Redsand Canyon Bane

The young man should have expected her response.

Fennec’s voice was sharp and final. Cad’s eyes were closed as he tucked his nose toward his chest and allowed his shamefulness to fill his belly and silence his tongue.

Those final two words were all she was going to leave him with. She turned away from the garden and the boy with the peach face. Her anger could be felt in the air between them. Cad wished that he could release her from it, could dispel the feelings she had with a few simple words. He felt that he had only made things worse for the woman. Fennec had been angered and he had been made none the wiser.

It had been too much, to try reaching out to her. Cad felt that he had crossed a line.

The silver-furred wolf worked in her garden until he had cleaned away the dead portions and checked each of the plants that grew strong and healthy. He didn’t stop thinking about the intense Imperatrix until he had tiredly walked back to his quarters to find sleep.