"Against the odds, against the grain we lean, like gardens toward light.
We reach with all of our might for such a noble aim as love."
We reach with all of our might for such a noble aim as love."
The man of silver and red stepped closer and signed, and Eulalie’s dark eyes watched him with wariness. She did not know if the shiver up her spine was genuine or if perhaps her body was only responding to the way Somnus bristled at her side. His wings unfurled, his own body moving into an offensive position.
“Oh, brother,” and if those words did not make her breathe in a little sharply. That Somnus had a brother, whether he’d been believed of being dead or not, was news to her. Eulalie glanced at Somnus again, peeling her eyes away from Atreus’ unsettling pairing of black and gold. Everything about his words seemed so genuine and yet something was so clearly off here. The tension was so palpable that even still Tabbris stood stiffly aware off the side.
At last Somnus turned to her, speaking beneath his breath, she assumed so that the others would not hear. His warning settled within her like a stone, heavy and uncomfortable. Oh, he was fortunate however that he promised to tell her more because the ivory woman would have demanded it otherwise. She had been chained and imprisoned and still had never before felt so in the dark. Regardless, Eulalie continued to stand tall. Do not trust, perhaps, but do not show fear either.
But oh, when Atreus’ gaze landed on her did her skin crawl. The way he fixated, his smile falling to a frown. Eulalie, make no mistake, had been subjected to much staring in her life. The disapproving kind, the lewd kind, in ways that made her feel like prey or like the only girl in the world. But the way this man looked at her had her on edge. She stood her ground and did not flinch beneath his eyes, held them, even, with her own.
There was little that she could offer to the conversation happening. Much like the two escorts from Terrastella, there was no place for her in it other than as an observer. Every word that left Somnus’ lips only proved to concern her more and she could not image the rivers of bad blood that flowed between the two. If startled her just how cold he was, how short spoken each of his sentences were.
“I hope you find Delumine to your liking during your stay,” she said at last, refusing to be inhospitable to their guests as she looked over them all. Though she could not predict the outcome of this day, she could only continue to hope that, despite Somnus’ misgivings and the obvious rift between the two men, Atreus was truly capable and willing to help Regis. She would do whatever it took to secure such good will for her loved ones.
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