For once, my need to know and gain knowledge was abated. What I knew was enough; we were homeless. That was the only logical conclusion to come to, because when had a wolf ever torn another from its throne and then welcomed him to remain as a member of his new regime? I supposed it was a possibility, but a rare one at that, and if Tesseract was leaving then so was I. My eyes fell back to my father from their searching for Praetor, taking in the way he tried to appear stronger than I knew he must have felt. I was no healer, but the swelling in his leg had to be uncomfortable. Ears pulled back for a moment in unease, before pitching forward once more as I asked him where we would go. I did my best to retain my composure, my mind reeling as I considered each territory, where we might be safe. We were not allies with Asteraia, but Rhae had been quite friendly to me when we visited there. But it was so far. Spirane was our truest ally, but that was also quite a distance to walk and I couldn’t imagine father’s leg holding up very well on such steep inclines. Diveen was close but we’d need to cross the river to get there.

An ear flicked back at the sound of someone coming, and my head whipped around to the side to see Praetor approaching. I released an audible sigh of relief, and when he came to my side I pressed into him for comfort, some of the tension dissipating from my muscles as his muzzle touched mine. Light lavender eyes sought his of a more bluish tone, and his reassurance bolstered my own confidence that we could come out of this without fracturing our family. Iromar, he says, and my brows lifted slightly. When he spoke of Aithne my tail began to wag back and forth in a steady rhythm – she was a friend, and if it was to her we would entrust our families safety I would feel happy in the result. Praetor seemed steadfast in his resolve, and my entire bodice lifted a degree, completely reassured. Perhaps I had lost a fraction of my equanimity for a moment there, but it was restored in the feeling of completion that welled within me when I stood side by side with my brother.

When Tesseract agreed to Preator’s suggestion my tail continued to wave, despite the gravity of everything that had happened over the course of the morning I knew that we would persevere as a family and remain strong. My gaze shot to Cersei as she interrupted, pointedly speaking on our missing family members’ behalves. Judas – the reminder cut to my core. Guilt overwhelmed me at the thought that I had been so ready to turn my back on Glorall without any idea of where my other litter mate was. But it had been so long since I had seen him, or smelled a trace of him around Glorall. As for our mother, she had been gone even longer. Logically, if either of them returned they would hardly be able to miss the fact that father’s scent was no longer the marker along the borders. The probability that they would return at all seemed low to me, and grew less with each passing season. But there was still a chance, and for that Cersei made the choice to remain. My ears slid out to the side by way of apology to her, for I knew her decision was one founded in the best interests of our family.

During the discussion the waving of my banner had ceased, and I kept constant contact with my brother. I began to realize how the accents of swamp air and stale water clung to his pelt, easily coming to the conclusion that in all those times he had been away from home he must have been within or at least near Iromar. If that was the case, perhaps going there would result in us getting to spend more time together. “I will come to Iromar; Aithne is a good wolf, this I know,” I answered, my resolve clear in my voice. I looked to my sister then; I would miss Cersei, but I knew this was the right thing to do. And besides, I was long overdue for the visit I had told Aithne I would make – she had promised to teach me how to catch an alligator.

My eyes lifted once more to Praetor, and I finally pulled my frame away from his, relinquishing the contact between us so that he could lead us to this nascent home of ours.