Deepwood Weald the lonely island

he continued on, and deirdre nodded. not once had she forgotten what donnelaith was meant for, nor had she ever strayed from its peaceful path. it spoke to her very heart, and it was who she, too, was as a wolf. and as he mentioned constantine, deirdre defended him, gently. perhaps she was not so open with him as she was with you. constantine is good--he gives me guidance, though perhaps it is not so with aria, after all, she was his sister. aria he did not know as well as she herself did, or even as well as he had come to know her. but as she thought on it, she could think of no reason that a pregnant woman would be ousted... i was looking for him before you called, she realized, looking over her shoulder. was he comfortable enough with the woman to question her, when he thought she was wrong? could it be that he thought she was right?

deirdre flinched as he spoke of aria, of how she felt she had no one. truly, the young girl was wounded; she loved aria, fiercely, and her offense at this was a palpable thing as she struggled to understand it. alone? she breathed, feeling her heart writhe in her chest. it was her father that had died, and she had mourned in her own way, but aria still had donnelaith--did that not fill her heart, as it had come to fill deirdre's? did aria feel so alone as to forget the existence of she herself? ah--and she spoke of her ambition to casmir!

jealousy. it sounded an ugly thing--deirdre had not felt it before, and felt she did not wish to after hearing the result of it. i will lead donnelaith, when i am of age. i never wished to encroach on her authority, i only wished to learn from her, but this wisdom was one she aspired to never glean. she has strayed from donnelaith's path, casmir. but perhaps she can be brought to reconsider, her youthful optimism remained. she did not wish to believe that what aria had done was sealed, permanently. deirdre knew that she could afford to teach aria things, herself--patience, and the fortitude to withstand such terrible blows being two of them. our fathers legacy lives. donnelaith is where his body rests, and his spirit is with us, still. i cannot abandon what he has worked so hard for, i cannot let it be undone, she spoke passionately, her emerald eyes light with purpose.