I tried to sell my soul last night
Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite
There is something dark and decidedly ugly curled up inside him now. For a time, after he had lost his memories and retrieved them again, he had felt something almost like normalcy. But now, just as quickly as it had come, it had been shredded beyond repair. A blackness had settled in his gut the day he had stolen her memories. The ones in which he had confessed his feelings.
The ones in which he had confessed to being a fool.
Now, it eats away at his insides, driving away any sense of self he had gained. He had hoped unleashing it would let it settle, but instead it only made him angrier. Hungrier. And ever more bitter.
He is still in Loess because it had become as much a place to stay as the forest or river had ever been. There is comfort in the familiarity, in knowing there is a quiet corner here could almost call his own. A place the rest of the residents of this kingdom did not bother to tread often rather than facing the lash of his anger. So long as he left them in peace, they seem content to leave him in peace too.
A small relief, sour as it is.
He is not expecting an intrusion today, so when the tap of hooves and rustling of wings tells him someone is behind him, his jaw clenches hard enough to cause a muscle to tick. The name she utters is not his, but when he swings around to tell her there is no fucking Ishmael here, the words grind to a halt in his throat. She is lovely of course, draped in white and gold as she is. Lovely and far too damned familiar.
“Fucking hell,” he spits out, glaring at her as he turns to face her fully. There is no welcome on his face.
Despite the similarities at first glance, he’d known immediately she wasn’t her. But it was far too coincidental that she is here. He knows damned well she’s related to her. A sick impulse urges him to ask, but he resists. He’s not quite ready to lance that festering wound yet. “Whoever the hell you’re looking for, it isn’t me,” Ashhal snaps instead, dark eyes hard and unyielding. “Go away.”
@Elegance