10-19-2017, 04:54 PM
Her wistful smile is unfamiliar to him. She seems to be a creature transformed as she bobs her head in excitement and turns to lead the way. He follows in her wake, noticing the way her sleek body cuts through the water with ease. He lets his eyes drift down her crest and along her back as she swims in front of him, but only for a moment. His suspicion had been roused by this sudden transformation and once the feeling had settled over him it was a hard one to shake.
His mind was striving to reconcile the imp girl he had known with this humble, optimistic woman. Or, A better her, as she had put it. Part of him wants to believe this and welcome her to Tephra to join the flourishing kingdom with a clear conscience, but the other part of him can't displace the feeling that he is the butt of some sadistic joke on her part. Maybe she wanted some sort of revenge for his abandonment of her, or his refusal to provide her a warm welcome to his father's kingdom.
The bay mare finds the dead tree with ease, and he follows close behind, still unwilling to let her out of his sight. But she halts like she said she would, and he does the same, allowing her the space to show him what she had alluded to earlier. He stands a mute sentry and witness to her display.
In the moonlight, Kolera's pale muzzle stands in sharp contrast against the blackened bark of the rotting tree, but in the stillness of the night, it is the creaking of growing limb and the rustling of tender leaves budding which draws his mismatched eyes upwards. With his face tilted to the heavens, Levi watches as the young leaves unfurl. Soon, the branches extend above them, cloaking them in darkness and blotting out the night sky. The air even changes, the hint of musk from the decaying plant life is replaced with the fresh scent of spring despite the fact that the world around them is descending into autumn. The rebirth slows then, and he hears her step backward.
Levi feels relief (gratitude?) as he turns his broad face to her. Reaching out, he gives her shoulder a friendly push with his muzzle. "So, I guess we won't be burning down any more kingdoms together?"
He tells himself this is a good thing.
Levi
so scream you, out from behind the bitter ache.
@[Kolera]