Shadewood the sun's blood on my hands [M]

She awaited some flicker of gentle peace in his voice, the birth of a tender love for the life that she bore, but when he spoke-

Nothing.

Only a choked summoning of her name, which sounded like ash would taste on the surface of one's tongue; the deep rumble of his baritones had become woven into her very existance, drawn into her love for Raziel, but to hear them drizzled out like the dampened call of a lost bird had her heart shudder in anticipation - worry. Fear. Something was wrong.

"Something is wrong."

For some reason, the moment the word fled his lips her face felt like crumpling into a tight ball of stress, and her delicate features were kept pointed to the sky. The empress could feel the tears already balling up behind the walls of her eyes, and let the lids fall shut to block the droplets before it was too late - something... something was always wrong. She could never have peace. Her family could never have peace. Her husband was quick to declare a statement so bold but broken that even Gwen was taken aback, watery gaze drifting back amongst an ocean of uncertainty to look at him; to really look at him. He was serious.

"I... n-no..." no, no no no. Not again. She couldn't. Why? She couldn't be alone again - she didn't want to be the ghost again, aimlessly wandering each and every path, no identity to call her own. She didn't want to be without the one who held her spirit, because she knew full well that if they were apart, her very essance would be left within his grasp. Without him, she was nothing.

The ivorian did not require to assess his health before coming to the conclusion that the sickness was in his head - she knew that kind of sickness well enough, knew the plague that would spread to every corner of one's mind and consume them whole. She was well-educated in it through experience of her own, and she could not lose her husband to it. "W-We will fight it together. I go wherever you go." Of this she was certain; he'd have to kill her to break her adoration, and even in death her mind would pray for him.