[P] a long day's walk

[Raum]

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

 

He steps forward, all gilded grace and elegant beauty. Raum watches, his silver eyes darkening with their shared proximity.
 
Oh Toulouse says he will take any cup the Solterran King might offer him. There is nothing upon the Ghost’s face to betray his thoughts. No, that gaze remains a blade, held tight to the man’s throat, his pulse a vibrating song that trembles the air in excitement.
 
Raum can taste it upon her air, salt and electricity, set to electrify his nerves and scold his flesh. It is there in Toulouse’s gleaming eyes. Oh they laugh. Oh they relish this moment and drink in the king and his barren desert as if they were a feast upon which he could indulge.
 
“Then drink.” The king says at last, when the silence between them stretched  and tightened until it began to fray. Until even the sands seem to keen with their unmaking.
 
“You will know when the time comes. Do not refuse the cup.” Then Raum is turning and within his eyes is gunpowder and flames. Within his soul is hope dying. The sun watches him go, it scolds the earth, it twists the sands to black. It vows to bleach this invader king to bones. But for all its threats, Raum moves like night, silver as a mirage. This is his desert now and the sun will do well to merely watch.
 
When he is a few strides from the newcomer, the Solterran pauses, turning that electric blue gaze back upon Toulouse. He lets it dance, frighteningly bright, paralyzingly electric.
 
“For now, drink what you wish. They will see you are fed. Let me know if you see anyone stealing food or water.”
 
Then, with that, Raum leaves, the desert swallowing him up as its horizon trembles and twists in the mid-winter heat.

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@Toulouse - thank you for the thread my lovely. I felt it fitting to stop it there since this precedes everything going on rn! <3