Your friend in the dark

Perhaps it was vain of her, but Kiyo felt as though her antlers were her crowning glory. They were a distinct trait of the noble lineage from her particular paternal clan and a reminder of her birth family. Sure, she’d grown up under strict tutelage because of her predestined fate to enter an arranged marriage, but it didn’t mean her life had been all that bad during her youth. Now, at her feet, she felt like she was staring at the last bit of evidence of who she was before her horrendous marriage to Hideki, when she’d been more innocent and happier.

She could hear the sound of the man shuffling behind her, clearly having woken up, and she gave a great big sniff, trying to stop her tears and failing. It was already embarrassing enough that she was practically bald headed, but now he was also seeing her in an emotional state of disarray. The woman lifted her pale, dainty paws and wiped at her eyes but the tears kept coming. “I...I’m sorry,” she hiccupped, her voice watery. “There was a...being...a god I think...and it offered me items. I was greedy, and foolish, and asked for more, and...it stripped me of my antlers,” she said, another body shivering sob wracking her body. Oh what a situation she’d gotten herself into.