Rexanna knew she had lost her mind. In a perfect world, she wouldn’t be afraid to explore. In a perfect world, she wouldn’t be a souvenir. But that’s what she was turning into, slowly but surely. She had hoped the marking that Calstron had given her would just go away. She hoped it would heal and cover with her pale fur, gone from her mind. It had decided to stay, however. And with it, him. He was roaming around somewhere. She didn’t know if he had made it a goal to follow her around. She didn’t even know if he wouldn’t try to steal her life away this time. And yet, she still couldn’t bear the accusing eyes of Rein as he looked upon a broken mother with all her pride and prowess simply gone. Replaced by fear and uncertainty.

It was those eyes that she remembered seeing as she left. The blues that followed her as she made her escape. She loved him, but she didn’t want to hurt him. She couldn’t let Calstron find out that Rein even existed so leaving without him was for the best. She only hoped he’d stay in the fortress of the Basin where the Blood Prince’s wings couldn’t reach.

Every shadow made her flinch, afraid of seeing him approach her once more. Perhaps to give her another marking like the last. Perhaps to just end it. But no, that wouldn’t be fun for him now would it? She bore the golden chains once more that he had gifted her. The ones she fought so hard to rid herself of. The ones she graciously took with open arms from Murtagh without realizing the way they felt until it was too late. Until she felt like the slave child back in golden chains. Pretending to be someone she wasn’t.

Even now it seemed like she was pretending. Deep within the caverns of her heart, she knew that her position within her herd was well earned. She knew that she had somehow managed to do a great job and be rewarded for it. But she always had. She always did what she was told, serving her kings and queens to the best of her ability. It wouldn’t have changed if she had stayed with Calstron. She still would be doing the same thing over and over again. Despite how much the Thief thought she had changed and grown from where she came from, she had been met with the sudden realization that perhaps she hadn’t changed at all.

That was what scared her the most.

She was cold, but too wrapped up in her mind to even begin to feel the chill as it swept across her legs like a leech, sucking away the heat her body had. She recognized the Thistle Meadow, the place where she had tried to win over the heart of a giant elephant with an egg in her grasp, only to fail. Rexanna expected to fail at times, but it was times like these that made her feel as though that was all she could do.

A small sigh escaped her lips, a puff of clouds enveloping her head as her blue gaze stared upon the ground. Her golden horn with her chains sliding across her body that with cheery clinking sounds that began to feel more menacing with every step. She could get rid of the chains. There was nothing keeping her from wearing them. But mentally she couldn’t prepare herself to rid them again. As bad as it seemed, she almost enjoyed it in a terrible way.

It was comforting to know that maybe everything in the past wasn’t lost forever. Whether or not it was something good, at least it was nice to know that it even happened.

Her gaze stuck on a few different sized footsteps in the snow. Cream ears perked in a slight wonder of what could have even made one of those tracks. The other, she recognized as a horse – a large one at that. She wanted to shy away from it, just in case she was willingly walking into a trap. But she refused to let her mind get ahead of her heart. So she trudged on. Her gaze sticking to the ground, following the sways and movements she saw. Until she heard something. Lifting her head, she spotted a small elephant. Tilting her head briefly, she wondered if the elephant had come back with another companion? No, she was too small. The other one was much larger. This one wasn’t even the size of a horse, let alone the beast that stood beside it.

Rexanna let her defeated eyes land upon the creature at the elephant’s side. She should’ve known from spotting the elephant who the creature just might be, but if it weren’t for the stripes that adorned his body, the white that adorned his underside, and his sapphire eyes that she began to remember with such comfort, she might have left. She was afraid to speak to him. Nearly afraid to speak to anyone. But if there was someone that could give her comfort, she knew it had to be Tembovu.

She stepped forward, shakily and unsure whether or not she should even proceed. Her scar blackened in the shape of a C on her chest strikingly opposite to the pale ivory that her flesh was. Her head was lowered, but ears perked. Hoping that perhaps Tembovu might be willing to spare a few moments to speak with her. But what was it they were looking at? Her gaze flitted to the tree briefly, her head shifting with the movement. The black exotic lines on her face mimicking the black that adorned her chest now. A slight frown came to her as she realized she couldn’t see anything from this distance. So instead, she inhaled sharply with her eyes fixated on the Elephant King. “Temb?” Her voice shook, "is it really you?" and then her voice cracked, – her façade faltering with each passing moment. She hoped he would greet her with a smile. She needed at least some sort of happiness in her life.

How long had it been, anyway? The last time she met him was in the Threshold with Rein in tow. He was young still, just at the beginning of Frostfall. Had it been months? It felt like an eternity since she remembered being on good terms with him. She missed his embrace. She missed his never-ending scent of sands and heat and a life half lived.

"Talk."

— I don’t have a choice,

but I still choose you.