The Court had loomed on the horizon, stretching into the sky with high, impenetrable walls, at once both beckoning her closer and making her shy away. What was within? Did this place, this high keep, hold the answers she sought after? Jezanna longed to discover, to look within. Perhaps there, she would find at last what she had been looking for. Life, purpose, hope even. Hope that she would be able to find her place among the inhabitants of this world and no longer be a lost, wandering soul.
Jezanna stood just outside the walls, feeling as merely a visitor with no reason to step foot within. She watched the crowd bustling, moving along. But to where, and where from? There was so much she did not know and yet she yearned to know all of it still. It had not been so long ago she had stood on the edge of the lake and spoke with the woman, Aislinn. At least in that she had found some sort of solidarity, a likeness to another which made her feel less trapped. It made her feel as though there was promise, a chance to be more than just another face in the masses as she had feared would happen.
Having waited there for plenty long enough debating it, Jezanna took in a breath and stepped past the threshold separating outside from inside. Finally she made her way inward, careful to watch where she was going and yet so curious that she wished she could look everywhere at once. Immediately her senses were overwhelmed by the markets she happened upon, vendors pushing to sell their exotic products and interested parties weaving their way from stall to stall. More than once she’d been forced to stop abruptly or else risk running into another, or paused to wonder about an item.
Unfortunately she had no means to purchase or trade with the shopkeepers, and shook her head each time she was asked to buy something with a disappointed downturn to her lips. Still, her inquisitiveness could not be dampened. Everything here was new and exciting, and she wished to experience all of it. Her silver eyes were wide with awe and fascination, child-like in the simple joy she felt from being surrounded by so many new and extraordinary things. For a moment, Jezanna’s guard slipped. Here, she did not fear how her truth would be perceived, whether or not that fear was warranted.
She had been watching a pair of young foals romp and run around the street with a smile, forgetting to look where she was going, when she practically ran into another equine. Her eyes flashed in concern as she focused back on what she was doing. “Oh! I am so sorry, please forgive me, I was not watching where I was going,” Jezanna said quickly, bowing her head slightly. Of course she would make her grand entrance by disturbing the peace and sense of belonging here she had desired to find.
"Speaking."
@Reichenbach What better way to introduce two strangers than through a classic run into each other scenario!
I'M A MAN, I'M A TWISTED FOOL,
MY HANDS ARE TWISTED, TOO,
FIVE FINGERS TWO BLACK HOOVES
The evening was pleasant, Spring's warm breeze rustling the ebony banners of Denocte and playing with the ends of his coal curls. Reichenbach was rarely in the Keep on nights such as these, instead he milled with his people around the bonfires, drinking and grinning, his booming laugh occasionally heard above the thunderous drums and pipes, mingling with the calls of stall holders and those visiting.
The King of Thieves belonged among his people, keeping a keen silver eye on the happenings within his fair city. He swallowed details casually, the shadows at his nape coiling and curling even as he grinned and laughed, vitality leaking off of him in waves. He saw the newcomer as she entered, each step elegant and fluid as her moon-white eyes drank in the chaos around her — she was distinctly serene in comparison.
After a moment of watching, Reichenbach excused himself from the crowd of Crows he was entertaining and slipped into the mess of bodies. Some citizens stopped and murmured respects to their King, but mostly the crowd absorbed him as one of their own — he'd been one of them for too long to want for anything more. Half of these merchants had helped to raise the orphan, had seen him raised from a thin-shouldered boy with sticky fingers to what he was now: King of Stars and Smoke, Caligo's Chosen, The Orphan King, King of Thieves... his people and even those of other courts never seemed to tire of finding new titles to lay across his broad shoulders.
“Oh! I am so sorry, please forgive me, I was not watching where I was going,”
Warmth bloomed on The Night King's face as he smiled, charmed by her amiable words. His grin grew, contagious, as his baritone voice cut through the rabble of the markets.
"The fault is mine — I was watching where I was going,"
His roguish head dipped, ebony curls sliding over his long lashed eyes momentarily before he returned his argent gaze to hers;
"Reichenbach, of The Night Court, at your service.."
He paused, turning his long lashed eyes to the throng of bodies around them with a pleased smile.
"Welcome to Denocte."
I'M A MAN, DON'T SPIN ME A LIE,
GOT TOES AND I CAN SMILE,
I'M CROOKED BUT UPRIGHT.
@Jezanna oh my goodness I apologise so so much for the wait on this <3
For a moment she was too trapped by the brightness of his silver eyes, not so unlike her own, that she did not speak. Then he smiled and his words rushed over her, and she could not help but smile back, lifting her head to follow his gaze as it slid across the people mingling around them. Very few paid them any mind, and the relief Jezanna felt was like a rush through her, bringing a glow to her expression. Maybe she did belong here, in this place of midnight and mystery. A slow breath escaped her.
“Do you always make it a point to run into newcomers?” A smirk twitched at the corner of her lips, mirth in her sterling eyes. She was tired of being alone, of not knowing where she stood in this world, but what the young moon was quickly finding was that it was possible to find companionship if she simply searched for it. The torches’ fire flickered off the man’s mahogany coat before her and his dark curls cast much of his face in shadow, and she was intrigued.
