Karl stepped toward her. “My lady, you don’t look well.”

Preservation took over, the same iron will that got her through at Rook Castle. She couldn’t show her emotions, not here, not in front of Karl. “I need some time alone, to think.” Her voice was even and controlled. “Would you give me a moment?”

He looked at her as if he didn’t believe her, and she stared back, placing all her strength into her will.

He sighed. “Just for a moment. I will be waiting here if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Karl,” she said before starting back down the path.

She reached a bend, then pulled up her gown and left the path and headed into the trees, away from people, away from the sights and noise. A numbness stole over her as she silently made her way through the forest. Whether because of all the dreamless nights or the fatigue from the trip, she couldn’t seem to fight this overflowing feeling of hurt and loneliness. “Dart’an,” she whispered.

A minute later, she veered again, deeper into the trees. By now it was dusk, heading toward night. She moved through the forest with remembered stealth and silence. The nightwalker was back, and she became one with the shadows.

Somewhere far off, she thought she heard Karl call her name, but she pressed on without a sound. The night was an old friend, a place where she could hide. Deeper she went, the air cooling around her, her gown hiked up around her legs, freeing her to move.

She came upon a small opening in the trees and dropped to her knees. Fatigue was causing the emotions inside of her to crash over her like a tidal wave, but she didn’t have the strength to fight. She had been fighting for so long: her mother, her power, her feelings. She just wanted to lie down and let the dreamless darkness take her.

The wind brushed her hair around her face. The soil was moist and smelled of plant life. The only sounds were the croaks from nearby frogs and the buzz of an insect.

She squeezed her eyes tight and dug her fingers into the soil. Who am I really?

Twilight turned to night. Far off, the muffled hum of human voices came and went. Selene ignored them. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything anymore. The hole inside of her no longer contained her feelings. She was an empty shell, a solitary woman on her knees in a dark garden, looking for guidance.

Soon, the garden dipped into night. Even the moon was gone, for it was a new moon. The stars were hidden above, their light strangled out by the long limbs of the trees around her, leaving her in almost total blackness.

It reflected how she felt.

Selene lay down on her side in the dirt, the low-hanging branches from the closest tree acting as a natural cover, hiding her from the rest of the world. The cold, damp earth pressed against her cheek, the scent of water, flowers, and soil filling her nose.