LIKE A WALK IN THE PARK, LIKE A HOLE IN YOUR HEAD

The silence after her words had been spoken seemed to stretch endlessly, and Ehiyeh felt her heartbeat begin to quicken and her mouth begin to dry- her father, he had never been predictable, and it wasn't as if she had spent enough time around him to pick up on his mannerisms. But there must be some sort of bond, however weak it may be, between father and daughter. They, at least, did not regard each other as strangers. And she felt somewhat comforted that Eden knew what she had done, that she no longer had to face this alone.

Ehiyeh met his gaze until he saw it fit to finally speak, lowering himself to her height, and his words made her shift uncomfortably. "I suppose the difference is that killing a wolf, just... feels inherently wrong. Bears and cougars do not speak or try to cry for help." She replied, uneasy with the thought. He had a point, however- in a way, wolves were no different from the animals that they hunted. Like prey, wolves were driven by instinct, the desire to eat, to hunt, to reproduce, to claim land. She didn't like thinking of herself on the same level as a bear or a cougar. She had thoughts, conscious desires, she understood what she did and why she did it. Those animals- they were trophies, quarry. Certainly her father didn't think that wolves were the same as prey?

Eden's next words saw her relax somewhat, and her ears perked forward. So, it was possible that she was not a murderer after all? That, after she had ran, healers had come across the dying alpha and saved him? It certainly put the girl more at ease. Ehiyeh nodded, the corners of her lips twitching in a half-smile that looked out of place on her face. "Thank you for...putting my mind at ease, Father." The words were awkward, but genuine, and she was grateful that Eden had told her this, whether or not he was just simply stating a fact.

Ehiyeh's ears flicked backwards at his question, and she cast her gaze towards the ground. "I don't know." she murmured quietly, tail tucked against her leg. She raised her head, then, and looked Eden in the eyes once more. "But the wolves of Taviora don't know it was an accident. They think it was an assassination attempt, I'm sure of that. If they find me..." She shook her head. "It would be bad for both me and Glorall."

ehiyeh