows it cast through the phosphorescent light.

"I just wanted to see our old den," she said dully, lifting her gaze from the water to study Eset's face. "I left them, and I meant to come back right away. But things kept pushing me away. A mountain lion first, and then a fire, and when the season changed, a river I couldn't cross back over. I thought I was finally on my way back — but now nothing is familiar. I feel I've lost all sense of direction."

But Eset had not.

"Will you really ask someone to show me the way?" she asked in a small voice.