Now we’re both casualties in this

As the Thief spoke, she recalled everything that had happened on her escape. She remembered being stuck in that gilded cage, trapped and forced to tell the Blood Prince how she originated. Rexanna was young, she had no idea exactly how she grew up. The only thing the Thief fully remembered was being brought up a slave, forced to care for the King as his “prized” and the looks he had given her ever since she could remember. He had always hated her, yet asked for her specifically.

If only she knew then what she knows now.

But of course it was Calstron that had caused such a revelation. It was Calstron when she had been so excited, wanting to tell him that she was pregnant, that she was carrying their son, and another heir to the throne of Aciend. It was as if a veil had dropped upon her, as he pushed her into that stupid golden cage and used his magic to reveal her memories. And how exhausted she had been as he ravaged her mind, showing the glimpses of who she was born as, and why she had been hidden away. She was the product of an affair, and not the gift that the King of Halyven had promised Aciend, so of course they would pay for their wrongdoings.

Yet, not without a few beatings here and there. Her scars had healed from that time, but her mind hadn’t. She had grown wary, constantly over those with magic that dealt with the mind. How she was so young, escaping and running from a terrible nightmare only to land in the same place as he had. And of course, she did carry with her anger and frustration. As he had managed to find her here, how he held so much pride as he told her of his new lover, how he was friends with the King, and how he was having his happy ever after.

Something in her glazed her vision, yet she still stood strong. Her gaze never left Thranduil as he let the silence grow between them, as he took in the truth of her words. She wanted to step back, to give him more room in case of retaliation, yet her ears perked and head lifted ever so slightly as he stepped toward her. The water continued to drip from her pelt, lining the chains that had been a gift from the Blood Prince, a gift that she still wore despite everything that had happened – perhaps to be sure she never forgot.

“Y-you, you lost your child to-?” And he paused, her gaze softening upon him, losing the rage that perhaps had begun to grow at the thought of Calstron. It was replaced with a minute amount of sympathy as his words broke, his honesty breaking the surface in wanting to know how she lost her beloved child.

A frown found her lips as she looked away, lowering her head a tiny amount as her gaze fell to the floor. “It, well. It was a long time ago, now.” She began, shifting her weight. Marembo squeaked a tiny amount of encouragement to the gilded mare, helping her through the bond on how to actually speak of how it happened. She had grazed the surface with Adaeze, and even partially with Tembovu, but she’d never really gone into detail of what had happened. “You need to understand what happened where I’m from, first.” She figured, lifting her head to catch the earthy tones of the Laurelin. “I was, well, a gift to a neighboring Kingdom. A peace offering of war, really is what it was. They had said I was some sort of lost royalty, given to the Kingdom of Pegasi for the Prince there to wed, to make sure that they didn’t delve into Halyvens affairs too much. The King in my home was weak and had no children, so of course that sounded strange to Aciend.” She mulled over her thoughts, the images revealing themselves before her eyes as she spoke.

“I got there, to Aciend. The Prince seemed nice enough, Calstron is his name. He carried himself proudly, a strong build with blood red pelt and a stark white face. He was kind, but it was all a rouse.” She admitted to him. “Apparently he had a thing where he’d take women from pleasure houses, sleep with them and kill them before I was given to him.” She turned her gaze away as the words left her lips, retreating her head toward her chest and taking a few moments to regain her thoughts. “Anyway, I didn’t know about any of this. I just knew that my job was to get to know him, to bear his child. And so I did. I tried my best. Yet, the day I had realized I was pregnant Calstron came to me and trapped me within his end of the Kingdom. He had magic that could make you relive your memories, even if you yourself couldn’t remember them. That’s when he found out I wasn’t really royal.” Her gaze lifted from the floor to look in Thranduil’s general direction, but continued to seem distant. “I was beaten pretty bad by him. I had a rib or two I was sure was broken, but I didn’t think anything had happened to the child. I was still punished, though. He tied me to the flag as they marched into my homeland to burn it to the ground and make the King pay for his lies.”

“I managed to escape, though. I did my best to make my way here to Helovia, but a few months before I arrived I had to give birth.” She paused again, taking deep breaths and lightly biting down on her pale lip. “He didn’t make it.” The words escaped her lips as the ghost of a whisper. “I stayed for three days hoping he might breathe, but he never did.” She shook her head, as if she had been trying to remove the memory. “I wanted him to live, despite everything Calstron had done. He was beautiful and I’m sure he would’ve been kind, unlike his father. But he never got the chance, and I – I never got the chance to see what it’d be like.” She stuttered, stammering over her words. “I didn’t even name him, Thranduil. I was too distraught, too terrified to be found there and blamed for killing my son.” Sadness and darkness both glimmered in the distant look in her sapphire gaze. Rexanna shook her head once more, turning her head away from him as she tried to push the memories away as they came flooding back. “I tried everything I could, but he had been gone long before I could know.” She admitted, staring off into the darkness of the cave as thunder cracked from above. “But don’t let that stop you.” She began, straightening up as her anger and frustration began to billow in her chest like a wildfire.

“Even though something terrible happened, such as that for example, don’t let it stop you from moving on. They’ll understand when you meet them one day - I know my son will understand when I meet him again.”

"Talk."

Every kiss and every word—

They were bullets spraying hazardly from lips.

Rexanna