Everything had come crashing down after Marceline's monumental fuck-up. Where once Matthéo had been on top of the world, free to have anything he desired, he now found himself at the bottom of the social ladder. Hell, he'd fallen off it completely and landed face-down in the mud. His parents, too, had suffered the consequences, summarily stripped of their land and titles and driven from the empire.

By all means, Matthéo should be furious at his sister. He should be hell-bent on revenge and blinded by rage. But he wasn't, not really. He was more... disappointed. He couldn't blame her for indulging, or for letting her base desires get the better of her - goodness knows old Korsae hadn't been doing anything for her in that area. He'd barely managed to bring about the conception of Joachim for goodness sake.

No, he wasn't mad at her, he just wished she had more brains between her ears. Frankly, Marceline was too dumb to be able to have her cake and eat it too. If she'd had the sense to be more careful, to not go gallivanting in public places with er lover, she - they - might have avoided this whole damn situation. But like the empty-headed child she was, she threw caution to the wind and left the rest of them to pick up the pieces when it all shattered around her.

Matthéo had wandered for some time after being quite rudely ejected from his motherland, content to let the breeze and the tides take him where they may. Dawn was breaking when surer footing rose from the sea beneath him and he found himself deposited on a vast desert island. Matthéo paused a moment on the shore and shook the salt from his body, taking stock of his surroundings. There was nothing to see for miles, just great waves of golden sands cresting and falling as far as the eye could see. On the wind was the unmistakable smell of a mare, her honeyed scent made stronger by the season. It filled his nose and made him feel dizzy, a dark part of him stirring within his breast, urging him to find her and claim her. But he pushed the beast back with a harsh snort and set a course into the desert with no particular destination in mind, only a curiosity to see just how far it extended.