Without a home to call her own, Riona began living in whatever forest she came across. The days when drinking animal blood made her gag felt like a lifetime ago. Now, she was used to it—she had no gold and couldn't afford the pricey Crimson Vitae blood.
As she wiped a smear of fresh blood off her mouth at the river, the ancestor's voice spoke up. "What's it been now? A month? Two? Three? Aren't you going to see your brother?"
He said 'brother' on purpose. It was a word meant to hit closer to her heart, something personal that might stir her emotions and make her want to see him again.
"Four months. And no, I'm not going. Stop trying," Riona shot back, unimpressed with his tactics.
But she wasn't so easily swayed. Riona was as stubborn as they came, and nothing seemed to change her mind.
The Fallen One had thought, Surely four months is enough time for her to stop wallowing and get her act together.
