The gray creature had been a little on edge since her mother's death. In some ways, it was understandable. Her world had been upended and she had seen her father kill her mother. In other ways, not so much. After all, hadn't she already thought her mother dead? And perhaps Adette had been dead, for the woman that spoke to Kamala had held no similarities to her mother other than the physical. Kamala was confused, to say the least. Confused and upset, and perhaps in no state to be a princess of Seracia. After all, her brother was handling it with aplomb, and her father was off being a proper Ambassador to other packs. And then there was Kamala, confused and upset, and far from in the best of mental states. It wasn't proper, and she knew that, and she knew that she needed to get better and stop obsessing over this. It wouldn't benefit her pack, and it wouldn't benefit her, and she needed to get over it. But that was easier said than done, Kamala had learned quickly. So at least for a little while, the female had wandered towards the edge of Seracia's territory, her red and gray paws carrying her far from the beaten path. For the moment, she was sure Maverick and Epiphron could handle things. Meanwhile, she would sort through the mess that her mother and her now ex-fiance had left her with. Kamala had never been very insecure, but to know that she had been practically abandoned by Gideon, whom she had spent so long obsessing over marrying, well, it made her feel pretty near worthless. She had never delighted over the prospect of marrying Gideon, but to have him break the marriage off and gallivant off to Valhalla to be with his new bride kind of smarted. Was she not good enough? Obviously not. And if she wasn't good enough for Gideon or her mother, who was she good enough for? It was not the kind of thoughts that she would share with anyone, not even Maverick. It wasn't something anyone else would understand. And so Kamala had decided that she would keep to herself until this was all sorted out. There was no other option; she was in no state to offer the wolves of Seracia any sort of leadership. A Princess who kept to herself was better than a Princess who paraded around in the state that Kamala was in. She wanted no one to see her weakness. They would not understand and it was improper anyways. So Kamala wandered, paws carrying her mechanically along as she wandered through the outskirt of Seracia's lands, paying little attention to her surroundings.

Being in a pack was the strangest thing he'd ever experienced in his life. His mother had been kicked out of her pack before he and Tyberius had been born, so he'd lived the life of a rogue from the start. It was odd to have other wolves milling around in the same area, other wolves who cared about each other. Tiresias had always wondered what it felt like to be a pack member and he was not disappointed with what he'd found. From what he'd seen so far, he'd come into the pack at a bad time. The ex-queen had been killed by the king and the moroseness of the situation had spread to every wolf in Seracia. Mourning and sorrow were emotions he was too familiar with, and the burial had reminded him of his own mother's death. He'd slipped away from the pack meeting due to the pain in his chest, tears wetting his muzzle.



Days later, he was resting on the outskirts of the packlands. Lost in his thoughts, he'd tried to stay away from the other wolves. It gave them time to grieve for the royal family's loss, and it gave him the opportunity to remember his own family. No more tears had fallen since that day; he'd just contented himself with faded memories of his dearest mother. Another benefit of being in a pack was a much reduced risk of running across any bears. He wouldn't have been able to take the fright.



A scent attracted his attention. Kamala. He had given her space to grieve the passing of her mother, not wanting to intrude on something he knew nothing about. Now that she was here, though, he was going to attempt to be good company to her. If, of course, she should wish it. "Hello," he greeted her softly, raising himself to sit on his haunches. She was likely here to get away from everyone else, like he was, and he felt bad for interrupting her. He would leave if she wanted him to. There were plenty of other places to rest in Seracia.

TAG: kamala! . WORDS: 351 . NOTES: none.

Kamala

There was another wolf out here. Distracted though Kamala might have been, it was hard to miss the scent that rolled under her nostrils. It took her a moment longer to place the scent than she would have admitted to anyone else. Tiresias. The second wolf that she had welcomed to Seracia, the first being the illfated Segar. She hardly recalled that meeting anymore, though she remembered Tiresias well enough. He, at least, had not caused enough trouble in their pack to give Kamala a headache to last a decade. She could only imagine how her father had felt, trying to sort all of that out. A wry smile twisted Kamala's maw for a moment, though it fell away within seconds. She didn't have the energy to maintain such a smile. Still, she adjusted her path slightly, heading towards the older male. His greeting was quiet, something she appreciated. It didn't jar too harshly against the silence she had been accustomed to keeping. It took a moment of focus for Kamala to make her tail wave in greeting, "Hello, Sir Tiresias." She had to be polite. Always polite. Even now, even when insecurity gnawed at her every thought, she had to be polite. She was a Princess. She had to represent Seracia well. It was her duty. The pack came first, and then her own feelings. Well, that probably wasn't a healthy way to look at things. And even knowing that, it was hard to feel that. It was hard for her to put away everything and throw herself back into looking after Seracia. Which was why she had mostly kept to herself lately. Soon she would be strong enough to handle this and help her brother run his Kingdom, right? Hopefully before he decided that she wasn't good enough for him either. Okay, time to think about something else! Twitching her ears, as if to drive away a bothersome fly, Kamala turned her attention towards Tiresias. "How is Seracia treating you, Sir?" She inquired lightly, hoping that it would be enough to distract her, to keep her mind focused on something else. But she would have to be careful, if she chose to have a conversation with this male.