No matter what consumed his thoughts, there always lingered a burning desire to escape from the confines of the city and with it all that was expected by those who dwelt there. Run from the gossiping eyes of nobles and the watcheful judgmental gaze of a father. Each waiting for a goat to make the wrong move and sully a family’s name - give them something to talk about again. Or rather, in the mind of one, drag it down further than he already had with his behaviors. Merely thinking of it brought a mind to sour. It was never something he wished to linger on and yet phrases were hard to ignore. Everything one sought to drill into his very nature stirred a sense of repulsion.

He couldn’t stand being there right now.

Ajax would watch over Juliet while he was gone just as the man had done when he’d stepped away for matters of work or duty. Forced into gatherings to ‘save face’ as his father called it, events where the young girl he cared for could not be known. A presence that some could not discover. It was better that she remained hidden to those who may attempt to use her in any way. She would not become a pawn in their games. One seen as a daughter would not be used against him or risk being placed into harms way.

He would not allow it. She would be kept safe. No matter what it cost him.

Yet all which filled the mind came to abrupt halt as rather than the purity of crisp air engulfed him it lay tainted. Augustus did not wish to believe that which sought to drown out all else in the area. However, it was a scent one could not ignore for blood tinged the air. It assaulted the senses, prevented him from moving past it without investigation as it immediately drew a mind to fret. If he had taken a moment to focus, to gather a clearer scent profile them perhaps the perfumes of prey would have made themselves apparent. Something to quiet the worries of a mind, silence how it played over the probability of someone having been attacked by the beasts which haunted these lands.

And now it guided his path toward the prospect of danger. One stalled only by the shrill whistle that stung at his ears. Someone or something was still alive and it lingered deep within a perfumed sea. Mix of anxious curiosity bubbled beneath the surface as brush lay pushed back to reveal what lie ahead. A scene which took him back. Even if he had stopped, taken a chance to fully register the aroma of deer viscera, the sight which greeted him did not bode well. The figure unknown yet drenched in crimson ichor as it ran in rivulets against her throat before streaking and pooling ever further.

Though while she may show no signs of distress, it brought the goat unease. Long ears swiveling back in budding agitation yet it does not reflect in the gentle askance that rises without delay, “Are you hurt? I smelled blood.” Rose tinted stare flickering briefly over the scene, allowing realization to slowly seep its way past festering alarm. Taking in the neatly lain carcass of a beast, another more focused breath taking in information of an overpowering stench which did not scream of wolf nor human blood. However, perhaps most importantly, all one had worried may seep from this woman’s very hide - it too lay tainted by the perfumes of deer.

Just that brought a small inkling of relief yet not enough to bid a swift farewell.

After all, he had already interrupted… whatever she did here. If he simply turned to leave after beholding the marked woman that would be an even greater sign of disrespect than his initial intrusion. Steadily rosen gaze would return to her with far less urgency behind it. The evidence littering the forest floor giving way to a portion of her tale beneath the trees but with it sparked further questions. It did little to explain why one before him now lay coated in the blood of beasts. Her business was her own, something she did not have to share to please the wonderings of a stranger. He shouldn’t pry too deeply. He knew this. The cravings of a mind should be ignored, but that was never something August was good at and already he could feel words wishing to slip from his tongue.