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Hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have
The dawn, once comforting and clandestine, lay in tatters. Pale colours shot through the woodland, painting murals on the dank earth. Rhoswen felt something shift in the air upon the caseation of her tale, as though the trees had been listening in with ears as old as the gods; she didn't doubt they were eager to hear of a narrative that did not belong to the mountain. Who could blame them? For the only light ever to break their umbral city was that which the mountain allowed through -- their chains mirrored the metallic glint of Seraphina's collar; they were as trapped as the two women stood within their midst. Rhoswen grew quiet, coveting the silence. Images (some of Sabine, some of Solterra, some of faces she had never seen) rotated on an internal mill, clacking melodiously to the pulse of her dreams. The cyclical nature of life never failed to torment her so; oh, how tired she was of the monotony, of the tedium, of the fucking predictability of Hell. There was no end she could see. Well then, she supposed, she would have to create an end of her own. “What will you do now, Rhoswen?” Eyes of desert-smoke turned back to hold Seraphina tight, gripping the sovereign as though she were afraid to let her go. But, one cannot hold on forever; Rhos knew gravity and time always made sure of that. And so with a flare of sadness shooting across her gaze like a comet made of starlight and grief, Rhoswen released Sera from her ocular embrace and offered a subdued smile in its stead. What a pleasure it was to share this moment with the greatest monarch Solterra had ever known. It felt eternal. It felt final. "I am going to head south; it is time to end what once began." As the rising sun at last washed away dawn's prismatic kiss, Rhoswen eased forward into it's glare and lifted her head until she was all but blinded by gold. The intensity of Solis' light flooded her veins with passion and fervor; her blood was set alight. It started small: a flicker, a hint of amber, and then in a blink of an eye, her magic ruptured out until the entire top-line of her body was ablaze with fire. In that moment, Rhoswen did not feel small, nor weak. The future was written into her skin like a promise, and it made her strong. The flames were gone as quickly as they had come, and Rhoswen stepped back into the shadows to face the woman she surely considered a friend. "I hope you find peace with yourself, Sera; you are greater than you know." And with a movement that was as tender as it was brief, the Solterran stretched her muzzle up to brush Seraphina's cheek. The forest claimed her moments after, swallowing her frame whole as she slipped away to chase her fate. Their story, at last, was over. |
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