she was powerful not because she wasn't scared,
but because she went on strongly despite her fear.
but because she went on strongly despite her fear.
When the color had withered from daytime and the scene had become a pencil drawing, a treasure on the easel of the creator, she waited for it to wholly fade to black and arise anew. It was as if each nightfall were the curtains closing and the dawn was their opening each day. While most dreamed through the metamorphic change from duskiness to light, Maerys rose early to witness the rebirth of sunshine, to see how the pencil sketch would become a far superior painting to anything witnessed previously. Where the blackness had once seemed unyielding, a fine silvery mist lingered in its place as boughs of sunlight filtered between the peaks of eastern mountains and played a daft game with the shadows before her eyes. Within a scanty amount of time, birds would be bouncing in the branches as merchants and wanderers made their way into Dawn Court to conduct their business and be on their way. The heavens were a golden sermon that surrounded them thoughtfully. It was dawn returning to where it would always be welcomed - Delumine.
As she passed inaudibly through the land, the mist eddied at her legs and capitulated at her flank only to be suddenly thrust ajar by the mighty ebony appendages of Mateo, a guest she knew nothing about. He was not quite the burning shade of smoldering embers, but the simple darkness of velvet, silk, and other beautiful things. He was the same dark that blanketed these lands only a mere hour prior, the kind of dark that supersedes a brilliant sunrise, capable of beauty and change in one breath, like a small flower trembling open in spring; darkness that occurs in a solar eclipse, blocking out most of the light, the noise, the feeling of being, leaving you in the silence of serenity, if only for a few seconds.
His limbs, nimble and capable, awarded him a secure landing just in front of Maerys, who attended with lifted brows and lips that had quickly formed the beginnings of a smile. His words were vigorous and unafraid, so brazenly assuming recognizing - he had caught her off guard but in only the best of ways. He queried if she would mind his company, to which she returned with a subtle tip of her head. "Nay, I doth not mind," she answered readily, both curious and charmed by the dark bird, only pausing a moment before continuing - "aye, 'tis Maerys." Her thoughts bubbled with questions - who are you? How do you know me? - but before she could propose such inquiries, he answered them. This left her to wonder momentarily if he could read her thoughts (such would not be unusual in Delumine where the curiosity in its inhabitants could correctly result in potent magic such as that).
She'd not met many soldiers during her time here, but those she had met were memorable, lads and ladies of frightening bulk, tact, and determination. She was not sinewy like those that regularly held such a rank as warrior, but she knew with the correct amount of tutelage and gusto, she could be more fearful than all of them. She had seen countless times how zeal could overcome physical power and knew such would be her saving grace at the appropriate time. Still - for what reason the stallion knew her, she did not know, but it was both pleasant and surprising to be known by another she had never introduced herself to. To be memorized and later recognized when her comrades were, in her opinion, far more remarkable, was a compliment that weighed far heavier than Mateo may have realized.
"Mateo." She breathed the name unobtrusively as if each letter were a precious jewel that she could not afford to shatter and from then on, she was sure the name would be forever committed to memory. "Mateo," she repeated more firmly now as she moved into an apology: "Pardon me for not owning awareness of thy alias prior." She offered a meek smile now, silently wishing she'd asked more about different Deluminians in the past for here was Mateo, a brilliant scholar whom she would never have known about if he had not introduced himself.
"Aye, 'tis. Truly a most wondrous blessing." Her response was with no lie. She had discovered an ever-faithful companion here, Vradara, who currently glid well above their backs should they look towards the heavens. Her beautifully crafted ax came shortly after, an excellent aid in the battlefield and a gift she is most precious of - it rests on the dew-covered blades of grass not too far away. Maerys has found those composed of kindness, benevolence, and love here, something that is a treasure troublesome to discover. She had been allowed to practice combat and had felt that her opportunities here were grand. "I'm fain to meet thee, I wast wondering at which hour I'd be granted the chance to acquaint myself with another Deluminian." The Dawn Court was grand - in these times it was without tyranny, without betrayal, without heartache or contempt. It was the largest of the courts with forty members. Oriens was not a vengeful or spiteful god, neither were his subjects. Should there be only one thing the silver-haired girl could ask for, it would surely be activity. Where were the forty members that composed this beautiful, intricately created court? Where were their sovereign and champions? Why is it she could walk hours before running into another? In the girl's eyes, it was Delumine's sole problem, but she would never utter a single syllable on it. Her gratefulness fully outweighed her sole criticism.
