Myrika is by me!

The tawny hybrid's ears twitched as she caught the beginnings of a summoning call. It was not from the borders, and the voice was half-recognized, familiar, as one of Inferni. Standing up, the redhead headed toward her bay horse and saddled him. It was not so long a walk to the mansion, but Myri liked to exercise her horses, and Cahal's speed made it worthwhile. Their headlong charge toward the forest and the mansion lurking within took only a few moments, and Myrika was soon walking the big horse through the gate.

She stopped him along the lawn, looking this way and that, until she spied Jacinto sitting beneath a tree. Sliding from her seat, Myrika was quick to undo most of the riding gear. She lifted the saddle and undid the reins, then slapped the horse on his flank so he might wander the gardens. Dropping her gear unceremoniously by the path, the tall woman headed toward her cousin with a smile on her red-tinged muzzle. It faded as she looked at him -- Jacinto had always seemed an upbeat, sunny personality, but there was clear anguish written across his features today.

Hey Jacinto, she said, stopping a few feet from him. Are you alright?

Myrika is by me!

Myrika was glad she'd gotten on a level with Jacinto as he spoke. It took all the strength in her not to reel back and whimper something unintelligible at him and go running into the mansion. She might even scream like the tip of her tail was on fire, too. Being close to the earth was helping to abate that feeling of intense distaste -- and not just because it involved babies, but because what had to have happened to result in babies in the first place. Her mind served up several choice images, which she soundly rejected and chased from her mind.

Despite her own feelings on the matter, Myrika knew she could not make a decision regarding a member of Inferni -- and a cousin at that -- based on her own hang-ups, strange as they were. Talking about anything related to sex or reproduction was exceeding difficult for Myrika, and this was just such a situation where the fact that she was a leader meant she had to confront her discomfort. And, in any case, it wasn't as if she needed to ask Jacinto for a play-by-play of how it had happened -- that was fairly obvious. And the misery on her cousin's face, too, helped abate the Aquila's discomfort. Surely Jacinto didn't like telling her this any more than she liked hearing it.

Hey, she said, shaking her head. No, it's okay. You did the right thing by telling me. Where are you gonna go? I guess you'd be gone maybe half a year, a year? Think you could bring back a great grand-kid for Kaena? She'll be pretty upset with you if you don't. Myrika smiled, and strangely enough, found that her smile came easily and without excessive cajoling on her end. You can always come back, Jacinto. You haven't done anything that would make you an exile, have you? She assumed, since the mother was apparently involving Jacinto in the raising of the children, she had been a consenting party to the conception. Myrika also could not imagine sweet Jacinto taking a woman by force -- he seemed the exact opposite of such a type.

Myrika is by me!

For her part, Myrika was just glad Jacinto did not wish to share any intimate details regarding his relations with this Io Berlin. She listened with vague apprehension, for she neither recognized the mother's name nor did she know of the standing between her pack and the more southerly one. I don't know her, Myri admitted, but only quietly. She fell silent again for Jacinto to continue the tale. As it ventured back toward the deed itself, Myrika was apprehensive, but palpably relieved with Jacinto's assertion that all had been consented to.

I didn't think you were the type to do anything by force, she said, reassuringly. And I hope AniWaya looks on you as one standing up for his responsibility. It's the right thing to do. She, too, was worried about the potential punishment that might be meted out by the southerly pack -- if Jacinto died under torture or punishment, it would be her duty to seek vengeance for him, as his former leader and his cousin. But -- she had never heard of the AniWayans being particularly fond of severe and harsh punishment. One would think such stories might travel quickly.

I understand where you're coming from, she added, shrugging. You'd be welcome to come back -- but I do advise bringing a grandkid at least to meet Kae. She grinned at this. Considering the pressure that had been placed on Myri to reproduce, she could only imagine the one-eyed woman's wrath if there were grandkids in the world she had yet to meet.