Heron Lake Plateau the burning bed

When Towhee admitted to being deaf, Camilla was surprised — but she obeyed, and lifted her nose so that she was almost eye-to-eye level with them. When she opened her mouth to confirm what she had said, there was suddenly no need. Phox arrived; seeing him made her pause, and her tail uncurled from its spot across her belly and gave a small twitch, but she was shocked by his correction. If he wasn't her husband, what was he? For all Camilla knew, men were always husbands -- it had been true for Sif and Wardruna, and it was true for herself and Keen, and Lukja, and Goran — thinking of them made her tail curl again and she ducked her head, eyes closing briefly as if his words had been meant to cause harm.

She felt them like a fresh wound, and murmured again — I.. I sorry, I... she didn't know what to say. It hurt her though, deep down. If Phox wasn't her husband -- he said he was a friend, but what did that mean? Camilla couldn't remember having a man for a friend before. The poor thing tried to think of something to say to fix it, something to do, but her eyes misted over suddenly with hot tears — and she shrank back from the two of them. I don't understan, Phox, Phox safe me, I... I thought...

It was stupid. She was stupid. The girl sniffled, wanting nothing more than to calm down and hide, but she couldn't move until they let her.