As she passed inaudibly through the land, the mist eddied at her legs and capitulated at her flank only to be suddenly thrust ajar by the mighty ebony appendages of Mateo, a guest she knew nothing about. He was not quite the burning shade of smoldering embers, but the simple darkness of velvet, silk, and other beautiful things. He was the same dark that blanketed these lands only a mere hour prior, the kind of dark that supersedes a brilliant sunrise, capable of beauty and change in one breath, like a small flower trembling open in spring; darkness that occurs in a solar eclipse, blocking out most of the light, the noise, the feeling of being, leaving you in the silence of serenity, if only for a few seconds.
His limbs, nimble and capable, awarded him a secure landing just in front of Maerys, who attended with lifted brows and lips that had quickly formed the beginnings of a smile. His words were vigorous and unafraid, so brazenly assuming recognizing - he had caught her off guard but in only the best of ways. He queried if she would mind his company, to which she returned with a subtle tip of her head. "Nay, I doth not mind," she answered readily, both curious and charmed by the dark bird, only pausing a moment before continuing - "aye, 'tis Maerys." Her thoughts bubbled with questions - who are you? How do you know me? - but before she could propose such inquiries, he answered them. This left her to wonder momentarily if he could read her thoughts (such would not be unusual in Delumine where the curiosity in its inhabitants could correctly result in potent magic such as that).
She'd not met many soldiers during her time here, but those she had met were memorable, lads and ladies of frightening bulk, tact, and determination. She was not sinewy like those that regularly held such a rank as warrior, but she knew with the correct amount of tutelage and gusto, she could be more fearful than all of them. She had seen countless times how zeal could overcome physical power and knew such would be her saving grace at the appropriate time. Still - for what reason the stallion knew her, she did not know, but it was both pleasant and surprising to be known by another she had never introduced herself to. To be memorized and later recognized when her comrades were, in her opinion, far more remarkable, was a compliment that weighed far heavier than Mateo may have realized.
"Mateo." She breathed the name unobtrusively as if each letter were a precious jewel that she could not afford to shatter and from then on, she was sure the name would be forever committed to memory. "Mateo," she repeated more firmly now as she moved into an apology: "Pardon me for not owning awareness of thy alias prior." She offered a meek smile now, silently wishing she'd asked more about different Deluminians in the past for here was Mateo, a brilliant scholar whom she would never have known about if he had not introduced himself.
"Aye, 'tis. Truly a most wondrous blessing." Her response was with no lie. She had discovered an ever-faithful companion here, Vradara, who currently glid well above their backs should they look towards the heavens. Her beautifully crafted ax came shortly after, an excellent aid in the battlefield and a gift she is most precious of - it rests on the dew-covered blades of grass not too far away. Maerys has found those composed of kindness, benevolence, and love here, something that is a treasure troublesome to discover. She had been allowed to practice combat and had felt that her opportunities here were grand. "I'm fain to meet thee, I wast wondering at which hour I'd be granted the chance to acquaint myself with another Deluminian." The Dawn Court was grand - in these times it was without tyranny, without betrayal, without heartache or contempt. It was the largest of the courts with forty members. Oriens was not a vengeful or spiteful god, neither were his subjects. Should there be only one thing the silver-haired girl could ask for, it would surely be activity. Where were the forty members that composed this beautiful, intricately created court? Where were their sovereign and champions? Why is it she could walk hours before running into another? In the girl's eyes, it was Delumine's sole problem, but she would never utter a single syllable on it. Her gratefulness fully outweighed her sole criticism.
M A E R Y S
