Aramis is way out of line here! Dear reader, the next time you're in a fight, keep your head better than Aramis does here. Sometimes, people say hurtful words to each other in a fight, things they would tell you that they don't mean if it was a calmer moment.

But we do mean those things, don't we? You wouldn't have said it out loud if you hadn't thought it a hundred times. Now, in a fit of rage you've finally allowed the other person to glimpse into your own tormented interior. And it wouldn't hurt unless it was at least somewhat true, a knife right in the other person's insecurities.

Well, the relationship might not ever be what it was, but with real clarity you can both build a new one, without the sham façade. Or not, and that'll be real too.

In this case, just be patient. In fairytales, the fox always gets what's coming to him.

In case you're wondering why he says "Master" instead of "Mistress," my editor tells me that the latter category has too many ...connotations.

If you want to see the rest of this chapter without waiting, it's available for free on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/JWABeasley/collections

Etherwood updates Wednesdays now, for astrological reasons.