She can almost see the frustration rippling along her unsettled companion’s golden skin, can almost taste her seething upon the air. Satisfaction rolls through her lithe frame, settling deep and bringing a faint grin to her dark lips. Though her revenge is always justified, she has never claimed any lack of pettiness. Oh, she is honest enough, even in herself, to recognize just how shallow her actions had been. But really, how else does one establish that they are not a horse to be trifled with? And certainly this woman, as base and arrogant as she had proven over the course of time, deserved such things.
She really could not be bothered to feel so much as an ounce of guilt over her actions. Indeed, she would even go so far as to say she is rather pleased with herself.
Of course, there are yet a hundred ways this encounter might go. Still, she could not imagine one that would not be entirely satisfactory.
The bristling of neat feathers does little to deter Heartfire, nor does it induce her to create the space the other woman so clearly seeks. Instead she draws nearer, pale eyes glittering in open humor at the other woman’s sharp words. Tilting her head slightly, she allows the faint smile curving her lips to deepen as she boldly considers the golden mare. “Hmmm,” she begins, her voice a soft murmur in the muffled, shadowy recesses of the forest. “I could, but I am certain you would not appreciate the outcome.”
She glances away, blue eyes suddenly finding the interior of the forest far more entrancing than her companion as she draws slightly back, creating the distance Ellyse had initially been searching for. The low timbre of her voice shifts, a note of skepticism entering the confidential tone as she continues. A clear intimation that she might believe otherwise. “Especially if you care for your children as much as you claim to.”
