It felt as if her world was crashing down around her and all she could do was bare witness to it's destruction. Keese's claim to her only intensified the shameful burning in her gut and the tightening in her heart. She wanted to deny it, to tell Anatoliy that the silver male lied. But there was truth to his words, even if they were grossly exaggerated. But she could not. She could not bring herself to take any action that would reveal her relationship with Toliy for what it really was. She could only hope that Anatoliy would not say something himself that would let Keese piece it together, if he had not already. There was nothing, nothing she could do to control the damage of Keese's words, not without further jeopardizing that which she loved most.
Her composure was beginning to crack and her distress beginning to show through for any of those that knew her well enough to pick up on the signs. The normally strong and proud woman felt small and insignificant as she was caught between the bristling males. She had grown so weak, if not in body, in spirit and mind. She had grown soft. Emotions she had once had an iron grip on now left her feeling vulnerable and exposed.
He knew?! What? How? The words had hit hard, eyes that had been averted in shame now glared at her lover in a terrible mix of shock and horror. It was like a slap in the face. How, how could he have known? How, why had he kept this from her. Her mind reeled and the last of her control nearly slipped through her fingers. It was the glint of steel being drawn that snapped the woman out of her downward spiral. She needed control of this situation and she needed it now. It was as if a switched had been flipped. "Stand down, Anatoliy." It was an order and her voice demanded his obedience. Never had she ever taken such a tone with him. Never had she demanded anything from him. "You will stay out of this!" Her eyes were cold as she glared at him, as if daring him to disobey her. The emotions that had reflected clearly in their surface moments ago now tightly locked away and out of view. At Keese's snide comment she elbowed him roughly in ribs causing an audible umph to leave his lungs and practically doubling him over. "And you, she snarled at the other, "I said mind your manners.
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