Swiftcurrent Creek Now how can he smile

Hungry. Mae wasn't exactly here to feed the hungry; random charity had been her father's prerogative as leader, but frequently ill-advised, she thought. They'd stood once as guardians of the valley. Now, vanished into thin air. So what had generosity really brought them in the end?

Yet she'd been a lone, hungry wolf once; it was hard to forget that. Even now she was alone in some ways, always carrying the faint pangs of a never-quite-sated appetite. It was different, of course. This was different.

Regardless, she could afford to be nice this once. You can fish, I guess, Mae's voice was as stiff as the steps she took toward him. She found some sense of security in standing over the crouching figure, sniffing intently at his crown as if she might find something damning in the scents there. But I want some fish, too. It wasn't his fault he was stupid, but he would pay for it anyway — in fish, since he liked them so much.