bottom of the deep blue sea; any

[Isobell]

Isobell

i'll wait for inside the bottom of the deep blue sea

Castile was not expected to be at the River.

The young mare had gone haphazardly in an attempt to escape Nerine for a moment, to potentially see the familiar face of the kelpie under the waves but instead it had been only her reflection. She is not sure why she has even left the confines of Nerine but the River was in her dreams and was powerless to go.

The sound of his voice startles her. The silver eyes of ehr father are peering from the tuft of dark forelock to rest upon the larger shape of her sibling. Isobell feels a wretch in her gut to witness the way his handsome features are dipping and curving with confusion and question. "Castile-" Isobell turns away from the water and the depths to go to him, her own face furrowing with it complication of small smooth scales. She wants to reach for him but she hesitates when he doesn't meet her in the embrace.

She has forgotten who what she has become. Should she be ashamed? Are her sins prevalent across her skin? Of course they are and her brother, the one who cares the most, watches as she wears the marring like a carved scar in tender skin.

His eyes shift and she feels a ripple of fear as his voice begins to rise. He begins to question, undoubtedly the scent of Ivar on her skin, as to the change and the source. Isobell looks away as though the answer were written on the horizon and she can feel a threat of hot tears though the mare would not allow them to spill. There was the telltale scars upon her whither from the fateful day of her drowning, former lacerations from his fangs that are now healed.

The pied mare returns her mercury gaze to the mismatch of ehr brother's before nodding slightly. There was deep magic in the water that had turned her kelpie but she does not want to go into detail on the day Ivar had chosen her and willed his desire. A dull guilt lies just beyond her own surface as she wonders if it was she who had lead Ivar to his decision.

"Castile, sweet brother, it's okay..." Her voice is soft as she moves closer to her sibling. She reaches for him, wanting to feel the same comfort of his weight and the gentle words against her poll. Much had changed in the past season and she quietly yearns for the familiarity of something normal. "I can't explain it." It is all she can offer but the kelpie is blatant across her skin as her small scales shine like moon stone and glassy black onyx. Isobell fears Castile will reject her, think her marked and soiled, but still she tries to reach for him to embrace him.

...Perhaps she should have stayed away longer, perhaps she should have stayed in Nerine.