Herbalists' Cache Weep for yourself

Two wolves soon materialized. The first was a mid-sized male with a lanky build and an earthy palette. He spoke strangely, earning a blank look from the devastated Dragonling. His mismatched eyes then drifted to the second man standing behind the first, a hale and swarthy fellow with a faint, jagged scar between his pale eyes.

Cambria’s ears pinned backward. They were here to witness his abysmal failures as a father and they didn’t even know it. He supposed he deserved whatever judgment these two strangers dished up for him when he told them what was was the matter with him. Then he snorted, realizing he didn’t necessarily have to answer to them.

That made him wonder at himself. Who was he, out here wearing his emotions on his sleeve? His girls’ arrival had changed him so drastically, Cambria suddenly realized he didn’t recognize himself. When he’d first come to this corner of the wilderness, he had been aloof, self-sufficient and a man of few words. Now he was some weird, blubbering mess.

He breathed in sharply, raising his head a little as he regarded his fellow wolves. He couldn’t exactly hide the evidence of his emissions, though Cambria could get a hold of himself. He hadn’t meant to harm Sophia and would soon return to the den to apologize for any alarm he had caused. Then he would stiffen his upper lip. He wouldn’t be as hardhearted as the Dragonling of yore, though he would reclaim some of his dignity.

In the meantime, he evaded the questioning looks entirely and asked, Why did you give away your uncle’s goat? Why did he have a goat? Did he have more than one, if he had a favorite?