The sites and smells were so different from the forest. This many people never gathered there and the smells were all so different, not the nuances he was use to. Yet he was still drawn here. The scent he was following was woven throughout the room. He saw her, the object of his curiosity and his heart beat quickened. A stinging pain wracked his body and he stumbled outside, putting his hands on a tree, stabilizing himself.
"V?" A soft voice asked and he turned around to see a familiar face. She was young and beautiful but he hadn't seen her in so many years, it took a moment to drag her name through the fog.
"Mally." He said finally as the little girl from memory transformed into this woman before him. She was pretty and he knew how he knew her, but it was blurred. Those memories seemed to belong to someone else entirely. However, they were a tool to be used as he wished.
"Your here… you shouldn't be. You plan to attack Kyera here too?" Mally growled at him, but it was weak. There was an emotion in her eyes and he knew it as a weakness. She was desperate and disappointed but she didn't want to belive whatever truth she had heard. He had seen it before in so many faces.
"No, of course not. You knew me better than that, Mally." He purred as though she had hurt his feelings. "Mally, I came to apologize but I can't handle the smells." He sighed, taking a deep breath of the fresher garden scent. It was so tame compared to the forest of his birth. Mally was fighting with herself and he could see that in her eyes. It was working.
"I knew it." Her words like music to his ears. To his surprise and relief the moment she hugged him, his arms wrapped around her by instinct. It completed her image of him with very little effort. "I knew there had to be a misunderstanding. We were family. You would never hurt Kyera intentionally." Her triumphant tone was beautiful.
He smiled subtly. "She was never a target
We wanted her freedom, so she could come home." His words reached Mally's heart and she had to wipe the tears in her eyes. Why not? He reached out and wiped the tears from her eyes as gently as he could.
"I missed you. Gods it's good to see you again. You look amazing in novel cloths. I always imagined you being here when I was first taken. I knew you wouldn't blame Kyera for being stolen, just like you never blamed me." Mally smiled as she looked his stolen garments over. He was suddenly glad he hadn't gotten any blood on them. Then again, she wanted so desperately to believe in him, it wouldn't have mattered if he had. Her mind would have assumed it was dirt on this black cloth.
"Of course not, Mally. Can you do me a favor? I really need to see Clovis, Kyera's mate. I can't apologize to Kyera myself, but I need to talk to him." Verone purred gently and Mally frowned slightly. He sighed seeing this was going to be a slight sticking point. "Please Mally? You knew me…" he purred again persuasively, pouring all his charm into these words. It almost didn't seem to work, but he could see slight faltering in the way she bit her lip.
"Alright. Wait here, in the gardens. Talis and Kan are here. If they catch your scent every guard here will be out for blood." Mally replied offering a determined smile.