Hushed Willows [festival] if my heart were a turntable

As he made to depart, Gannet threw one last lie at him. Charon laughed -- a laugh filled with Charon's disbelief of Gannet's point of view, and how he really seemed to believe this himself. He made to leave and so did Gannet. He looked over his shoulder as he said, A thrall is not the same as a prisoner. It is so much more. And at the same time, less, for there was a price to pay.

But knowing it fell to deaf ears, he did not explain further and simply left. Gannet clearly did not want to hear it, anyway. His head should have been severed from his rump when they first caught him and destroyed his leg, Charon bitterly thought.

Maybe he would have paid the disrespect back in kind if this was a different day, a different situation. But on the day of the festival, it seemed awfully much like bad luck to Charon to kill or maim someone -- especially on another pack's grounds.