Ariane:
I had wandered farther than I should have.
The castle lights had long vanished behind me, swallowed by the tall grass that reached my hips, whispering against my skin like fingers too familiar with sorrow. I didn’t know why I kept walking. Maybe I thought if I kept moving, the ache in my chest wouldn’t feel so heavy—so real.
The wind was soft tonight. It kissed the tears off my cheeks without asking why they were there.
As I walked, I let my fingers graze the grass, letting them drift like ghosts over each blade. The wet earth beneath my bare feet was cold, grounded in the feeling of the soil beneath my feet. Yet, everything inside me felt undone—split at the seams.
I had been crying. I still was, in a way, but the sobs had quieted. Now, it was just… silence. A silence that fi
