"Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit..."
"There is no one who loves pain itself, who seeks after it and wants to have it, simply because it is pain..."

She kept wondering when the other chip would fall. She'd been hearing the rumors that Blackthorne was back. So what? If he wanted the pack, he could come fight for it and she would happily meet him in battle. But he was a snake in the grass so she didn't expect him to be so upfront as that. No, he was cunning, the kind that liked to work from the shadows. She didn't presume to know him. She'd never met him, after all. Maybe he would change. Maybe he didn't want the power he had before. Maybe he didn't worship the darkness. But some things never changed so she wouldn't assume anything. Maybe she'd never get to meet him. Maybe he would stick to the free lands or join a pack. She watched and waited. Patience was something she knew enough of.

She'd caught unfamiliar scents at the border, ones that spoke of a different time. There were faded scents of Blackthorne in Iromar when she came back after all. She had memorized it then and that was the only way she would have to identify him. She did not know what he looked like, but she wondered if she would figure it out at some point. One ear flicked back as she heard someone approaching. Her eyes started to open, but slowly, not sensing an urgent need to attention. The paws were already slowing and then stopped, so she turned then to meet the stranger who approached. He was dark with a white face, his eyes like silver matches as he spoke her name. He knew her but that was no surprise. She hadn't kept herself a secret since taking over Iromar.

He asked if she was bored of ruling and she tilted her head, taking him in with new interest. The look on his face spoke volumes, those of a trickster used to getting his way. He commented that she seemed tired, speaking of the weight of the crown. "Spoken like someone who knows the weight. Did you get bored? Is that why you slunk away, Blackthorne?" Now it was her turn to offer a little smirk, her eyes twinkling with intelligance as she took him in for the first time. The scent was the clue. Though it had been a while since she came back to Iromar, she'd stamped the scent into her brain and here it was, albeit a lot stronger and fresh.