Loyalty burns both ways

She watched him, watched and waited for his reaction. For a few moments he gave her nothing, just a sigh whistling through his teeth, and then he moved closer. Her ears flicked uncertainly, but she didn't move. She held firm even as he got close enough to touch and her eyes closed as his forehead came to rest on hers. A shaking, trembling sigh left her, tears rolling down her cheeks. She was tired of being scared. She was sick of the fear, frustrated with herself for succumbing to it in the first place. It was wasn't just being afraid in the moment, it was the constant, gripping fear - the same fear she had escaped from when her father finally released her from his clutches. She did so much work on herself to make sure she never felt this anxiety, this constant fear that something was going to go wrong, ever again and here she was, fallen right back into that void. Every time she thought she might be climbing her way back out, something else smacked her back down again.

She drew in a shuddering breath as his forehead lifted away from hers, blinking open her eyes open just as his tongue gently swept away the tears form her cheeks. Gentle, so gentle. Such a drastic difference from the brute that had threatened to rip away one of her limbs. A frown pulled at her lips at his words, her heart squeezing in her chest. She didn't want to leave. She didn't trust him to be alone, didn't trust that he wouldn't try to join Zee in her grave when she wasn't around to watch him. She didn't want to be in the castle alone again, waiting for the inevitable day that Ulric came to inform her that Resin had passed away. Being in the castle felt like death was chasing her - which perhaps it was. Resin gravely wounding her, Sirius flinging her into a pile of ash, pushing herself to the very brink of collapse... It was a wonder she was still here.

But she knew that she needed to return to her children, she knew that she needed to return to Resin even though her Resin was fading away. He no longer had the luxury of holding to his promise to stay with her. Zee was gone, he was needed here. She grit her teeth and fought back more tears as she gave him a silent nod before dropping her gaze from his and looking toward the floor, swallowing hard around the lump in her throat. She stepped past him, limping slightly as she stepped out of the den and back out into the sunlight.

"Tamsyn" | "Blue"