Red wine supernova

The longer the night went on, the more Ember began to lose herself in the dregs of her cups. Wine flowed like water at the wedding reception so plentiful that it seemed as if the carafes on the table never went down. Or maybe that was just because of how much she'd been drinking. This was far from her first time consuming alcohol, but she'd never drunk this much in one night before. Perhaps it was inspired by the revelry happening all around her that she was losing herself in. Or maybe it was her aching heart whenever she spied the happy bride and groom sharing a kiss, or glimpsing her father and mother exchanging little affections. The lingering pain in her chest reminded her all too much of the viking boy from the mountains, now gone without so much as a reason why or even a farewell. There was a part of Ember that held out hope that one day she'd find him outside her balcony throwing rocks at her window again—but a larger part of her raged with anger at him for disappearing on her again.

And so Ember chose this self-destructive path of coping for the evening, drowning her anger and heartbreak in the sweet red wines of her pack. Her head swam with the disorienting fog of drunkenness while she sat at her beloved piano with her goblet of wine. Was this her fifth glass? Sixth? More…? Em had stopped keeping track a long time ago. Each glass dulled the pain a little more but swept her away in the heady sensations of inebriated anger. Her paws pressed lazily to the keys, no longer forming a smooth and consistent melody but instead punctuating the air with the occasional note as the reception began to die down in the late hour. Bleary blue eyes gazed down at the rows of ebony and ivory keys as her vision swirled and spun, but it was as if she was staring straight through the keys into empty space, lost to the world around her.

Glancing up from the piano keys, Ember spotted her parents seated up at the head table, her father on his throne and her mother beside him leaning into his side. They were snuggling and giggling with one another, clearly having enjoyed the wine as well, with Artorias peppering Briar's face with kisses. That dull pain radiated in her chest again as Em scowled and downed the rest of her wine in one angry gulp. She pushed away from the piano and got up from the bench, wobbling a bit on unsteady paws while she wandered her way out of the hall and outside to the courtyard, where it was thankfully much quieter. This late in the evening, many of the guests had already retired, leaving her the only wolf outside in the cool autumn night on the terrace. Em huffed and growled quietly to herself, slumping against the stone balustrade when she felt like her legs might turn to jelly underneath her. The cool stone felt good against her cheek as she stared out at the moonlit garden, wishing she had something to keep her mind from running off down paths she didn't want it to go.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"