She swallows hard. He’s definitely there. And now he’s coming closer. Her breath hitches and she resists the urge to flee, not wanting to entice him to chase her. She’s not in any condition to outrun him. He gets close enough for her to see the white of his face and she hates herself for how her heart aches at the sight of him.
Watching him watch her, Aurora feels separated from the pain that has been her constant companion for several months. All she can process is how very heavy she feels, now acutely aware that any chance she could’ve had at keeping her (their) child a secret is gone. She swallows again, missing their old easy camaraderie and lamenting that she’s terrified of who she’d considered her first real friend.
Part of her wants to cry and ask him why he’d betrayed her so thoroughly, demand why he’d think that kind of behavior is acceptable. But she’s a coward and weak and a million other things that have gone through her mind at some point in her life, which is why she’d hidden herself away in the Forest rather than risk questions from Talya. She can only stand there, unmoving and unable to look at him, as she hears his voice for the first time since that night.
Her head snaps up in shock at how demanding his tone is. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think him worried about her wellbeing. In a normal situation, she’d consider the pair of questions rhetorical. But this isn’t a normal situation, so she tries to find an answer that she hopes will satisfy him. ”I-I…I wanted to see the sky.”
She doesn’t explain how recently she’s felt like she can’t breathe in the Forest, surrounded by trees that may as well be a cage. And yet the longer she spends with him, the more she wishes she’d never taken this little trip.
He suddenly turns menacing and Aurora braces herself, unsure if he’s about to finish what he’d started that night a lifetime ago. She’d had nightmares where his eyes would turn red and he’d glare at her so hard that she’d feel as though she were on fire. Instead, he asks what is probably the most loaded question she’s ever faced.
She knows her answer could decide whether he kills her right here, but the words are out of her mouth before she can stop them. ”No I haven’t, and I haven’t told Talya either.” Her eyes widen before shutting tight, and she turns her head away, expecting at any second to feel his jaws grab her throat. She’d told herself over and over that if she ever saw him again, she must never mention Talya.
She still has no idea what had happened between him and his daughter, only that he’d been muttering about the filly when Aurora had come upon him, concerned, and that’s when he’d lashed out at her.
Once she’d gotten through the worst of her shock, she’d realized that Talya had been some kind of trigger, which had made it easier to separate herself from the girl. If she didn’t have any information on Talya’s activities, she’d reasoned, then there’d be nothing to tell and she wouldn’t have to worry about setting him off if she were to run into him.
But now she doesn’t know if the mere mention of his daughter’s name will make him fly off the handle. She tries to keep her breathing steady as she trembles, still expecting any moment to be her last. She really wishes she’d never left the Forest. |