Today. Today she could take a day just for herself, to perhaps slough off the heavy mantle of leadership and, dare she say it.. relax? Her delicate paws carried her down the mountainside which had flourished under the warm hand of summer. The few young pups they had seemed to be doing well with their family, which warmed her heart while at the same time creating a sort of ache in her chest. She missed her family often in these times, finding that when night closed in and she found herself alone in her den feelings of loneliness and even at time abandonment crept into her mind. While she knew her family loved her their absence during this time in her life where she was feeling so very close to overwhelmed was like an old wound that wouldn’t heal.
Perhaps it had more to do with her father’s abandonment of his young family, or the fact that she hadn’t seen a glimpse of her brothers in weeks, how she longed for a gentle nudge from Rhaegal. She felt like she couldn’t go to her mother or sister during this time, they were both occupied enough, one trying to heal the other focusing on helping her. The world seemed to rest on her slender shoulders and for the first time in her life the princess turned queen felt like she could crack under the pressure. It is why she needed today, needed a day to just step away from the responsibilities and everyone needing her to simply breathe.
As her dark body crossed the border of her home she instantly felt ten times lighter, a bit of bounce actually coming back into her step as she trotted along and sloughed off her worries at least for a little while. She headed down toward the river that flowed down from the mountains, fed by their very own glaciers that had almost entirely vanished by now. The sun was warm on her back and as she stretched out her gait she relished the feel of it wrapping around it. She bounded toward the water’s edge, lowering her softly featured face she lapped at it for a few moments before a bit of darkness moving out of the corner of her eye suddenly caught her attention. She startled a bit, not having noticed anyone nearby, and her moon-rimmed eyes whipped around to land on the gray and brown boy.
For a moment her eyes narrowed, he looked so familiar but it took her perhaps a moment longer than it should for her to recognize the son of her mother’s mate. “A.. Ame?” She asked, loud enough to hopefully catch his attention as she didn’t think he had noticed her yet either. It seemed a lot like kismet that she should meet him today of all days in a place that she typically would not be and she tried not to dwell to hard on what it might mean.