There is a look that passes from Lilliana to Leilan that says if asked, she will certainly mention the stallion's presence in Taiga if prompted. And there is a part of the chestnut that doubts Leilan's presence has gone unnoticed. There doesn't seem to be much that does.
And Leilan, she decides, seems like the type that hardly goes unnoticed anywhere.
All of that is forgotten with his connection to Hyaline. With Elaina.
He tilts his head at her like he might ask a question or perhaps he wants her to elaborate on that word. Cousin is a broad term, one that can't even begin to encompass her relationship with Elaina because she has always been everything to Lilli. Cousin is perhaps the loosest, most obscure explanation that the chestnut can give.
But then Lilliana has never been good at giving the things closest to her away.
Whatever restraint had kept her in place is gone now and the expression that stares up at Leilan is one that is transparent: worry. She has been terrified for Elaina. She has been worried that something has happened and if it had.. how would she have any way of knowing? The pair had grown up together with a threat looming over her lovely cousin's golden head and that old fear had resurrected itself the moment that Lilliana had found Elaina's scent stale and not a shadow of her in Hyaline.
There is relief in what Leilan tells her - so much of it. It washes through her in a flood of emotion.
She has gone to Windskeep. To Aesop.
That thought settles into Lilliana's soul like the silent falling snow.
She has gone.
She is safe.
(She didn't say goodbye.)
It is the last link to her old life, broken. The shards of it splinter against her ribs, run jagged along her heart, shred her of the last vestiges of who she had once been. The chestnut mare blinks at everything Leilan tells her and blinks again when asks if Elaina had told her. The fact that she hadn't is something concerning but if she is in Windskeep, she is safe and Lilliana reassures herself that's all that matters.
There is thought as she tilts her head to him that wonders if he intends to be cruel? He can't know what a blow those words cause, she decides. Or maybe he does - Lilliana decides to give him the benefit of the doubt. "No," she says carefully. And there is a part of her that deems it fair - she had done the exact same thing when she left Beyond. There had been no farewell then either - just a message that Lilliana had hoped Elaina would find what she was looking for. "But thank you for telling me."
Whatever laughter before has dimmed and instead, Lilliana feels Beqanna looming again. It feels impossibly big and empty, devoid of that one golden ray that had let Lilli know she wasn't truly alone.
And then Leilan tilts his head, an emerald gleam in his otherwise blue eyes. If he seeks to pull any further emotions from the chestnut mare, Lilliana has never been good at giving the things closest to her away. The small smile quirks into a ready grin while the blue of her eyes remains as warm as a December sky, "Somebody has to keep all these trees in line."
@[Leilan]
And Leilan, she decides, seems like the type that hardly goes unnoticed anywhere.
All of that is forgotten with his connection to Hyaline. With Elaina.
He tilts his head at her like he might ask a question or perhaps he wants her to elaborate on that word. Cousin is a broad term, one that can't even begin to encompass her relationship with Elaina because she has always been everything to Lilli. Cousin is perhaps the loosest, most obscure explanation that the chestnut can give.
But then Lilliana has never been good at giving the things closest to her away.
Whatever restraint had kept her in place is gone now and the expression that stares up at Leilan is one that is transparent: worry. She has been terrified for Elaina. She has been worried that something has happened and if it had.. how would she have any way of knowing? The pair had grown up together with a threat looming over her lovely cousin's golden head and that old fear had resurrected itself the moment that Lilliana had found Elaina's scent stale and not a shadow of her in Hyaline.
There is relief in what Leilan tells her - so much of it. It washes through her in a flood of emotion.
She has gone to Windskeep. To Aesop.
That thought settles into Lilliana's soul like the silent falling snow.
She has gone.
She is safe.
(She didn't say goodbye.)
It is the last link to her old life, broken. The shards of it splinter against her ribs, run jagged along her heart, shred her of the last vestiges of who she had once been. The chestnut mare blinks at everything Leilan tells her and blinks again when asks if Elaina had told her. The fact that she hadn't is something concerning but if she is in Windskeep, she is safe and Lilliana reassures herself that's all that matters.
There is thought as she tilts her head to him that wonders if he intends to be cruel? He can't know what a blow those words cause, she decides. Or maybe he does - Lilliana decides to give him the benefit of the doubt. "No," she says carefully. And there is a part of her that deems it fair - she had done the exact same thing when she left Beyond. There had been no farewell then either - just a message that Lilliana had hoped Elaina would find what she was looking for. "But thank you for telling me."
Whatever laughter before has dimmed and instead, Lilliana feels Beqanna looming again. It feels impossibly big and empty, devoid of that one golden ray that had let Lilli know she wasn't truly alone.
And then Leilan tilts his head, an emerald gleam in his otherwise blue eyes. If he seeks to pull any further emotions from the chestnut mare, Lilliana has never been good at giving the things closest to her away. The small smile quirks into a ready grin while the blue of her eyes remains as warm as a December sky, "Somebody has to keep all these trees in line."
@[Leilan]
but it's all in the past, love
it's all gone with the wind