She has to be alive...
Seha looks into her eyes with a look that Celeste can't describe. He shakes his head, saying, "No, it's fine. It's been years." His words are followed by a bitter smile that tugs at his tightly pressed lips.
A hurt cloud loomed above Seha's head. He cuts his eyes to his side and locks with the stone wall.
Celeste feels Ayz heaving a sigh beside her before she sees him taking slow strides and closing the distance between him and his mate. An anchoring hand finds its place on Seha's waist.
He leans in and whispers something into Seha's ears which goes unheard by Celeste and kisses the side of Seha's head. His hand which rested on his waist moved to run along the expanse of his back.
How she wished she had someone like this grumpy man beside her to hold her when she had gone through the vicious phase of losing her parents. And the ocean of grief she had to float through without an anchor.
"You go change. We don't have time to waste." Even though Ayz didn't look at her, she knows it was directed at her. So without exchanging any words, she left for the room, shutting the door behind her as gently as she could.
Celeste heaves a long puff of breath. Her back pressed onto the cool wooden door as she took in the room. Eyes traveled to the giant mirror placed on the corner with a dressing table before it to the white bed which had a thick quill draped on it.
She wonders why it's needed here, because it's summer. And who would ever cover themselves up in this when getting suffocated in this heat is the last thing they want?
But it looks so soft and calls her to run her hand through its fabric. She takes slow steps toward the bed.
We don't have time to waste.
Wincing when Ayz's voice suddenly popped up into her head, she took a quick long stride toward the bed instead of slothing around.
She paused midway in the air, bottom just a few inches away from touching the clean white sheet that was neatly wrapped on the bed, remembering her black robe is sneered with mud from laying on the ground.
Deciding not to touch the quilt yet and make it dirty, she moved toward the door in the corner of the room. It could be the bathroom, she guessed.
Celeste twisted the knob and pushed the door open. A creaky noise filled the silent air of the room. She steps inside, eyes falling on the white stoned bathtub. Next to it was a brown wooden bucket filled with clear water, a mug resting on the square rock beside it.
Closing the door beside her, she begins to remove her clothes, pulling down the knot that kept the robe in place. It fell open and she shrugged the material off her shoulder, sighing when the cool air touched her bare skin.
She thinks the reason behind using white stones to make a home, it's the coolness that radiates out of them.
She stays in her undergarments as she takes the mug from the square stone and proceeds to fill the tub with the surprisingly cool water from the wooden bucket.
The bathroom has black rocks on the floor unlike the hall and the bedroom all having the same white stones on the floor.
Everything is white and the dress she's given to wear is also white, and bright in its own way even if it is dulled in years prior, when she's supposed to wear black and grieve the loss.
She shut her eyes close as a lone tear trails down her cheek. Her hand lifted in a flash and swiped the tear, teeth biting down on her lip. No, she's not going to have a breakdown here. They'll be calling her anytime and she can't look ruined and vulnerable. She couldn't.
If she doesn't stand down her ground now, and begs to whoever the pack leader was to let her live her life, she will never get a chance again.
If she were to go to the palace of Elyzhn, it would be her death sentence.
If she were to step foot in there, that will be the day she finally meets her parents.
But before she will meet them there's something that has to be done. Till then she needs to be alive.
She has to be alive.