Who: Aria and Calista Where: Elkwood Castle When: Midmorning
Calista had always known she wasn't the most stable of individuals, but she could usually pinpoint when it was that she was going to be unstable. Events preceded her bad days, her moods, her fits, she always knew when they were coming. She had never heard voices that came from thin air or seen things that couldn't possibly be there. If sometimes she spoke to herself inside of her own head then that was a matter for herself, and she was perfectly aware no one was truly answering back. It was just her in there after all.
Hearing voices come from outside of her head was another matter entirely. That was cause for concern. It had been after breakfast when she had been wandering the gardens with the girls that it had happened. At first, she had thought there was a child hiding in the bushes playing a game, but a thorough search had turned up nothing. The girls had been concerned, but Calista had assured them that it had been a child who'd just run off at fear for discovery. Perhaps one of them had an admirer. That had set Lily off on teasing Rose and it'd been good for a distraction for the hour or so until they had to go to lessons. Calista had remained outside, both because she enjoyed it out there and because she wanted to know if there was indeed a child, and why they were hiding.
"Hello?" she called quietly as she walked along the path. "You can come out, no one will hurt you." It had to be a child. Yes, there was a portion of her mind that was arguing children didn't talk like that and why hadn't the girls heard it, but Calista ignored that part of her mind with the same efficiency that she ignored other things about herself.
"Yes they will," the voice denied. "Will, will, will!"
"Why?" Perhaps she should get a guard...
"Because! I am small, I am delicious, I am a treat, but I escaped, I did, and I won't go back."
Calista's eyes widened. "I... I will not hurt you?" If it sounded like a question, that was because it practically was. Her fingers came up to tug at the necklace she was wearing, a new one, a gift from this morning she still wasn't sure about.
"You won't?"
"No."
"You won't take me back?"
"Uh. No?" It was when the bushes rustled and a rabbit hopped into the path, staring up at her with large, liquid brown eyes that Calista feared she was going quite mad.