Victory tastes sweet on her tongue for only a moment before it slides down her throat.
Her face burns, both figuratively and literally, after the battle. Because she had no suspicions in the heat of his fiery circle, how could she? But on his last attack, when he’d become a beast with fangs that glistened blue from the burning wall and eyes that shone like the moon, there couldn’t be any doubt. What had killed Tiberios? Not only a horse, because it had carved his heart from him methodically, purposefully. Not only an animal, because it hadn’t consumed all of him; because he’d been fractured and slit like ribbons but not completely engulfed. It had been both beast and horse and fire all in one. A murderous trinity coalesced into a single skin.
The mystery of it had nearly killed her before. The knowledge that her burnt man had been brutally savaged by something had carved a part of her heart out. She didn’t think she’d survive it, this halving of her sorrowful organ. But with time (with reuniting with the twins and Ramiel and Tiphon), she’d felt herself warming to the idea of living again. She felt her heart (the good half, as divided as Tiberios’ skin had been after it burned) glowing under the watchful eyes of her family. She could go on without him. She didn’t want to go on without him, but she could.
And then Lupei had revealed himself.
A part of her wonders if he had known that he was challenging the widow. Was it an extension of his malice? Was the murder planned all along, rather than the happenstance she always believed it to be? Surely, he hadn’t planned to lose, at least. Was he hoping to continue his streak once he brought her back to the Chamber, vulnerable and unprotected by the golden ring of her family? Had she thwarted him and saved her own life unknowingly by winning the challenge?
Talulah has too little time to dwell on her next move when she finally makes it back to the Dale. She licks her wounds and births her undead daughter, and by the time he upholds his end of the bargain, she realizes she hasn’t even told Tiphon. They have no plan. Leaving Elaria and strict instructions to stay behind with Ramiel, the metal mare follows the angel’s quick pace. He doesn’t know what awaits him at the borders (does he?) and she has no way to tell him beforehand. She does know what Tiberios’ death did to him, though. What will happen when he realizes the murderer stands before him? How will I stop him from killing him? Will I stop him at all?
“Lupei.” She is breathless when she reaches them, panic and uncertainty rising within her. Tiphon is already on the offensive, and while she would normally appreciate his instinctual need to protect, she now tries to still him with a touch of her muzzle to his shoulder. He doesn’t know what he’s facing. “Tiphon, this is the…man who challenged me and lost.” The silver mare looks at Lupei pointedly on her last word. She wonders why he would willingly walk into the home of his victim if he knew; he must not be aware. It doesn’t change anything to learn of his ignorance. It doesn’t push a repaired half of her heart back into her chest. “He’s also a killer. Aren’t you?” She wants him to say it. She wants Tiphon to strike him down where he stands when he does.
t a l u l a h
metal woman of the dale