[html]
[/html]Of course, she hadn't realized she looked to the east, having never been farther than Drifter's Bay in the past year. That was still in the shadows of the Halcyon Mountains, the barrier that kept them from the old lands. Charred, dead land. Dead land that their father had saved them from. It didn't occur to her that his knowledge of the situation could be strange or suspicious. He had saved them.
Ezekiel commented on the mountains rather than correcting her. There had been mountains, a few, and that was what triggered her realization that she hadn't been looking in the right direction. If he had gone so far north, there would be mountains everywhere. Her shoulders fell in embarrassment, crimson eyes darting to the ground. "Oh, you went toward Drifter's Bay, then." It was a sad attempt to save her pride as it was ground into the dirt. She had no head for direction, except knowing how to find her way home. Everything outside of Inferni was a jumble of undefined landmarks that could be seen anywhere.
She changed the subject back to his return, preferring the energy of the moment rather than the failure of her senses. His words came out as jest, but the meaning hit her hard in the chest. He had chased her all over, hadn't he. He had done what no other did, searching for her even though it could have been a futile attempt. She knew he could have stayed behind, found a real woman, moved forward in the subtle hierarchy of the clan.
It was touching, really, to think someone had done so much without promise that she would be there at the end of the journey. Her eyes spoke what her mouth couldn't, words of love that were reserved for Gabriel and Zeke and no one else. A moment of insecurity passed her features, but slipped away into a soft smile once more. "You've grown since we were last together. Almost has handsome as father now, aren't you." It was phrased as idle chatter, with a light voice, but her posture told otherwise. He had grown from their awkward youth into manhood, and there were plenty of young women ready to pick him from the fold. Her features hardened, crimson eyes cast down to the snow-covered ground.