King Elk Forest -- we can't say we didn't try

It seems to be a cruel poetic twist when a familiar call rises through the air for him. Just as he has accepted and cut from him grief and anger and everything else that she would return. Perhaps, the earth mocks him. Perhaps the powers that are test him. Tindómë must always be his priority and during his stages of grief he has lost sight of that. He does not blame Brienne for it: he shoulders his own fair share. No more, he knows. He cannot allow himself to be so swept up that he forsakes that which he has created for what he desires. Desire is fleeting, after all. Love comes and love goes. That is simply the nature of the beast, Mato has come to realize. He will always love her, he knows as his legs carry him to the borders where she has called, and perhaps that is why he cannot allow himself to be so swept away again: because it will only be history repeating itself over and over again. He cannot be stuck in that same whirlwind. It is not fair to Tindómë. It’s not fair to him. It’s not fair to Brienne. He must kill the ouroboros before it can form again.

“Brienne.” He greets her as the patriarch of his kingdom: with head high and tail raised. Apple green eyes flicker with something but it does not linger long. It might have been affection, it might have been pain. Mato chooses not to give it the nurture it wants from him. He must remain impartial now. It is what he has decided and perhaps it is cruel of him and perhaps it is unfair to do so without consulting her but he has done it, regardless; and he is apathetic in the fact that he's unapologetic for it.

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