Rhydian;

I don’t go looking for her immediately. I saw her marching out of the tent, and I knew my prediction was right, but still I had to wait. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Not because I don’t know where she is. But because I know she needed some time to herself.

Gravemaw is not large in the way other kingdoms are. Gravemaw breathes openly. Sound carries, presence lingers... You don’t need guards or informants to know where someone is when everything is so in tune here.

And besides, Igma is my cousin. If I can’t find her in Gravemaw, then all the years we spent playing together as kids were for nothing.

That bastard wearing Alana’s face is not the woman Igma crossed kingdoms for. And with how hurt Igma looked as she left the... maybe she had realised that?

I find Igma where I expected to.

At the edge of a small pond in the woods, past where the noise fades into something quieter... something easier to breathe in. There’s a fallen log there, old and worn— the bark stripped away from years of use and weather.

She’s sitting on it, and she’s completely still. Too still.

Her head is slightly lowered, and her shoulders drawn in just enough that someone who didn’t know her might miss it. But I do know her. I’ve known her my entire life. I’ve seen her angry, laughing, bleeding, victorious.

... But I have never seen her like this.

Her hand lifts, and I watch as she wipes at her face. She lowers her hand, but in the next second, she lifts it again to wipe fresh tears.

She’s crying!!

Something in my chest tightens, and my jaw clenches in response.

Growing up, Igma was always ahead of me.

Not in status, or title... but in everything else that mattered.

She was the one who stood between me and consequences I deserved. She was the one who took hits she didn’t have to take just to make sure I got back up from mine. When I was reckless, she steadied me. When I was stupid, she corrected me. When I was weak... she never said it, but she made sure I didn’t stay that way...

Even as a child, she gave.

Again, and again... and again. I wasn’t a cousin to her; I was a brother. Her partner in crime...

She always gave, and I... took.

Without thinking.... Without returning it.

Until now.

Now she’s sitting there, quietly breaking, and for once in my life— I actually have something she needs.

The truth.

I exhale slowly and make my way toward her.

She doesn’t react when I approach, and that alone tells me how far gone she is in her thoughts. Igma has never been someone you can sneak up on, and yet, tonight...

I stop in front of her for a second, then drop down onto the log beside her without asking.

The wood creaks slightly under my weight, and she stiffens. Then, finally, she turns her head to look at me.

Her fluffy blue ears are flopped against her head, and her eyes are red.

I let my gaze rest on her face for a moment, taking in the exhaustion, the tear tracks she hasn’t fully wiped away, the way she’s trying to compose herself now that she’s not alone anymore.

Then I sigh lightly.

"You look like shit," I say, and she blinks at me.

Then she huffs out a quiet breath that almost resembles a laugh.

"You wouldn’t look any better," she mutters, with her voice rougher than usual, and I shrug.

"That’s debatable," I reply, and that earns me a small, tired smile.

That’s a good start.

Silence falls again, and I let it.

I sit there with her, not willing to rush or push her. She doesn’t need that right now. She needs someone to lean on. Not an interrogation... so, for her sake, I’ll slow down.

"How’s your father?" I ask, keeping my tone casual, and she exhales, her gaze drifts to the pond before us.

"He’s fine... He’ll manage." She replies, and I smile.

Of course he will. He raised her.

I nod in acknowledgement and then lean forward slightly—resting my forearms on my knees.

"How are you handling your mother being here?" She then asks, glancing at me, and I pause.

I look at her and find her patiently staring at me. My gaze drifts back to the pond, and I let out a quiet breath.

"She’s... there," I say, staring at the catfishes peacefully swimming in the pond, and Igma snorts softly.

"That bad?" She laughs, and I shrug yet again.

"She’s not bothering me... I’m not bothering her. We’ve been... coexisting." I explain, and Igma raises a brow.

"So... she hasn’t caused you any trouble or tried to hurt anyone?" She questions in bewilderment, and I nod in agreement.

"Wow... That’s...new." She whispers, and I scoff as I nod in agreement.

"It is," I admit, and that pulls another small laugh from her.

For a moment, the tension around her shoulders loosens just a little... But it doesn’t last.

Nothing about this is light enough to stay light.

I straighten slightly, with my expression shifting as I finally let the real conversation surface.

"She told you to leave, didn’t she?" I ask, and Igma freezes.

Her head turns toward me slowly, with her brows pulling together in confusion.

"What?" She questions, like her mind is too jumbled to understand what I’m saying, and I let out a breath.

"Alana," I clarify, and I watch her expression turn slightly grim.

"She told you to leave, didn’t she?" I repeat, and the silence that follows is sharp.

Her eyes widen slightly, something flickering through them... shock, confusion, maybe even a bit of fear.

"How do you—"

"I’m pretty confident she did." I cut in quietly, and she just... blinks.

Her jaw tightens, and she looks away from me, with her hand lifting again to wipe at her face, more forcefully this time.

"That’s... none of your business," she mutters, and a tight smile finds my lips.

"No... It’s not." I agree, but continue anyway.

"But what is my business... is the fact that something is wrong," I state, and that makes her look back at me.