Ethel’s P.O.V.

The rest of the evening went horrifically slow. While I wanted nothing more than to protect my people, was I prepared for what would happen if I gave up my mate? A lifetime of living with someone who didn't truly make me happy. Sleeping with them, bearing their children, building a life together. It felt like a half-life to me, a false life.

I wasn't sure how long I sat on the balcony, enjoying the silence and the cooling breeze that lifted my hair. I watched the sun dive behind the clouds and the garden below darken, absent of its light. The sun would peek from the clouds...