for so long had my teeth held my tongue from a venomous voice
but the poison has passed from my lips to my hands, an incendiary point

They do not appear to be as dangerous as they had at first and Breach feels herself relax, if only slightly. She has not led Hyaline in a way to be free of enemies—she knows that much—but neither is she as recklessly bloodthirsty as those before her. She is dangerous in the way of feral wolves. She will eat the weak. She will destroy those who cross her. She will step her heel onto the head of the copperhead.

But she does not strike without reason.

She does not sink teeth into flesh without cause.

At least, usually.

So she settles slightly, casting a grateful glance at her father and brother, before turning her attention to the trio who had chosen to settle into the mountains of Hyaline for their meeting. “It is indeed rude,” she echoes Spirit, rolling a shoulder but not adding any heat to the words. It is clear that she is not pleased that they helped themselves to the mountains, breaking protocol, but not furious with them for it.

“Be glad you’re not here to set fires,” she tells the dragon with a sharp-toothed smile before turning her attention the one who looked nearly more goat than horse. “We are not for hire, but I’m open to negotiations if you are in need of assistance. We have more than a few who enjoy a good hunt.”

And she would not mind someone owing her a few favors.

But their elk and bear was not what brought them here today and it was not where her attention lied. It was on what Leilan had said. Straia. The painted magician. The woman swallowed by the earth.

“I arrived after she had been taken,” Breach answers honestly, not thinking that perhaps it would be smarter for her to hold her cards closer to her chest. “I don’t know what took her or if it could happen again, but I think we should all be careful.” She shifts, unsettled. “It will not be the last we hear of it.”

though ritual pyre sending smoke to the sky as the building continues to burn
though rapt in the ruin, the pain in the grave, is lies you leave tied to the earth