The scent was clear. @Dragos was here. The Matriarch had little time and little patience to be chasing him about, yet here she was - doing just that. It caused a bustle of irritation within her, a desire to teach the boy a lesson about running away from home. And why, why had he even done such a thing? His family had supported him, defended him. The appreciate he shown was to turn his back on them.

And so Teodora was here to set him straight, to return him to his rightful home. His rightful place. Alexander would need to choose an Heir soon, and perhaps due to her own biased toward the boy she felt Dragos the only true choice. Not that she did not love her nephew's other sons. There was simply something about Dragos that set him apart.

It was his name.

Moving forward, she stalks through the grove - the night sky was dark, the moon shining through the trees in cascading lights that illuminated her presence. Snow drifted from the branches above, coating the Earth in a thick blanket. Jaws part, a call made to the one who lingered here like a ghost.

"Dragos Savante, show your face." The Blood Mother demanded.

If there is one thing you should never do, it is show @Teodora fear. It's like standing off with a bull elephant in that way. Yes, they can both wreck your shit, but they'll definitely chase you down if you look like you know it. Standing your ground is the safest choice, even if it doesn't look wise to an outsider.

Teodora is not the first visitor he's had out here, but she is certainly the most dangerous - that said, Dragos actually needs to talk to her.

"Aunty," he hums when he finds her, following her call and hiding the flinch at getting full named behind a smile. But the smile is weak, and mostly sad, and it fades as soon as he begins speaking, "I - I saw Levana. She said - something. I don't understand." And what he'd done after, he'd get to that. He'd admit it, admit the darkness took control again. But he has to know what happened to his cousin first.

ART BY DRIFTY, CODE BY LARS

He arrives and all the Blood Mother can do is stare at him. That one, singular eye digging into his features like a drill, studying and expecting some sort of valid excuse as to why he had abandoned his family. Alexander was too soft of the boy, too lenient - allowing him to do what he pleased and treat the Patriarh in a manner that would otherwise be punished.

He smiles, then speaks clearly a name that does nothing but causes the hair along her spine to raise in barely tempered rage. "She is dead, we need not discuss her further." The Matriarch snaps softly, her small form moving in closer to her nephews. "A curse long older than you has been placed on her soul, if you have spoken to her recently, you need be cleansed." For a cursed soul was a damned thing - and it's sins could be cast upon those that looked upon them.

Though Teodora knew, without question - that true death would find the girl should their paths meet again. Finally, her head raises, her station clear - "It is time to return." A command, one given without hesitation. If @Dragos expected to be coddled in this moment, he would find himself short. Teodora favored him, it was true and in most instances she would coo and preen the boy.

This was not one of those times.

"She’s dead."

Dragos’s heart seems to stop dead in his chest. He knows it’s not a literal death @Teodora speaks of, in her icy voice, her matter-of-fact, no nonsense way. Dragos’s mouth opens to ask why, why Levana. What crime could she have possibly committed -

But he doesn’t have to. He knows.

She fell for the enemy. She chose him over them. She was selfish.

Unwillingly, his mind flickers briefly over the image of orange and stripes. The biggest, warmest brown eyes.

The oldest son of Alexander has always been a soft spot for the woman, it’s a well known fact, but he has always feared her the way the rest do. He’s never thought himself special enough to truly, wholly cross any lines. He might get away with more sass, a level of familiarity, he might even be doted upon by the woman. But he’s not stupid enough to think that if need be, she wouldn’t gut him where he stood if she thought it would protect the Savante as a whole. If Dragos betrayed them, knowingly or not -

He thinks he’d prefer a true death to Levana’s fate.

Something almost like fear flickers across Dragos’s face as he straightens up from his casual slouch, adopting the stance he carried during the war, when his body was still growing and such a soldier-like posture looked awkward on his gangly frame. It suits him better now, but it’s no less uncomfortable. At least it’s familiar.

"Yes, aunt." He whispers, unable to force the words out properly. There is no mention of his fear, the reason he'd left the Oasis to begin with. She is not asking for excuses and likely Teodora wouldn't care - or she'd point out, rightly, that he is foolish for thinking such things and weak for giving into the darkness in the first place. So he offers no reason, no excuse.

A good, loyal soldier.

ART BY DRIFTY, CODE BY LARS

Teodora is only half blind, so she doesn't miss the fear, the uncertainty that flashes across his face as he takes in what she's said. All the information and the decision that had been made about Levana. There is something oddly strange about the sudden change in demeanor.

@Dragos had been through much, she was not unaware of this. Even upon his arrival here, many things had happened and he'd made mistakes - given into the darkness the Savante men were so prone to. Even Alexander.

During the war she had seen the noble looking lion do an assortment of gruesome, terrible things in the name of his family. The Matriarch had no doubt he would do so again if it came down to it. Perhaps that was why Alexander fought against so vehemently now. Ears flick forward, that single, ruby red eye narrowing in on the boy before her.

"There will be time...to speak of the things on your mind. Right now, we must see you cleansed. I would break the walls of Hell itself if you were to be damned." She breathes, her voice a rough rasp. Moving, the small woman slides up beside her Great-nephew and bumps her head beneath his chin. A low chuff is offered before she makes her way to the Hollows - where she, and Dragos were both long overdue.

/exit Teodora

Teodora does not speak of what happened, but Dragos knows better than to push the issue. If not from her, then another Savante will tell him. It’s simply not their way to keep such things from each other. The red woman speaks of cleansing, and he knows what happened - it’s bad. And so he does not argue, he takes comfort in her presence and when ordered, follows the matriarch back to the Hollows.

Exit.