Ravensblood Forest salt waiting

Silently, Chacal kept an eye on her daughter and Mireille both; making sure to avoid conflict with the Murkwood wolves so long as the wound on her neck healed.

She toiled away as was expected, daydreaming about skinning the man who had pinned her daughter- skinning him alive while he cried out for mercy. She imagined dropping the one who had bitten her throat from Dragoncrest Cliffs- perhaps where the cliffs were lower, so she might be ruined on the rocks, but unable to move, and swept away by the tide.

It filled the time. And it gave her reason to continue.

She moved to her daughter’s side, aware of the growing pressure within her. She was days overdue, at least. Time had been difficult to gauge, but she knew that with the birth of Mireille’s children, her own should come soon.

But while she worked, her children became quite calm. Subdued, she hoped, and content to share in her daydreaming.

She’d stashed a fish snagged hastily from a tide pool, letting it dry out in the sun. It barely fit in her mouth when she collected it from its hidden perch, and brought it to her daughter. She watched for any sign of interest from guards, before she turned her back to the ocean, and opened her mouth wide so the fish could fall to the earth, its skin wrinkled from the salt. She nudged it toward Chani.