It seemed to be the recurring sentiment in her life. Loneliness and solitude and sadness. Everything was a lot better when she was detached from the world, surrounded only and solely by her animals, the only creatures that loved her without lies, without agendas. After⊠after Heloiseâs revelation, Tavia didnât want to spend another minute in her presence. The walls of Darkshadow had started to close in around her and she needed air. She needed a respite from everyone, in that moment she especially needed a break from her sister, whoâd been nothing but a constant and a light in her life.
Morphing for the second time that night, Tavia took the form of a black cat and bolted through the window, paws landing effortlessly and gracefully to the soft grass beneath the window and, purposely deaf to her sisterâs calls, dashed away towards the only place thatâs been a haven and a familiarity to her - the dark forest. With her ears pinned close to her furry head, the black cat panted, small heart racing to the brink of rupture as she caught her breath. Shifting back into the human was a necessary evil.
But, she wondered if forgetting everything was ultimately the wisest option.
Tavia was sitting in a small clearing in the dark forest, far away from Darkshadow and her sister (and anyone else who mightâve been foolish enough to enter the forest at this hour). There was nothing but silence in the air, but it was a tensed sort of silence, which cackled and promised something; what it promised, she didnât know. Spending roughly about an hour in total as two different animals, Tavia had felt less hurt by her sisterâs betrayal, mainly because she felt less. She was empty, the kind of void that remains after a heartâs been shattered into too many pieces to count.
It was one of the things which made her resolve to stay human melting to almost nothing. She was happier as an animal, more free and unburdened by lies and deceit, and heartbreak. Alone in the night, Tavia leaned her head against the nearby tree, resting from the weariness of both shifting and the arguments sheâs had during the nightâs course. Seth had seen her transform and it was⊠well, sheâs had a feeling sheâd have to stay away from him for a while. But, cruel irony and crueler gods had had different plans for her. She felt him before she saw him stepping out into the clearing and, for a moment, sheâd wanted to morph into a stick insect and just vanish. But, it was too late - heâd seen her. When she spoke, her voice was strained and hollow.
âHow did you find me?â
This night was turning out to be much more strain on the Dark Prince than he believed he could bare. The night was dark and full of shadows as he made his way among them, unafraid as he stepped lightly across the cool grass, tall boots crushing the foliage beneath. He hadn't changed from the banquet, merely setting out after his argument with Tavia, after calming Lamia, for home.
He and his siblings had been forced to wear many masks this evening, but Seth wore more than most. Doting brother, loyal brother, lord of the Five, Crown Prince to the Shadows. His freedom with Tavia, the carelessness he had felt dancing with her, exploring the hall in Marya, it was the closest he had felt to the memories he was regaining in a long while. And then it was shattered by his sister's plot. Tabea, the Tabea of now, had ruined the evening and, what was worse, she had done it in some sick, twisted sense of peace.
But this was not peace. Not the way she had originally wanted to achieve it. Yes, Seth had begun to remember, and the woman Tabea was now was not the woman she had once been. And he did not know if she could ever be that person again. What Lamia had said tonight was true. She had become a monster.
Rather than lock himself in his quarters as he had allowed the staff to believe he had done, Seth had scaled down from the balcony of his rooms and begun a long journey into the dark woods. His feet took him where they will, unconcerned about where he ended up. For once, he did not care how tired he looked, how haggard; there was no one out here to see, after all, to care. His state of dress was haphazard at best, anyway, shirt opened to the cool night and dark curls sticking up in every direction from the hands he had run through it.
As they had done numerous times tonight, Seth's thoughts turned back to Tavia, and to her sister. She and Heloise, from what Seth had heard (and mulled over for the entire remainder of the trek home), had been complacent only by connection. One had been forced and the other...the other had paid a debt she should have never made in the first place. The prince heaved a sigh at the thought, hands burning with flame as they licked up his forearms. He wanted to burn something in his frustration but new starting a fire in the dark forest would help nothing, and no one, save for himself.
Seth came upon a clearing and, at first, his eyes traveled over the woman seated there without care, a cursory glance that yielded little information. But, then, his mind registered who it was that sat there on the grass and the prince startled, stopping abruptly by the treeline, hand curling around a tree trunk to keep himself upright. In the end, he failed, sliding down the tree with a tired chuckle, eyes never leaving Tavia's face. "I've no idea, darling. I was just...walking. Perhaps wishing for some peace of mind or, perhaps, that the forest would swallow me whole. I've no true idea. But you...why are you here? Surely you should be with your sister, after such an evening."
