It was a quick deed.

Finding her wandering the night in the near blizzard had been a blessing. For three nights now Hezial and Milgar, my wife and child had starved with me. Tonight we would eat, and eat well.

It took an hour or so to carry the corpse back to my house and display the feast on the table for my family to see.

The young woman’s face was masked with gloomy acceptance and I wonder, as I always do.

What was she thinking just before I took her life?