☼ fia the crownless ☼
each branch a midnight candelabrum of the cosmos
For a moment, in this passive serenity – the dawn still breaking through a thin sheen of mist and frost, little sound but muffled, distant birdsong and the soft crunch of her hooves against the snow – is enough to let Seraphina fool herself into thinking that the world is alright, or, at the very least, that it will be. She and the girl are alone out here, in the pale, rosy hues, and the desert feels very far away from the chill on her flesh and the bright little creature in front of her, even though she knows that it is not so very far away at all. The world feels much larger than her, or the girl, or the desert – and much, much older.
(The sun would still have risen without her, even if she were not around to see it. She is not sure if such simple knowledge is a comfort or a burden – she does not want this to be her fault, but she needs it to be her fault.)
“Fia.” She echoes back her “name;” it still feels foreign to hear herself called by a name that is not her own. (Then again, Seraphina was not hers, either, but she made it hers. Will she use it again, once all of this is over?) “If ‘t be true Delumine expects thee, thou shall be taken in kindly.” Seraphina looks at her, and she knows this to be true; the Dawn kingdom has always been known for its hospitality, and Somnus had always been kind to her, though she had never known him well.
“I am grateful for such hospitality,” she remarks, with a nod. “It’s a rarity, in such troubled times.” This is not mere cordiality; Solterra has always been home to hostility, and Raum’s ascension had done nothing but made old tensions and violence worse.
“’Tis mine own fealty to protect these lands. Though nay paladin, I’ll has’t the know I am a warrior here.” She can hear excitement trembling through the girl’s voice; she blinks, for a moment, before smiling. “Monster…nay monster…I complete mine own duties diligently.” Brave girl, she thinks, with no fear of monsters-
Perhaps she just hasn’t met one yet.
“You certainly have a warrior’s soul,” Seraphina says, a gentle smile pulling at the corners of her lips. She marvels a bit at the girl, who is so excited – so proud - to be a soldier of Delumine. Under different circumstances, she might have offered her invitation to visit and hunt in Solterra, to learn to hunt monsters and test her mettle against the beasts of the desert; a cultural exchange would have done them some good, but now is hardly the time. “I’m surprised,” she remarks. “I didn’t realize that Delumine took her warriors so young – are you apprenticed to someone?” She does not, admittedly, know many of the people of the Dawn kingdom; most of her effort has been concentrated in Solterra, and, even while she has been outside of the desert, she seems to have encountered Denoctians and Terrastellans far more frequently than Deluminians. However, she does know a few, from one incident or another, and some of them are warriors, though the more scholarly nation did not have many. If she is so young, Seraphina thinks that it is likely that she is still in training, and, given her knightly bearing, she wonders if she is some sort of squire. It would seem quite like Delumine to have Knights. (She certainly knows that Denocte had some, when she was younger; she’d fought against them in the war. But last she’d heard, they’d disappeared with Renwick, when the former Night Regime had left Denocte.)
(She does not think of him, save in passing, and she does not think of the way that it hurt – in a subtle, prickling way – when his letters stopped coming.)
Maerys turns, then, with a gentle inclination of her skull. “Follow, follow,” the girl says, and Seraphina dips her head in something like a nod of agreement, falling into step behind her.
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tags | @Maerys
notes | if you'd like, we could close this up in the next round of replies <3
each branch a midnight candelabrum of the cosmos
For a moment, in this passive serenity – the dawn still breaking through a thin sheen of mist and frost, little sound but muffled, distant birdsong and the soft crunch of her hooves against the snow – is enough to let Seraphina fool herself into thinking that the world is alright, or, at the very least, that it will be. She and the girl are alone out here, in the pale, rosy hues, and the desert feels very far away from the chill on her flesh and the bright little creature in front of her, even though she knows that it is not so very far away at all. The world feels much larger than her, or the girl, or the desert – and much, much older.
(The sun would still have risen without her, even if she were not around to see it. She is not sure if such simple knowledge is a comfort or a burden – she does not want this to be her fault, but she needs it to be her fault.)
“Fia.” She echoes back her “name;” it still feels foreign to hear herself called by a name that is not her own. (Then again, Seraphina was not hers, either, but she made it hers. Will she use it again, once all of this is over?) “If ‘t be true Delumine expects thee, thou shall be taken in kindly.” Seraphina looks at her, and she knows this to be true; the Dawn kingdom has always been known for its hospitality, and Somnus had always been kind to her, though she had never known him well.
“I am grateful for such hospitality,” she remarks, with a nod. “It’s a rarity, in such troubled times.” This is not mere cordiality; Solterra has always been home to hostility, and Raum’s ascension had done nothing but made old tensions and violence worse.
“’Tis mine own fealty to protect these lands. Though nay paladin, I’ll has’t the know I am a warrior here.” She can hear excitement trembling through the girl’s voice; she blinks, for a moment, before smiling. “Monster…nay monster…I complete mine own duties diligently.” Brave girl, she thinks, with no fear of monsters-
Perhaps she just hasn’t met one yet.
“You certainly have a warrior’s soul,” Seraphina says, a gentle smile pulling at the corners of her lips. She marvels a bit at the girl, who is so excited – so proud - to be a soldier of Delumine. Under different circumstances, she might have offered her invitation to visit and hunt in Solterra, to learn to hunt monsters and test her mettle against the beasts of the desert; a cultural exchange would have done them some good, but now is hardly the time. “I’m surprised,” she remarks. “I didn’t realize that Delumine took her warriors so young – are you apprenticed to someone?” She does not, admittedly, know many of the people of the Dawn kingdom; most of her effort has been concentrated in Solterra, and, even while she has been outside of the desert, she seems to have encountered Denoctians and Terrastellans far more frequently than Deluminians. However, she does know a few, from one incident or another, and some of them are warriors, though the more scholarly nation did not have many. If she is so young, Seraphina thinks that it is likely that she is still in training, and, given her knightly bearing, she wonders if she is some sort of squire. It would seem quite like Delumine to have Knights. (She certainly knows that Denocte had some, when she was younger; she’d fought against them in the war. But last she’d heard, they’d disappeared with Renwick, when the former Night Regime had left Denocte.)
(She does not think of him, save in passing, and she does not think of the way that it hurt – in a subtle, prickling way – when his letters stopped coming.)
Maerys turns, then, with a gentle inclination of her skull. “Follow, follow,” the girl says, and Seraphina dips her head in something like a nod of agreement, falling into step behind her.
----------------------------------------------------------
tags | @Maerys
notes | if you'd like, we could close this up in the next round of replies <3
I'M IN A ROOM MADE OUT OF MIRRORSand there's no way to escape the violence of a girl against herself.☼please tag Sera! contact is encouraged, short of violence
