“I’m safe, Dad,” she started slowly. A soft sigh escaped her and the edge in her stance softened, her muscles relaxing and the jagged sheen to her coat smoothed out into rounded lines. “Zalen kept me safe.” A slight smile came to her muzzle as she bumped into him again, nuzzling his cheek as much for her own comfort as to express her love of him.
“I planned to send word and then come back to visit after I was settled. I didn’t want to leave like that but no one would have ever let me go. I couldn’t risk someone stopping me… there’s too much at stake.” She glanced at Zalen, hoping her father didn’t blame him. “I left early… before Zalen came for me. I found Crimson Dreams – like Mom visited, and where Liam left Juliet. But don’t be mad at them,” she hurried to say this part. “I didn’t meet very many people and they knew I had renounced my pa- ...Cercatori. They didn’t have an obligation to tell you…” She wondered if he would jump to that conclusion; her mom certainly would. She wanted to be free, and she wanted to leave the least amount of pain in her wake. A thing it seemed very hard to do.
She was quiet for a minute, her gaze dropping while she pondered. Her ears flicked back before coming back up again. “So I’m safe with Zalen. We won’t be here much longer though…” she let it hang in the air but didn’t expand on the thought, not wanting to give away too much until she knew she could trust her father’s motives. Even at her young age she knew this could be some kind of ruse. Not that she wanted to not be able to trust her own father, but her body and soul was now under Zalen’s fair rule and he had become her priority.
“What now, then?” She looked at her father apprehensively, wondering where they would go from here.
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