it had been a few weeks since she arrived at her father's doorsteps once again. she was a princess, and no longer the wayward mist-lost daughter. the journey from cubhood to youth was a strange one, filled with blots of darkness which diantha attributed to memory loss. so the question stands: had she lost part of herself as well? was she still the diantha from before the mist? while her mind told her that such a thing wasn't right, her heart said something else. she liked wandering the lands that were shrouded by mist. she liked independence and peace. which was why once she settled in, diantha picked a new den, far from others, but still close to her blood kin. she didn't know what else to do and where else to go. she could chase the younger lions again, like always, for it was still a source of entertainment. or, she could simply...not do it. don't make father angry and her sister annoyed. she could speak to aidoneous again and try to get closer to her...now that her own mother was gone. but, in the end, aidoneous wasn't hers nor victoria's. gods, she missed genya and she hated genya.

ooc; still trying to work out diantha's characterization sdlkjfslk

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As he'd stood upon the border greeting @Diantha it had seemed that he was a ghost, a figment of her imagination. Others had come to greet her return as well, taking precedence over his welcome. Now he found her looking rather contemplative, something quite unlike the Diantha that he knew. Glacial eyes observed the silver and alabaster figure from afar, almost afraid to approach lest his company be unwelcome. After a few minutes he steeled himself against rejection, moving forward into Diantha's line of sight, letting loose a chuff warning of approach. Diantha, he greeted in a low rumble, fave neutral, how are you recovering? News of the mist had spread wide, though he hadn't participated in searching for those lost, having been preoccupied with his new brood. Something about the budding adult before him seemed vacant and he wondered just what had been within the mist. Whatever had occurred there, his adoptive niece had changed.

@Rielus's appearance was a pleasant surprise. out of all of the adult lions, he was her favorite. she loved her father of course, but it wasn't like she thought of rielus as his replacement. perhaps a second father, since it felt like a second mom would only disappoint her again. it took a while for her to fully process that, aside from appearing, rielus had chuffed at her. had she been in the mist for so long that she forgot lion instincts? finally, diantha found her bearings and chuffed back. hello she greeted, before adding uncle rielus. she smiled, though there was a teasing edge to it. she still very much liked to see other lions' faces when she said something they may not be expecting. i'm doing good she responded, hoping that she didn't sound any different to him. how're you? and the pride? though diantha had mostly been in the background, she had heard some interesting things from the lions that passed by. as princess, diantha couldn't sit back anymore and not know what those rumors were.

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Emotions conveyed on his face were yet left within the privacy of his and Ashelia's den. Around his children he seemed more relaxed and open to give them emotional responses, but outside of the den he was still stoic. Others couldn't hurt you if you didn't let them see what might hurt the most. Regardless, he was pleased with Diantha's tacking on of his unofficial role as her uncle. Since she had been a wee cub he had enjoyed watching the girl's growth into a young woman and was immensely proud of the accomplishments she'd made. Above all else he was happy to have @Diantha home. I'm well, he rumbled, discontent with her answer, for to him the silvery youth didn't seem quite herself. The pride seems alright. I don't know that Aidoneus is around much these days. I've been fairly busy with my own brood and unable to know everything going on. Truthful enough, he hadn't known all the rumors or ongoings of the pride. Thus far things seems remotely quiet. Wolfbron hadn't dared to both the borders and there'd been no trouble at the borders lately either. If you hadn't heard, our former pride mate Alaric took a pride. Ecrosia Mire. That was about all of the information he knew and had to impart to his niece. While he may not hold loyalty to Seneca there was a more profound and deep loyalty to Diantha. By proxy he supposed that meant he had loyalty for Seneca.

i don't know that aidoneus is around much these days.; diantha's ears cupped forward, mind lingering at the name. it had been a while since she saw aidoneous. could she be gone? genya left after she descended the sovereign throne. so this was what happened — the throne beneath father's was cursed. that was why genya left and aido may be next. diantha shouldn't care - it wasn't like aido was her family - but aido was her father's wife.

