[P] Does it still hurt

[Avdotya]

She furrowed a single, sharp-edged brow at the ease with which he shrugged off his brothers’ perfidy. He smiled, even, pointed as it was. If anything, she noted, Raum was true to his oil-slick roots. Avdotya herself - a once proud Solterran - had long since stripped her name of its wretched touch when it no longer suited her, left only as a Davke and Solis’ greatest daughter. She may have haunted Day Court’s vast deserts, but they held no claim to any shred of her existence. It was fascinating, really, how quickly the mighty could fall. How swift Reichenbach’s empire had met its end, lost to his foolishness and cowardice when faced by the mistakes of his own fickle heart. The feral woman nearly laughed at the thought. “No,” she agreed, “that is why I learned a long time ago to rely only upon myself.” Brotherhoods and tribes were all quite nice… until they weren’t. One could pour every last ounce of their loyalty into their faction, but they’d be damned if they trusted it to always have their back when it came down to it. Raum seemed to know that, yet here he was, still a man dressed in the satin feathers of a crow. Now, as the pair swept deeper into the electric chaos of the plains, Novus’ own sin wove its way into their conversation. It suited the situation well; two of the continent’s most beloved children waltzing so casually through utter calamity, as if it were but another warm and sunshiny day, now talking about betrayal and sin. As if they were not the very definition of it. “And would you wish for it to be any other way?” Avdotya finally cooed. The viper may not have accepted treachery when it was brought to her doorstep, but she damn well wore its colours flawlessly when it rested upon her own serpentine hide. @Raum image © pacificdash