[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/GQlCEtU.png[/img][hr][sub]Collaboration with [@The Muse][/sub]

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Flynn’s steps slowed as he laid eyes upon the stranger who blocked their path home. His grip on Amaya’s hand tightened protectively, senses prickling at the feeling that there was something dangerous beneath the stranger’s cloak. The guards around them stiffened as well, their hands resting near their weapons, ready to act if necessary. 

Amaya glanced up at Flynn. The unexpected feeling of his hand tightening around hers brought back to reality, and out of the haze of grief that was her mind. Then she saw what — [i]who[/i] — had him so on edge. 

As the group came to a complete halt, Flynn’s eyes locked on the cloaked figure, noticing the stranger’s pale blue eyes peering out from under their purple cape. The man’s words felt eerie—his presence entirely unsettling despite not saying anything that was directly threatening. 

When the stranger mentioned his father, Flynn’s jaw clenched ever so slightly. The comparison to his father, something he had heard often growing up, now left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had once been proud of it, though with his current perspective, he wasn’t sure if it was meant as a compliment, or something else entirely.

[color=337d71]"Thank you for your kind words,"[/color] Flynn said, his voice polite but guarded. He offered the pleasantries expected of him as a Prince, but no more than that. Amaya was silent and tense beside him. [color=337d71]"I’m afraid we must be on our way—it has been a long day for us and it wouldn’t do to linger in this cold for long."[/color]

His gaze lingered on the man a moment longer, searching for any sign of ill intent behind those pale eyes. Then, with a nod, he began to guide Amaya and their retinue forward, his grip still firm around his wife’s hand as they continued down the path. The guards fell in step, their watchful eyes flicking back to the stranger even as they moved, leaving the ominous figure standing in the snow. The Prince kept his pace measured, unwilling to show any sign of haste, but every instinct screamed at him to put distance between them and the man who now stood aside, smiling cryptically.

Amaya let Flynn move her forward, her nerves too raw to do much more than follow obediently. But as they grew further and further away from the stranger, she felt a prickling along the back of her neck. She felt [i]unclean[/i] like he’d stained her with something she had to scrub away before it set. She felt exposed. 

Still walking, Amaya turned her head to look over her shoulder at the blond man in the distance. She watched as his cloak fluttered in the growing wind, a wisp of black smoke drifting away from his hand held high. 

Amaya never wanted to hear him speak about her mother again. 

She turned her gaze forward as the storm built in the tense air around them, obscuring them from view. 
[hr][sub]Mentioned: [@Dezuel] - Gadez Paladice[/sub]