The soft sound of a snort drags my attention to the treeline and I turned to look, brown eyes wide as I took in the painted creature that sashayed forward with the sort of implied authority that few females held here. I blinked, but did not shy away. I did not know her name, but I knew her. I knew the was the one with whom Garmr shared his nights. The one with whom he shared his days. His time.

I did not want to know her, but I did.

"This is the one place on the islands that they might do exactly that," I answered, lifting my chin and refusing to cower. She might be the chosen of the man I'd confessed to loving, but I refused to accept that that placed her above me.

This wasn't the way my life was supposed to work out. This wasn't where I was supposed to be and I still couldn't fathom what I was doing here sometimes. I had tried to escape time and time again, only to be turned around by Garmr each and every time. One would assume that meant he cared - not in the stereotypical sense, I was not so foolish to imagine that he loved me - but in the sense that he might look out for me once in a while. Spare me a glance. A conversation.

Hell, at this point even a comment would likely be enough to ignite, frustrated as I was.

But you know that, don't you? My eyes narrow, attempting to understand what she was really asking. Did she genuinely believe that I held a fondness for this fetid prison? I tolerated it because I had no choice, and I had gotten better at learning the ins and outs of the Lagoon's whims, but that did not mean I enjoyed it here.

Sarcasm rises to my lips but I cage it with practiced ease. I may be years out from my tutelage and grossly out of practice at courtly graces, but I am not so foolish as to spill my frustrations at the feet of a stranger who held the upper hand, as galling as that was to admit. "I suppose it all depends on one's perspective. One horse's prison is someone else's palace." My tail flicked at the girlish tuck of my hips with a little more vigor than I truly intended, snapping against my thin skin in the lull that followed. "Which is it for you: prison or palace?"