I should have welcomed the connection, no? For him to be connected to a child of mine so deeply should be something positive, another factor to keep him close and yet I cannot feel it as such. These connections...they are not consensual, I do not think. Their connection was not chosen. Perhaps that is part of why I sought his punishment even when he was delivered punished - I wanted to punish the fate out of him. But I will keep my word nonetheless - for now, I will mend him, bring him back to where he belongs. These other circumstances can be dealt with later.

I am sure Kamala will never grow to understand but for now, I cannot concern myself with that. Instead, I bring Underidge to me and away from her, pointedly reminding her of that as I lead him away, slow but sure. "You are the Thorn of Glorall," I echo his sentiment but my voice does not waver like his own; I meet his eyes, move alongside him as I guide him onward, "but when you sneak without purpose, you give that power to others." I do not know if it is entirely true but in a sense, perhaps it could be said as such. "This punishment has brought us closer." My eyes move from his and behind to where Kamala had been.

I am quiet then as I lead him forward, offering my shoulder at times though in truth, I still feel the heat of frustration within my blood. For now, I simply take him away before I motion for him to take his place beneath one of the lower hanging trees; he will be shaded there and it is there that I will inspect his wounds. I inspect them closely, observing their patterns and inhaling their scent; there is more than just Blackthorne lurking in his fur. "Did your son do this?" I ask him as I sniff at one of the deeper wounds, dragging my tongue across the dried blood as I do so.