Whispers Waltz Around Our Dreams . . .

A sinking feeling yanked at Losa’s guts the longer she stood there and really thought about the situation unfolding before her. Earlier that morning, she’d choked down her spirit and fled from Dierne Hrof without a backward glance, determined to seek out the strange rainbow she’d felt on the other side of Blossom Forest. The Dawnfire Princess had been impetuous since she was born - as long as it was just her, alone, she felt perfectly comfortable diving into adventure or taking off on her own. She respected her Ofer Aindreas, yet she winced at the notion of asking his permission to undertake her mission. Something told her the mature, stoic Tempest would forbid her from traveling such a vast distance on her own. But now Ikuseghan was here . . . a pup whose eyes had not yet blazed into their true heaven-blue, who - despite her obvious intelligence - would still be at risk by herself because of her deafness. Emerie seemed nice enough; the onyx maiden did not strike Losa as a treacherous snake nor a bloodthirsty killer. In fact, Emerie didn’t seem like the type to want to fight at all. She held her friendly posture with just an ounce of tense awkwardness, telling the Arcus Irae that she didn’t feel absolutely comfortable around strangers. If this night-colored stranger did harbor ill intents toward anyone else . . . well, Losa could not sense them without unleashing her soul. And she had no intention of freeing her heart, not when she’d finally appeared to have wrestled it into submission.

That meant, should Losa continue her trip toward the ocean, she’d need to look out for young Iku’s safety and possibly Emerie’s. The pastel dancer was stubborn, acrid, sometimes reckless - but not stupid. Especially not when it came to others she determined to be under her care. Losa had been bred to one day ascend to the throne of an entire kingdom; any ruler worth her salt would know better than to proceed on a harebrained journey that might endanger those she trekked with. A tired, regretful sigh blew from between her lips. Her tail hung listlessly behind her legs. No: she knew the direction they had to go.

Shaking her head, the Arcus Irae glanced down at Ikuseghan’s adorable face, her pools glittering with the overwhelming thirst for information. “We will go to the ocean someday, but not today. I changed my mind. Now we will go home - back to Dierne Hrof.” Hopefully that didn’t disappoint the pup too much. Turning her gaze toward Emerie, Losa offered a thin half-smile. “I must seem awfully indecisive to you right now. It’s just that I finally understand that we’re equidistant from safety in Dierne . . . and uncertainty near the sea. From my experience in these lands, uncertainty usually means danger. And . . .” Her voice snagged somewhere in her throat. Losa had to cough a little, turning her face away from Emerie, before she could talk again. “It’s best that we don’t tempt fate. Again, you are welcome to come with us - but I have to take Ikuseghan back home. Dierne Hrof is a large pack in a secure territory. They’re very family-oriented there, extremely protective of their own.”

As if to demonstrate her point, Losa reached down to nuzzle lightly between Iku’s ears, sighing as she breathed in the girl’s warm puppy-smell. What had she been thinking, even CONSIDERING taking this lass along with her? That same lack of forethought had thrown the original rainbows in Blossom Forest directly into peril. If something happened to Ikuseghan . . . if Losa were unable to protect her, just as she’d failed to protect Quiturah on the mountain . . . Losa abruptly pulled away, fighting back the bile that rose in her throat. “Well then. Let’s be off.” Then, before Iku could argue or Emerie could ask too many questions, the cotton candy damsel pushed her way back into the tall waving grass, sights fixed firmly upon the ragged mountains where their peaks cut the sky.

☽Arcus Irae Princess | Sister to Zawyne | Chained to Duma | Bound to Hurricane | xathira☾