Previously: It Lurks In the Shadows
It wasn't the first time Maske had found herself wandering the borders of their pack lands. Whenever she ran into a Knight, she always made the excuse that she was helping to patrol, which, with the current state of things, wasn't anything new. The rumors of something lurking in the shadows had a lot of wolves on edge, and patrols had been increased because of it. Who would turn down another helping paw?
Truthfully, she wasn't patrolling. In fact, she wasn't even paying attention to where she was going at this point. No, her thoughts were entirely on Aragon and their future together... if there was even going to be one. She knew that her returning with a litter of pups had hurt him, but at the time... it was a nice escape from her problems.
From then on though, her problems had only seemed to get worse. Her ears flattened against her head as she sighed, staring down at her paws with the look of someone stuck between a rock and a hard place. Sitting down, the wolf dog turned her gaze up at the sky.
It wasn't that she didn't love him. They'd grown up with each other, knew each other like the back of their paws. She loved his laugh, his smile, his playfulness when others weren't looking, the way he would just sit and listen to her stories of outside... and honestly, if he didn't have so much duty tied with him, she would happily have settled down with him. Because honestly - how could anyone think that she would make a good Queen? Maske was flaky, and indecisive, and just... not a good fit, but apparently her leaving for so long had caused Aragon to decide that she was right, and now she was struggling to tell him otherwise. It had partially been why she'd chosen a one-night stand, to show him that he needed to move on.
But he hadn't, and now she didn't know what to do.
Talking to others about it wasn't helping either. Most thought she was crazy for turning down the King of all people. Some even offered to take him instead, which had caused Maske to snap at them angrily because she'd be damned if.... and that's where she would flounder, because why? She wanted him to find someone else, right? But anyone who just wanted him for his status wasn't going to be good either!
She grumbled under her breathe at the thought, and in doing so, missed the snapping sound behind her.
So what, now she thought others were unworthy? Maske racked her brain to try and think of someone who would be perfect for the job, but... but it was hard to imagine someone next to Aragon like that. The idea made her cringe, and she stood up to instead start pacing back and forth. Well, it wasn't up to her who he ended up with. She trusted him to pick the perfect person. Just... just not-
It never occurred to her that by saying she was patrolling that area, it would lead others into thinking it was covered. She would look back on this later and wonder over that, would later listen from inside the clergy den as Aragon ordered that no patrol was ever to be done alone, ever again.
Above the trees, the birds cawed in panic before scattering, screeching about danger in their wake, and as blood hit the ground, a nearby Knight looked up from her drink by the river, eyes narrowing before she began running in it's direction.
Word Count: 597
