He’d skulked through the woods like a ghostly white wolf ever since he’d been forced to come here. At first, Atreides was very careful to keep a distance from the rash young mare who’d claimed him. Burning anger coursed through his veins, and he knew well enough how dangerous that could be, especially when the ones who stoked the fire came too close. It was a smart move, that was all - it wasn’t that he wanted to hurt the white-patched dun mare exactly, but rather, he was indifferent, and she didn’t matter to him.

But she mattered to someone. She called herself a princess, and that meant, somewhere nearby, there was a king.

Atreides tried not to think about that too much, because it only led him down a path so dark, he thought the grief would swallow him whole. He thought instead of a flicker of light that was far-off, a guiding beacon that gave him hope. There was no home for him here, but the brown-speckled stallion had to believe that if he followed where his heart led him, perhaps he might find a place that could become home in time.

Winter had taken a heavy toll on him, and he hadn’t dared brave the stormy seas. Spent the majority of his time alone, fretting about Azalaïs (and whether she’d ever want to see him again, and if she was okay and if… If she ever thought about him…). When the weather urned frightful, and drove Atreides to seek shelter with the rest of the small herd, he spent much of his time in stony silence, taking care to hold his tongue and tame his temper, lest the other male suitors Parvati had gathered to herself (all of whom seemed far happier to be here than he himself did) take offense and start something.

He had been meandering, sky-blue eyes scanning the trees as he went, but his mind was focused on other things, and it so he didn’t realise Parvati was approaching until she was almost upon him. Atreides fell still as her call rang clear through the air and slowly angled his head to stare from the corner of one eye. Moments passed slowly, and then with a suppressed sigh, he turned toward her and heeded her summons. “Yes?” he said, rather bluntly as he came to a halt beside her, posture tense, body language clearly giving away the fact that he didn’t really want to talk at all. “What do you want from me?”