“Denocte,” Jezanna murmured, tasting the name of it on her tongue, “the Kingdom of Stars and Smoke, so I’ve been told.” She took a step back so that she could see him better, the cool night air replacing Reichenbach’s warmth as she noticed the coins that were strung around his neck, twinkling in the faint light. Her own silken sash brushed over her steel body, bright and white in comparison to the court’s somber atmosphere. He was danger and tumult, wild and bold, and it was in such contrast to everything she had experienced so far that she could not help but to be drawn in
She had heard his name, flitting like a feather on the breeze, but now she had a face to put with it. If this kingdom was made of stars and smoke, then he was its sky and its fire. For so long she had been merely a visitor, lost and wandering. But now, perhaps, she could be a part at last. Perhaps she had found a place that would one day be home.
I'M A MAN, I'M A TWISTED FOOL,
MY HANDS ARE TWISTED, TOO,
FIVE FINGERS TWO BLACK HOOVES
“Do you always make it a point to run into newcomers?”
Yes.
"Only if they look interesting,"
He countered, the firelight dancing keenly over the roguish angles of his face. She did look interesting, strangely serene against the chaos of the Markets, her sash a pristine porcelain in contrast to the grey smoke of her skin. Her eyes, too, spoke volumes — it was clear she had seen much, experienced more than the average traveller, and possibly had a wealth of knowledge hidden behind her opalescent gaze. Physical traits aside, there was a surreal, moon-like quality to her that had hooked his curiosity and kept it.
“Denocte,” she began lightly, her voice lilting and musical, “the Kingdom of Stars and Smoke, so I’ve been told.”
His only response was a pleased smile as she stepped backward, keen eyes noting the elegant way she moved, the supple comfort with which she used her slim limbed body. What did she see when she looked at him? Coal curls and silver eyes? Or something deeper? Was it his chaos that lightened her eyes with hope, or the irresistible vitality rolling off of his mahogany skin? Perhaps it was the abandon of him, the casual way he held himself — comfortable, at home.
Regardless of the reason, Reichenbach found himself oddly charmed at whatever small change or thought had brightened her moon-white eyes.
“My name is Jezanna.”
"Jezanna," he echoed, lips curving around the name with ease, "Would you like a tour?"
What else? If she was new to Denocte then he would show her the beauty of it, captivate her with their Lake of Mirrors, impress her with their wildflower-ridden mountain pass... he would show her the residents of Denocte were free and wild and impossible. His easy grin had returned, the shadows that danced about him turning loose and luxurious as he awaited an answer.
I'M A MAN, DON'T SPIN ME A LIE,
GOT TOES AND I CAN SMILE,
I'M CROOKED BUT UPRIGHT.
“I bet you say that to all the foreigners,” Jezanna said with mirth alight in her sterling eyes. Oh, how she would be better off staying away from someone like him. She had a feeling that he broke a lot of hearts with his curls of coal and argent eyes. Yet, he still represented something to her. Something solid, something she could hold onto. Something real. It was something she clung to with desperation when she still felt like perhaps this whole thing was a terrible dream.
A dream in which she is dragged away from her family and left to wander, alone. The more time she spent in this world, she was coming to see that this was not just a dream she could wake up from and everything would be the way it was supposed to be. She would never see her father’s sun light the morning sky, nor her mother’s moon as it rose above the horizon. She herself would never set foot in that unreachable heaven so far above her now.
Pain knifed through her heart and she focused on the man’s eyes before her, reflecting her own image back to her. He was real. This was real, and this beautiful court of shadows and firelight and the stars above and the moon that was not her and would never be her, was where she was meant to live now. Here, she would have to build a home, would have to make it her own. “A tour would be perfect,” the young moon agreed softly, a smile touching the corners of her lips, “I have a feeling you know all of Denocte’s best kept secrets.”
"Speaking."
@Reichenbach That's Jezanna out! We definitely should thread them again soon <3
I'M A MAN, I'M A TWISTED FOOL,
MY HANDS ARE TWISTED, TOO,
FIVE FINGERS TWO BLACK HOOVES
“I bet you say that to all the foreigners,”
His grin widened, eyes brightening in amusement at her quick tongue.
“A tour would be perfect, I have a feeling you know all of Denocte’s best kept secrets.”
A low chuckle slipped from his black lips as Reichenbach shook his head, "If only that were so — there's layers to Denocte and her secrets, I fear if I started searching I would never stop..." His argent eyes wandered over the markets for a moment before returning to Jezanna's, a conspiring gleam where it hadn't been before, "However... I do know some secrets" The Night King dared a wink for jovialities sake, though he sensed a undercurrent of sadness in his companion's smile.
He did not mention it. Many travellers came to Denocte to escape — a past, a family, a lie... if they didn't want to tell him, he wasn't about to ask. It likely wasn't the safest way to rule a kingdom, but he was an orphan thief sitting on a throne... at times Denocte didn't abide by societies rules.
After a moment of contemplation, Reichenbach gestured for Jezanna to follow, melting into the crowd to find something... memorable to show her.
I'M A MAN, DON'T SPIN ME A LIE,
GOT TOES AND I CAN SMILE,
I'M CROOKED BUT UPRIGHT.
@Jezanna yay! So so dreadfully sorry about the slow replies, next time we thread I will be much quicker! <3
