”Winter will arrive soon enough.” Keyik reminded her blanketed companion between mouthfuls of grass. ”I don’t want to spend another season hiding out on Salem like some mangy peasant with nowhere to go.” though of course, they did have nowhere to go. Wolpertinger still hadn’t found someone trustworthy enough to settle into a herd with, let alone one who stayed in a land with the proper climate and it was beneath Keyik to try. ”In case you have forgotten, I am the heir to the Altyn Çöl. I should have been commanding the Gyzyl Oorda by now and in training for my duties as Şa Aýal . Living like this is beneath my breeding”
”How could I forget?” Wolpertinger retorted, rolling her eyes as she continued her guard duties. She knew that they were vulnerable right now and that Keyik’s enemies, and her so called people, may very well be the least of their problems right now. Wolpertinger knew first-hand what could happen if they were caught off their guard this season. She had forced Keyik to the least populated parts of the falls, moving whenever others came to their hiding spots.
Keyik seemed oblivious to Wolpertinger’s unyielding vigilance and utter disinterest in her whining, however. ”Do you know what my mother will do to you when she learns how you’ve been making me live?” she told the champagne girl in a not-quite-a-question, matter-of-fact tone which only earned a snort from Wolpertinger .”No worse than what she’ll do for taking you away in the first place I’d imagine.” For all Keyik protestations that Wolpertinger would be spared because it had been for the good of the tribe, they both knew that she would be disposed of as soon as they were found.
Keyik flicked her pale tail and pondered.
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