Moonspear Are you a parking ticket? Because you’ve got “fine” written all over you.

Marius had no desire to approach any place firmly established, or so he told himself frequently. As the days lengthened his patience with the season did the opposite, and he yearned for spring and all of the accoutremont.

He had crossed in to a second valley and here, experiencing a dry spell for the first time in many months, had become ornery. What sort of place didn't have stray women? Even the coymutts - which he had been favoring lately - seemed to be relegated to the east he had left behind.

As Marius came across the border markers of some little heathen place, he found more feminine scent than masculine, and that gave him a little hope. He would not cross over - he knew better - but he did not hide either, preferring to loiter and roam in the gray area beyond.