< I gave it all >

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takes place after this thread - https://canismajor-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=4908 // @Maral

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Lingering near the quarters in which his dam would now label as her new nursery, Warwick waited until his sister departed from her first visit to the new, unexpected, family additions.

With a small beckoning move of his crown, he encouraged her silently to join him away from their queen's ears. 

'Were you aware of... them?', his voice remained low. She looked as shocked and oblivious as he, but was that because they were coated in sin? In these initial moments, he wondered if he were the only one to not have known of her pregnancy, and he felt a tinge of hurt at this form of betrayal.

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Maral, quietly, lingered for just a brief time longer after Warwick moved to depart. She stared ahead into the Queen's dark features, at the sorrow and pain she wore so clearly for them to see. Her brother, perhaps, might not have took notice of it - but the shadow had seen Célnes on the brink of falling apart. Only recently had she alone witnessed that crashing wave of emotion as it buffeted her mother enough to reduce her to tears.

Something that'd frightened Maral, who'd only ever known the Queen to be stoic and strong.

She considered that last encounter in silence until her brother voiced his curiosity. Maral blinked up into his face, shaded in hues that most resembled their dam, and she simply shook her head in response. She had known enough to understand that something was wrong, but she'd never have guessed that pregnancy had been at the root of it.


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She wasn't either. An internal sigh came in a crest of relief. 'Neither was I'. Though why did their dam not share such paramount information with them all, he did not understand. He believed his mother shared all with them, or him at least. Did this now unveil a side to her kept from his reach? Were there other secrets? A seed of doubt now became integrated and implanted into his mind, and it would unavoidably swell as lies and manipulation would materialise from their Queen. 

He looked a little longer at Maral, and a sudden pang of guilt was felt when he realised he could not entirely voice his thoughts over the paintbrush of sin that shaded each one, but the last. He knew this was not a conversation to be had with her.

The duke tried to read her momentarily, a flicker of something passed her eyes. 'Is everything alright, Maral?'.

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Maral looked at her brother, searched the vivid buttercup shade of his eyes for any sign that he'd known something - anything. She studied him in silence until he confirmed with words that he hadn't known of their mother's condition until it came to fruition. She huffed, amused that Golden Boy was as out of the loop as she was.

His next enquiry surprised her more, and the shadow drew her ears forward. Had anyone ever asked her how she was? She supposed she'd never asked after them, either, having assumed it was in the nature of Déorwine cubs to simply not care.

“Why wouldn't it be?” Maral bit back, a defensive edge to her tone.


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A softness had caressed his voice when he asked over her wellbeing, and in her receipt of this, the duke had been countered with a bite; resulting in his eyes delving deeper into her own, trying to unmask the reason.

'You did not say anything in there that's all, and seemed reluctant to meet our new brothers and sister', he was not savvy to her wariness of their dam and why that was. He thought perhaps she would coo and cluck at the sight of the newborns. But she remained quiet, and her distance duly noted. 

In their more juvenile times, there would be moments he and Maral played games, but as they grew, a natural distance occurred between all siblings. Even the closeness he felt with Calhoun and Edith in light of their disappearance - he did not comprehend why no farewell was given, and he longed for their presence again. And as for Aldritch, he was the most distant of them all. 

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He gaze sought her own, but Maral could hold his stare only briefly. Warwick was superior to her in every way; to challenge her mother's most beloved child would be unforgivable. Not that she wanted to, anyway.

The shadow exhaled heavily, her brow furrowed over mahogany eyes. She hadn't meant to get defensive and was simply confused by what they'd just discovered by their mother's belly.

“I don't-” she cut herself short, reigned herself. Maral didn't want to lose herself in front of her brother, to let herself spiral even a little bit. She lifted her chin and straightened her posture. “They're... a surprise, is all.” I don't know how I'm supposed to feel.


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A new bundle of offspring would inevitably bring some hardship to the crown, to all the Deorwines, but what made it worst was the fact their own mother made that sole decision of not telling anyone, and Warwick would find this more difficult to come to terms with than the fact each represented her sinful choice.

The duke read Maral, but it was often she avoided confrontation or conversation, and extracting anything from her seemed like squeezing juice from a rock. He half sighed when she had only just started but halted, believing that would be the end of her internal thoughts. But she did ensue, if only a little bit.

He could only nod when she shared. One that reflected his own self-sorrow. They were just that, a surprise. 

'I can't help but feel disappointed in mother for not telling us sooner', it was difficult for him to ever speak ill of his dam, and whenever he did he was immediately flooded with guilt, and his stomach would twist in a bitter torment for voicing his sentiments. He looked at her again, - aren't you?

'What will our siblings think?', what will Edith and Calhoun think when they see them?

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Maral was surprised to hear words of disappointment spill from her brother's maw. She blinked up into his dark face and swore she saw the ache he felt for having been kept out of the loop. The shadow understood his pain, considering how he had to know everything first, but could not deny how it amused her greatly. She did not voice a response to that comment, feeling that it would be unnecessary, so maintained her silence.

The quiet did not linger for long, however. Warwick felt the need to carry on, making mention of their siblings. Maral scrunched her nose; the two who were most beloved and reject Vermillion thought themselves too good for Elkshire; Aldritch was off living in fantasy world; Melrose and Rohesia were totally useless. The shadow shrugged her shoulders and huffed, “doesn't matter what they think.”

It didn't even matter what they thought. It was too late, the choice was never going to be theirs, and there was no point in complaining about it.

She was done with the conversation, and turned away from her littermate to signal that she'd had enough. Maral needed some time alone to process their recent findings, and figure out how to manage her uncertain emotions.


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What had the duke expected from Maral? She wasn't the sister he would usually confide in, but in a momentary collapse in faith with their dam, he thought this would've been a time she would too share her woes. But she made it clear this would not make her restless as it would he. 

A sad nod was what he gave in return for her short response and when she turned to take her leave, he too went off to wallow in his deep thoughts of what they just witnessed.

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