Sometimes I wonder if she’s looking up at the stars, thinking of me.
[ Umbra pondered, her head on Zain’s shoulder as they sat on their balcony; staring at the plentiful stars in the sky. ]
Of course she is, Starlight. You know she is.
That is the one thing that I do not.
[ Haylee hated her, hated her with every inch of her soul. Umbra understood why. She wasn’t the best mother, she wasn’t ready to nurture a child. ..Yet here she is, trying again. This time with a new husband, and with a new little girl. Was it a replacement ? Maybe. But it felt right to try again. The right way this time. ]
For all of this. For how you have to life; for how you’re perceived. You could’ve picked anyone in the world, and you picked me. I’m ashamed.
[ Umbra. Oh Umbra. Where do we begin. She’s beautiful, gorgeous. Yet oh-so deadly. A queen who had her crown thrown out. If only Haylee knew the truth. ]
[ Umbra was different from the rest. Her homeworld destroyed by her own hands. She remembers her childhood very vividly. Her older sisters often looked down on her, but she was a wise young one. And her mother, as gorgeous as she was, was a fool. Claiming that someday, the light would find peace with the dark. Oh how naive that woman was, and how much Umbra hated her. She felt like she was the queen, having to perform duties her mother could not perform. …It was exhausting. Her people, starving for bread or even considering eating eachother… Umbra couldn’t take it. She couldn’t see her people suffer. ]
[ She did the only thing she knew how to do: ]
[ With her mother’s blood on her hands, her sisters looking for someone to blame, the poor girl ran. But she wasn’t a girl anymore, oh no. She was a woman. She had proven her power. ]
[ With nowhere else to run, she hid. And that is where she met the Storm King. Found a kind heart within his chaos. And fell in love. ]
[ And that is where she stayed.
I had to leave her because there was something watching me, haunting me. I’m.. not sure what it was, but it’s presence was always there. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Even now, I’m not entirely sure what it was - but it’s silent now. …I left Haylee and the Storm King because I didn’t want them to be hurt and afraid if I gave into this darkness. So I left.
You had no choice, my love.
…I always did have a choice. I wonder if I made the right one.
You did. Trust me, you did.
[ Zain softly kissed Umbra’s hand. Closing his eyes as his wife continued speaking. He listened to every word. He loved every word. ]
[ Now, Zain.. You’d find it bizarre that a mortal would find comfort and love with a woman of shadow, but he did. He left his home, not wanting to go back. This is where he belonged. ]
I need to see her, to apologize to her. I’ve seen my poor girl, she’s.. grown. She’s beautiful, strong. I’m proud of her.
Nothing is.. forbidding you from seeing her.
She is. And that’s the hard part.