Her eyes upon me now felt like daggers to the heart. They were lifeless and void of any real emotion. Guilt seemed to swell from within and I could not help feeling that I had somehow caused her shame. I felt as though I had robbed her of herself and now, as I dangled the truth before her eyes, I could not help feeling as though it was all my fault. Her emptiness, her loneliness… it was all because I was too selfish to admit to her the darkness that had once been her. Whatever lies I had fed her in the past had finally made their way to the surface and now all that was left to do was confess to them. She was no longer the mare I knew and no longer the love that I felt. She was nothing embodying the beauty that I felt I once knew. But no matter how distant she appeared, I was glad that she was by my side, if only for a short time.

“Tamira… There is no easy way to say this. In fact, I would feel more at ease if I didn’t have to say it all. But you need to know who you are or technically who you were…” Brushing closer to the warmth of her side, I let my muzzle draw tiny patterns along her neck. I didn’t want to face her anger at the truth, I did not want to fear what happened after this day. In fact, I only wanted to remember her for what she was when I first met her. She was something so carefree and beautiful, if nervous at times. No one had been able to admit to the monster that had once lived hand in hand with my beautiful Tamira… and now I was being forced to draw upon her weakness in order to make her stronger.

Her skin was taut beneath my touch and it was hard to ignore the sense of loss she exuded. I imagined that Essetia was off somewhere, dancing in the mists or simply playing on the banks of a nearby stream… She was spitting image of her mother at times, so much so that it almost pained me to look upon her when such a rift existed between us. I loved them both with my entire being, but I knew that whatever was brewing within my beloved mate was not some small misdemeanor. It was something that was about to change our lives entirely. “I have cured you of a darkness or really another half of you I guess you could say. It’s hard to explain who she was or how she affected you other than she was certainly not you. She was brash and rude and entirely too seductive for her own good. She was judgmental and mean and nothing like you Tamira… which is why I took it upon myself to rid you of her. But as it would appear, I’ve not only taken her from you… but instead I’ve taken from you a part of yourself.”

I didn’t know how else to sum up the temptress that once inhabited my sweet Tamira. However, Myriad had not only affected her lighter half, but she had affected me as well. She had brought about a darkness from within both of us and allowed us to connect at some primal level that had not existed before. I wondered if she had stolen our love away with her upon her departure because the void she left in both of us was palpable. The tension had long since dissipated and now I was left feeling just as empty as the beautiful, wounded girl before me.

Moving closer still, I tried to reckon with her, tried to make good on whatever promise I had broken. She had wanted me to heal her and I had, but not in the way she had needed. I had stolen from her a part of herself that had made her who she was and now… now she was nothing more than an empty shell. I followed her gaze out into the sea and I wondered what she saw there. Was it release amongst the crashing of the waves or only confusion? I hoped that whatever it was, it was inspiring enough for her to forgive me. I needed her touch, her love more than anything I had ever known and though we now stood closer than we had in quite some time- I still felt as if we were forever apart. How could she love someone that had loved not only her innocence but her obscurity as well?

“Please forgive me for hiding the truth.”