a sharp exhale slipped out of diantha's mouth, eyes narrowing for a moment. it seems she may be following mother's path she said, unkindly. of course, it was only diantha's assumption. she wouldn't be surprised if one day, father would announce that, once again, the sovereign was gone. who would father plant next to him next? another wife? or an heir?

congratulations, by the way. diantha looked away. she didn't know that @Rielus had children until he mentioned it. but it didn't surprise her, seeing how he was good with children, especially someone like herself. so, surely now his attention would be given to his biological children and not on her. which was fine; she could train and spar on her own. but i'd like to meet them she added, while crossing one leg over the other i'm the andals princess, after all, and welcoming new members is one of my duties.

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He was not privy to the relationship that @Diantha held with her mother or the new queen Aidoneus. Nor did he wish to become involved in the girl's anger towards the motherly figures in his life as he didn't know either lioness personally and wouldn't wish to pass judgement on them; however, when it came to Diantha he could likely be sweetened to follow any course of action the girl might take. Irregardless of no oath being taken there was a solidified bond between them that he couldn't ignore. A need to protect the young lioness.

Noted heat from the princess was taken as he nodded, features held neutral at the comment. I'm afraid so. It would seem that Seneca couldn't keep a wife beside him, and what did that say about the king? Many times he considered actions to far outweigh the words of a man, and thus far the actions of those around Seneca spoke for him. Though he could tell that Diantha still held much love and loyalty to her father, something that he didn't wish to take from her.

Instead he would allow the conversation to mostly pass over the topic of the missing queen. Thank you. Low spoken gratitude was given as he wondered what thoughts Diantha truly had about his cubs. You're still to attend training. Brow knit over his glacial eyes as he seemed to admonish her for missing so much, though certainly he hadn't been the best teacher as he'd withdrawn once the cubs had been born. You're always welcome at our den, then he would encourage Diantha to visit, to be part of their family, but you might not call Ashelia fat this time. A twinkle entered his eye as he chastised the girl for the time she had met his wife. It had been somewhat humorous, although he thought Ashelia had rather taken the comment to heart.

a tut slipped out of diantha's mouth. father had a self-inflicted curse, so perhaps it would not be surprising to find him in the bed of yet another woman. but with his track record, it wouldn't be surprising either to have that woman gone within the next few months. at best, diantha would be welcoming new siblings. more heirs would be good for the miroslav bloodline, but what would others think of the father for his troubles with his women? tell me who he's seeing now she was slow to ask only because she didn't think @Rielus would know. but it was always better to know than to wait and find out for herself. and i'll owe you a training session every day until the year ends. of course, she couldn't skip out on that. diantha had long realized she didn't like sparring, but if she had to win in the future, then she must have some experience.

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If there was thing that Rielus didn't care about it was other people's romantic relationships. After spending years not attentive to his own romantic desires he had found that he didn't pay much attention to that sort of thing among others. Within the pride it was harder to miss that the king had held a couple different queens since the Azars had arrives, and that none seemed to stay with the king. Thus far two out of two queens had disappeared mysteriously from the sands. Eyes looked out against the oasis's plush vegetation held close to the water pool as he considered the desert wasn't for everyone.

Hearing Diantha's curiosity as to who her dad might be seeing now felt natural. Since he was very young he'd not known his parents that long, for he'd been given to the Azars for tutelage in becoming Ashelia's guard. He couldn't fathom how it felt for a mother to disappear, not to mention a secondary mother figure. Regardless of whether @Diantha had been close to Aidoneus or not, he assumed that his young niece held a myriad of feelings around the subject. A simple shrug answered the youth's question. No one that I know of. While he didn't know Seneca well he assumed that the king needed a period of bereavement before moving on from the second wife.

Good. Of course he wasn't privy to Diantha's decision that fighting didn't suit her. Should the girl tell him then there would be no forcing the lioness to continue learning; although, he would be surprised as he'd known Diantha to get into trouble since the day he'd met her. That day which felt so long ago now. What will you do now?