Sun Mote Copse waves pulling me

She couldn’t help it. She scowled at his insistence that he owed her an apology. Njord hadn’t done anything wrong, other than put his trust into a bad actor. He couldn’t possibly have known. Meerkat didn’t like him assuming any responsibility for Kigipigak’s actions.

None of this is your fault, she said perhaps more heatedly than she wanted, though her eyes were soft upon his face. I know it must feel awful, to see your friend’s true colors. I know he was more than simply a friend too, she acknowledged, right before her voice sharpened again. But let’s please place the blame where it belongs here.

She glared in the direction of the borders, fuming in silence for a moment as she thought of the brief exchange that had taken place there. Would Asivaq ever realize she’d hitched herself—and her children—to a heartless man? Meerkat wondered. Many had tried to warn her, so Meerkat had no sympathy left for that witless woman.

Three words suddenly burst out of her: Those poor bairns. She paused, then continued venting, I don’t mean to insult their beliefs but leaving the sweep because it’s cursed—and refusing to join us by that same excuse—och! You know it takes much to anger me. And this makes me very angry, Njord.