She saw the subtle change in him, the ever so slight rise in his hackles. It was what Avdotya had hoped to see; her words were a lure, bright and full of temptation, and he was there ready to bite. Had she not roused Jahin’s temper with her brusque accusations, it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to presume that the jagged edge of her old spear would have found its way to the soft crook of his neck... for what good was a man without loyalty? Yet with his words, he quelled her brewing suspicions.
The sharpness of her posture lessens, no longer that of the imposing woman seeking answers, but a fellow Davke lending her ear. Avdotya did not know the gruesome details that he witnessed during the slaughter of their people - her family - while she festered in a cell, but she knew Zolin and what he had been capable of. In her mind, the viper could only imagine all of the horrible ways his wretched soldiers defiled them. Her lips curled with seething disgust, only to slowly come back when Jahin lamented over his own survival. ”Then Solis has greater purpose for you than you know.” Her voice was quiet, and with it there may have even been a sense of sincerity, for she too had felt the creeping hand of guilt upon her shoulder. It was not one shaken so easily.
Their deaths were all at her mother’s command, it was Avdotya, her beloved daughter, that they had surged to the capitol for when her mind began to fray. Vaska was admired for a great many things, she was a beacon of vicious and unrelenting strength... and yet the matriarch fell to the whims her own foolish heart, led astray by the affections for a daughter long gone; she should have severed her attachments like she did with any other being in her life summoned to death.
But Avdotya did not die. In fact, this world was eternally hers, leaving the deaths of so many Davke resting ominously at her feet - and no amount of spilled blood would ever satisfy her thirst to vindicate them.
Jahin then snapped her from the blackness that her thoughts had enshrouded her with when he spoke of his return. Home. The word lingered and her eyes finally left his own, her legs brushing her past him and onward to where she knew the citadel’s silhouette would eventually bloom. ”Welcome home, Jahin,” she murmured to him in passing, turning her head only briefly to call back to him: ”I will find you when it is time. I have a king to meet with.”
The first piece was in place.
The sharpness of her posture lessens, no longer that of the imposing woman seeking answers, but a fellow Davke lending her ear. Avdotya did not know the gruesome details that he witnessed during the slaughter of their people - her family - while she festered in a cell, but she knew Zolin and what he had been capable of. In her mind, the viper could only imagine all of the horrible ways his wretched soldiers defiled them. Her lips curled with seething disgust, only to slowly come back when Jahin lamented over his own survival. ”Then Solis has greater purpose for you than you know.” Her voice was quiet, and with it there may have even been a sense of sincerity, for she too had felt the creeping hand of guilt upon her shoulder. It was not one shaken so easily.
Their deaths were all at her mother’s command, it was Avdotya, her beloved daughter, that they had surged to the capitol for when her mind began to fray. Vaska was admired for a great many things, she was a beacon of vicious and unrelenting strength... and yet the matriarch fell to the whims her own foolish heart, led astray by the affections for a daughter long gone; she should have severed her attachments like she did with any other being in her life summoned to death.
But Avdotya did not die. In fact, this world was eternally hers, leaving the deaths of so many Davke resting ominously at her feet - and no amount of spilled blood would ever satisfy her thirst to vindicate them.
Jahin then snapped her from the blackness that her thoughts had enshrouded her with when he spoke of his return. Home. The word lingered and her eyes finally left his own, her legs brushing her past him and onward to where she knew the citadel’s silhouette would eventually bloom. ”Welcome home, Jahin,” she murmured to him in passing, turning her head only briefly to call back to him: ”I will find you when it is time. I have a king to meet with.”
The first piece was in place.
You’re playing my game now, @jahin
