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Rhoswen ►
The desert's transition from hot to cold come the fall of night never failed to surprise Rhoswen. As a native of Denocte's mountainous terrain she felt herself still forever fascinated by the magic of this aureate gold ocean and the perennial power it wielded. How many stories had unfolded upon this ancient sand? How many lives taken and given by Solis' eye? What had this kingdom seen with that impassive gilded stare? How many more souls would fall beneath this endless sky, never to rise again? - perhaps the most pertinent question of all. The bloodsilver woman might have shivered, if not for the heat simmering still in her ribcage from the fear and the rage and the fight of it all. Seraphina speaks of blood and extinguishing thirst, and Rhoswen cannot stop the tide of disgust from flooding into her heart. Madness, Avdotya, madness. From behind tall Night walls Rhoswen had seen the consequence of war; she had seen her youngest brother crumble within from the decay that had set about his mind - vines of insanity left to thrive in the chasm opened by violence and death. She wondered how many Solterran children had died by Davke hands, how many had seen the unthinkable? Rhoswen could not help but glance back at her sleeping daughter, feeling an unfamiliar rush of concern for another living creature. What did her future hold - a Solterran? A Denoctian? Perhaps, neither.
"I don’t…know what I expected it to be like, to try and…change Solterra. I never expected it to be simple, but I...never anticipated feeling so utterly out of control.”
Her attention was hooked back to the desert Sovereign as she spoke once more, and she all but flinched at the silver's tone so marred by grit and uncertainty. Then, it felt quite suddenly as though Rhoswen had moved her gaze from one child to another, for Seraphina's age had never been laid so bare, and Rhos was reminded just how young the queen was. Younger than her, certainly. The memory of this fact only seemed to strengthen the already insufferable guilt strapped like barbed wire and brick over her dainty, porcelain shoulders - she had betrayed not only her court, her people, but a girl that had endured so much already. But guilt served no-one but itself. Guilt would not undo actions spent, nor heal the skin and trust broken by lies and deceit and brutality. "My father used to tell me that control was an illusion, and that we cannot truly change anything - only shape it. It is not how we we fall that matters, but how we get back up again." Her voice was soft, thoughtful; memories of Iscariot were always tender, always consoling. The truth was that Seraphina, - child-soldier, emissary, queen - had done more for Solterra over the course of her life than any citizen Rhoswen had ever met.
The queen's next words caught Rhoswen off-guard, but her surprise lasted but a moment. Though the red-haired women had had no time to consider the near-future since bumping into Seraphina, her statements resonated. If it had been Rhoswen, alone and unencumbered by a newborn creature to nurse and raise, there would have been no question but to challenge Sera's decision - but, she was not. There was the girl, nameless still, lying only feet from the women with but milky dreams to consider. Would they ever be able to return to Solterra? Would she ever be forgiven - by the court, by herself? Such visceral questions were too much for her tired, tired mind, and she turned back to Seraphina with a fatigue that was written into every line of her ruby-glass face. "You are right," voice cracking, heart sinking, "I..." she is speechless, utterly broken by her mistakes and her foolish beating love for that godforsaken crow. Even if Day Court found it within themselves to forgive her, and the child, did Rhoswen feel it within herself that she deserved to return to Solis' kingdom? "I do not know what to think anymore," she sighed, shaking a weary head. "It's all such a mess."
"I don’t…know what I expected it to be like, to try and…change Solterra. I never expected it to be simple, but I...never anticipated feeling so utterly out of control.”
Her attention was hooked back to the desert Sovereign as she spoke once more, and she all but flinched at the silver's tone so marred by grit and uncertainty. Then, it felt quite suddenly as though Rhoswen had moved her gaze from one child to another, for Seraphina's age had never been laid so bare, and Rhos was reminded just how young the queen was. Younger than her, certainly. The memory of this fact only seemed to strengthen the already insufferable guilt strapped like barbed wire and brick over her dainty, porcelain shoulders - she had betrayed not only her court, her people, but a girl that had endured so much already. But guilt served no-one but itself. Guilt would not undo actions spent, nor heal the skin and trust broken by lies and deceit and brutality. "My father used to tell me that control was an illusion, and that we cannot truly change anything - only shape it. It is not how we we fall that matters, but how we get back up again." Her voice was soft, thoughtful; memories of Iscariot were always tender, always consoling. The truth was that Seraphina, - child-soldier, emissary, queen - had done more for Solterra over the course of her life than any citizen Rhoswen had ever met.
The queen's next words caught Rhoswen off-guard, but her surprise lasted but a moment. Though the red-haired women had had no time to consider the near-future since bumping into Seraphina, her statements resonated. If it had been Rhoswen, alone and unencumbered by a newborn creature to nurse and raise, there would have been no question but to challenge Sera's decision - but, she was not. There was the girl, nameless still, lying only feet from the women with but milky dreams to consider. Would they ever be able to return to Solterra? Would she ever be forgiven - by the court, by herself? Such visceral questions were too much for her tired, tired mind, and she turned back to Seraphina with a fatigue that was written into every line of her ruby-glass face. "You are right," voice cracking, heart sinking, "I..." she is speechless, utterly broken by her mistakes and her foolish beating love for that godforsaken crow. Even if Day Court found it within themselves to forgive her, and the child, did Rhoswen feel it within herself that she deserved to return to Solis' kingdom? "I do not know what to think anymore," she sighed, shaking a weary head. "It's all such a mess."
@Seraphina <3
