It had been no secret that Ember had been having a rough time the past season. Growing up into her adolescence was hard enough to deal with all these new things like hormones and turbulent emotions, but now she was fighting with her father and their friction was becoming obvious to the public. Add on the fact that she hadn't seen Erik in some time and when he had finally shown his face it was to tell her that he was moving out of Auster permanently and Ember was not a happy camper. She was brooding and moody and miserable. The Carpathian princess kept to herself a lot, losing herself in books from the library and making a daily habit of destroying as many training dummies as she could to vent out her frustrations.

She didn't really feel like she had anyone she could talk to either. Her father was the cause of her strife at home and she knew her mother would probably side with him too. Talyssa was still gone and might never come back, Dusk was awful with emotional stuff, Bramble was busy with her new rank, and she didn't want to dump her problems on sweet Clove. Her brothers were typical boys and it would've been useless trying to talk to them. So Ember kept to herself, going through the motions of the days, honing skills and training her body and mind. She helped in the kitchens preparing food and stayed up in her room on the balcony to look out over the sea while she devoured book after book. But it did little but distract her from the thunderstorms in her heart. Nothing assuaged the roiling. Nothing made her feel better.

Now she laid out on her balcony, gazing up at the starry summer night sky and watching the strange bands of beautiful lights dance around overhead while listening to the lapping of the dark sea on the shore. Everything was so tranquil and quiet—the perfect atmosphere to lose herself in her thoughts. She pondered over and over about what her father had said, questioning what she would have done if she had been in his place... but no answers came to her. They never did. Resigning herself to what would probably be another restless night, Ember breathed a sigh and rested her head on the balcony's balustrade, glancing down the row of windows to Clove's balcony, wondering if she was still up or if she should even bother her sister with this at all.

After some more time brooding, Ember decided what the hell and went for it. She really wanted to talk to her sister. She went back downstairs, brewed up a fresh pot of jasmine tea, then carefully carried the pot back upstairs on a tray with a pair of cups. She'd make the excuse of wanting to share some bedtime tea with her sister if she was still up. And if she wasn't, well, then she'd just stay up sipping away at the tea alone, she supposed. Em carried the tray to Clove's bedroom door and gently rapped a paw against the wood three times. Then she waited for Clove, if she was even still awake.

"Sisters" | "Carpathian"

Wrapped in the warmth of her blankets and plush furs, Clove was propped up in her bed, a pencil in paw and a paper-sized canvas spread out in front of her. The soft glow of candlelight burning from her vanity and bedside table illuminates the room, intertwining with the ethereal dance of the northern lights pulsating outside her windows. She’d left her curtains open, enjoying the backdrop of celestial stars and vivid colors. It filters through the window, bathing her room in a soft, otherworldly glow. 

There’s a look of concentration on her face, her tongue poking out the right side of her mouth as she draws. Chiseled jawline, soft eyes, proportional cheeks and brows. It was no work of art, but who she was drawing was at least distinguishable. Little horns. She was trying to draw Akito by memory, having been away from him for nearly a season now. It wasn’t meant to be some creepy memoir of their memories together; she just… missed him. 

She was so engulfed in her work, that the sudden knocking at her door almost made her jump out of her skin. Shuffling the paper in her paws, she shoves it beneath her pillow out of embarrassment and straightens herself back up in the bed. She didn’t know who it was just yet, but any visitor in their home was welcome to her room. She just hopes it’s not one of her rowdy brothers. “Come in!” She calls, stealing one last glance at her pillow to make sure the portrait is well hidden. Then, she turns back to the door, wondering who is there.

"Sisters"

Ember isn't kept waiting more than a moment before her sister's voice, alert as ever meaning that she hadn't disturbed her sleep, called for her to come in. Ember lifted a paw to the handle on the door and pulled it to lift the latch, then pushed the door open and stepped inside carrying the tea tray as carefully as she could manage. Steady now, you've so close, Em! As she entered her sister's room, Ember immediately spotted Clove in bed, giving her sister as big a smile as she could around the tray precariously balanced in her jaws, her tail wagging behind her. "Hai Chlof, ah hup ahm nah dishturbin ou," Em did her best to say around the tray in her jaws. She kicked the door shut to give them some privacy while she carried the tray over to one of Clove's tables to set it down. With her mouth free again, she shot Clove a little smile. "Gods, I don't know how Dad manages to talk with a whole sword in his mouth!" She was sure that with practice she'd get better at it too, but right now she was still learning.

The dark-furred Carpathian fae picked up one of the saucers with a cup filled with tea and carried it over to the bed, setting it carefully down on the soft mattress for her lighter coated sister. Then she went and fetched her own, carrying it over to join Clove. "I hope I'm not bothering you. I was just making myself some tea and I realized we hadn't hung out just the two of us for a bit, and... well, that didn't feel right to me. So I thought maybe you'd like some tea too." Ember would wait for Clove to grant her permission to stay before she made herself comfortable in her sibling's room, and only once she had it would she lay down and get settled with Clove on the soft, expansive bed.

"I'm sorry I've been kinda distant lately," Em began to apologize, shifting her tea cup side to side with an idle paw while she spoke. "I've just... had a lot on my mind." Surely Clove was aware of the situation between her and their father by now. It seemed all the Hallows had picked up on the tension. "How have you been? Get up to any fun adventures, or smooch any new princes lately?" She shot Clove a teasing grin, knowing she was asking for it, but like come on, the joke was right there!

"Sisters" | "Carpathian"