Only a short time after she slipped away from the bonfire, Miyng-Yi came tearing back.
“Where is Grimlasta?!” she snarled at her clansfolk, desperation flitting past her face. “Where is that bastard?”
“The apothecary? Are you ailing?”
Her gaze darted warily amongst them, latching onto Beoferth in particular. “…I need some kinsvine, immediately. It cannot wait.”
A silence.
Something like hope trickled into Beof’s low voice. “Wait, that’s for… Miyng-Yi, are you…?”
“But, kinsvine?” chimed another, a thick-headed young fighter new to their bunch. The others cringed. They knew by now that it was not a topic to broach with her. “Are you sure you don’t want to keep it? That’s quite a shame. With strength like yours, it’s sure to be a wonderful asset to—”
“Why would I want that?”
Her long, taloned fingers clenched and unfurled.
“Tell me why, little one. Why would I want to fall weak in the heat of battle? Why would I want to guard my entrails at every turn?”
As she paced she came to a halt before her mate. Her pupils grew small, her eyes feral. Odium ebbed through the air between them, so palpable one could sample its taste.
“Why would I want to ruin myself, to bleed and scream when the little slugs claw their way from my womb, ripping me apart? To free them from their amnion that they might breathe? To let them latch themselves to my raw flesh? To resist the hunger I would feel looking upon the little monsters? All for the tiny dream that maybe, just maybe, something might come of it?”
Though he could see her trembling, Beof knew no response would satisfy her, and sealed his mouth.
“…That perhaps this time I might be bestowed with something more than disgraceful, scaleless beasts with not even half my own strength, unworthy of my family’s blood? Tell me, any of you, is that why I should want to keep it? …Speak, you wretches!”
But there was nothing to be said, and Miyng-Yi’s compatriots held their tongues. Words would only feed this ire—which flared brighter than the flame before them. She spat upon her mate’s cheek and turned her back.
“Now I shouldn’t need to say this again: Someone find me some fucking kinsvine!”
