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Watching from up in the pine tree on the eastern perimeter, Lapping Water was startled when an unfamiliar voice said in her ear. “I believe you know a forest guardian. I am Mountain Wind.”
She swung around to come face-to-face with a woodman, similar to her but with darker hair, and eyes the colour of pines needles. She blinked before collecting herself. She gave a slight smile. “You could say that. I’m married to him. Pleased to meet you. I am Lapping Water.”
The woodman’s eyebrows rose so high they were nearly lost in his hairline. “You have married an outsider? Extraordinary.”
His voice held astonishment but not censure. “Unlike you, we do not usually associate with others, but our need is great.” Lapping Water curbed her urge to explain that they, too, did not usually associate
