Mara pursed her lips on her way back to them, and her posture was heavier than it had been a short time before. Iellieth drummed her toes inside her boots and stretched her limbs. The soreness from the avalanche and days of unconsciousness crept back into her muscles.
“My apologies, Iellieth, Marcon. I had hoped to show you around our community this afternoon, but it’s later than I’d realized, and I must attend the council meeting.”
“We can come with you, if you’d like,” Iellieth said. “You wanted us to speak with them?”
“I hope to have you at my side for a meeting soon enough, but I am not sure that this is the ideal occasion. There are things I must discuss with them before they will be ready for you.”
“So some of the meeting today is about us?”
“That it is, cher’a.”
“Mara—”
“I kn
