Shadewood It's strange what desire will make foolish people do

@Gwen set to whenever after the wicked deed was done lmao

Today was one of those days where despite how good everything had been going she had woken up despairing over how quickly her life had gone out of control. Issun was gone, there was no denying that. He had left her and Deku alone because he couldn't face his mistakes. It was surprising how much of a coward he was and how she had never seen it until it was too late. Takara was hiding, Orochi off doing his grumpy thing and she had screwed the married Alpha while promising her ex betrothed something she no longer wanted anymore. She sighed and stood up, heading toward the caches to grab herself a meal so she could start her day and push through whatever problems arose.

*cries in emo*

There she was.

Minori... she had been a trusted woman - family to the keep, one of the elite, the council of the woods. A dedicated warrior, but alongside this, a mother. The snow queen had maintained wonderfully elevated expectations of such a proud woman, and yet, here they were, slowly descending into the pits of their self-constructed hell. Gwen observed from the shadows, but cared not to conceal the evidence of her presence; the damage had been done - there was no correcting such a feat, and she found herself lacking the vigour to weave around life's pernicious obstacles, endless barriers, traps, the nonexistant hope.

Truth it was that she had tried; oh, she'd tried so terribly hard. She bounced from one family to the next, serving, pleasing, even leading, when innocent heads turned to her guidance. But no matter where she wove, she was trailed by this lingering misery - this sadistic shadow of terror, which loved so passionately to tear all that she loved from her grip, only to cast it to the wind, where she could never touch it again.

"I've had sex with Minori."

Gwendolyn heard his voice, loud and clear in her head.

"I've had sex with Minori."

Stop.

"I've had sex with Minori."

Stop. His words were branded so permanently into her pallid skull, she could not spare a glimpse at Minori's dark figure without the wind cackling to her, the faces in the dark grinning, smirking, watching... they loved this. She was losing her mind. Please make it stop.

There was only so much she could do to hold it in - a choked sob found exit through the parting of her lips, and she closed her eyes shut to the world, praying the warrior had failed to hear.

You're useless, Gwen.

Of course what she wanted wouldn't come to pass, not forever but she had hoped it would stay calm for at least a while more. The pallid woman strode by and neither one looked at the other though Minori stopped briefly, feeling the gentle beauty's presence in a whole new way as the sob broke what remained of the ability to hide and pretend none of it happened. She closed her eyes and felt a heavy weight settle in her chest, eyes prickling as she slowly breathed in and then out as she tried to swallow the guilt. She shouldn't have done it but she wasn't the sole offender...not to mention that she was certain Cry wouldn't have done that with her unless he had wanted it. She couldn't understand why he had done so with her unless she had something the other woman didn't.  The only thing she could think the woman lacked was ferocity. "Stop crying. What's done is done you can either move past it or run weeping around the territory you are supposed to run" she said the words before she could think them through and cringed her ears going back as she turned to face to moving woman "I don't want him Gwen" she added on her voice rough with emotion held back. She was stepping into something she knew wasn't a good thing to breach yet she was ready to do so anyway. What was the worst that could happen? The woman would throw her out? Not likely, she was too far gone to just let that happen without a fight but she also wouldn't let the act hang like a silent toxin in the air slowly poisoning them.

"Stop crying."

Plethoras of scornful words hissed their way upon the air toward her, little arrows set alight with flames on their very tips; she could feel that burning, as it singed beneath her skin, dancing in her eyes. She was never enough - always the innocent doll, surrounded by the storms of ferocity. But unlike what they saw, in their bitter eyes, she was a fighter. One of a different kind, and as Raziel's twisted dominance over her swirled like an angry hive of bees in her chest, Gwendolyn's lips curled in defiance. Quiet vexation.

She could picture that look in her ebony husband's eyes, as he peered down to observe her - as though she was an object, a delicate pearl of his own collection. She could not place his intentions, not without bracing the maddened maelstrom that had consumed his skull, and so, she was afraid. Afraid, hurt, incandescent, isolated. Alone in her own home, untrusting of those who were supposed to be her family. Blue sapphires drifted shut, hoping to settle the frustrated trepidation, but when she opened those jewels she was met again with the stare of the warrior. "Then why did you do it? You could have said no." And yet, could she? If Gwen herself had said no, would he have listened?

A sigh trembled from her lips. "I don't want to hate you Minori. I'm tired of hating. I know I should have done a much better job with this place, and for that I am sorry, to you and to everyone else..." It was truth, but how it would be recieved, she could not predict. "Raziel..." she whispered, chewing at the soft flesh of her cheeks. "Minori, he's different. I don't know what happened to him." Help me. It was an unspoken plea, but would she know what Gwen meant? Or would she turn away, caught in indifference. Did Minori care? Who did, amongst this cursed wood?

I fear for my children.

How could she explain what happened without sounding like a whore? Hadn't she been one though? She sighed and looked off into the shadey darkness that she figured gave Shadewood its name. "He is powerful and I've never been overtaken quite like that...it started as a fight. I needed...something physical to distract me from Issun. It quickly changed and what happened happened. He is my leader and he trusts me, he speaks to me in a way that coaxes the flames of my ego to rise higher" she paused and looked down ashamed of herself and shook her head "But i dont want him. Just his power. The safety. The trust of him and everyone else" she stated it again, her eyes lifting to the pallid woman's deep blue ones.

She wasn't expecting the woman to break down. To beg her for help. She didn't know what she was to do. She didn't see Gwen being more than a pretty treasure to the man, a possession, an obsession. It wasn't healthy. "He does no harm except to your heart right?" she asked softly, a slight lift in her voice asking without words if she felt that bearable "Cry is an enigma and I am not sure what his plans are for all this" she said motioning around them. "I will busy myself focusing on the job i was trusted to do and raising my family and I will not meddle in yours. I messed things up enough" she stated this and shifted her weight.