2/1/2026, 1:29 AM
Aurelia looked as if the sky had dropped a large, heavy chunk of ice on her head. It brought Solulfur some degree of comfort and vindication to see the Shakti-Vaes rendered as speechless, as stunned, as the fra Nordri had been when the boy had presented such a proposal.
If he'd been someone else, someone she had not laid unspoken claim to as hers, someone she had not commiserated with over shared languages and finding one's footing in the world; she might have laughed. Laughed then, and laughed especially now with Aurelia here to join her in bemusement. Torgar had bared his heart to her with the naive, if sincere expectation of success. Solulfur did not laugh.
She was invited into the enveloping darkness of Aurelia's den, and accepted the offer with a relieved nod. The tension bled from her shoulders as she stepped inside, out of the worst of the snow and wind. Aurelia, on the other hand, seemed to take on every ounce of tension Solulfur shed. Green eyes were faint in the darkness, more grey than life-filled, and the rest of the silver she-wolf appeared to be carved from stone. Poised and immovable.
Torgar.She was sure Aurelia at least knew of him, if she hadn't had the chance to meet him properly. Solulfur sat. Her tail curled over her paws, and her head drooped slightly. She was much more tired from all of this than she would have been if she'd made it out to the beach as intended.
I told him...The Sun-wolf paused. Mulled on her words at length. This seemed private. Perhaps not appropriate to share among friends, even those as close as Aurelia. She didn't think Aurelia would particularly care one way or the other, but the fact was relevant here.
Well, I told him I didn't like men, so no.Perhaps uncouth to mention, but Solulfur ripped the band-aid off and barreled onward to what troubled her most. Her ears pinned, and she scowled at the stone floor viciously.
I have always taken some pride in my ability to not get swept up in these things.To be above and beyond the whimsies of the heart that led so many of her family into disaster. Solulfur had always thought them foolish to work themselves into a fit over some wolf they hardly knew - any dreams of the kind of transcendent love she'd once believed her parents to have had dissolved long, long ago.
But he came to me on a fool's errand because I was too obtuse to correct his course earlier.The Sun-wolf gave an irritated sigh through her nose.
