Remorseless

Irilyth had almost reached the stony shore of the lake when Manea's voice called back out to her, bidding her to stop. She obeyed, partly due to her nature of obeying those she had belonged to and partly because she would never have denied Manea. The sloshing of water behind her let her know Manea was approaching her, but she didn't turn around nor look up as her former owner came to her front until nothing but purple legs blocked out her vision. Taking in a slow breath, Iri turned her gaze up to meet Manea's aqua eyes, a pain and tiredness etched deep into those purplish-red eyes. Manea tried to change her mind, to reassure the little fae that if she wanted to stay in the Mendacium den that she could and she would protect her if Iri wanted to stand up to Alastor. The frown on Irilyth's face deepened at the offer and again her gaze slowly drifted down, finding it far easier to sink back into her submissive nature and let things play out around her than it was to continue to try and be bold or strong. It was exhausting and Irilyth did not want to weather the storm only to be buffeted by it.

The touch of Manea's paw on her cheek did not make the golden fae recoil from her, but neither did she lean into it either. She remained tactfully detached, continuing to stare down at her own paws beneath the rippling water while her alpha pleaded with her to let her help. Irilyth's ears flattened against her head again and remained pinned back, though whether it was in shame, in submission, or in defeat she couldn't tell. "I won't make you live your life on edge worrying about protecting me from your husband, Matriarch," she spoke in her rough voice, only then managing to lift her gaze to Manea's as she declined her offer. "I will return to gather a few of my belongings, then I shall move into a spare den until you say I can return." With Manea still blocking her way and holding her cheek, Irilyth was trapped there. So she simply waited for Manea to either let her go to do as she needed to, or say something else. But Iri was ready to go hide away and sleep off the pain until she forgot about this day. "May I go do as you asked, Matriarch?"

"Manea" & "Irilyth"