and then there was Herstial. It was so long ago, and yet she still remembered it like it was yesterday. She had loved Obyana so deeply. The way his heavy footsteps fell upon the ground as he came up to her room, knocking quietly, to see if she was awake or not. He always woke her on his way anyways with the footsteps. She had found the white stripes over his broad shoulders so alluring, He was lying the whole time. and he was good at it. He lied, right up until he was coronated beside her. He didn't even wait for her father to step off the podium before she saw the switch. It was like he had become cold. He wouldn't look at her. Only the crowd. and then he ended all of them. setting gently woven houses of willow in the lower levels of the city aflame, and letting it spread to the castle.
He didn't even stay to finish the job, instead, turning to chase them, the royals, out. She remembered her mother shoving her roughly into a tight space under a rock. a sort of alcove. As much as she had wanted to come out and keep running with them, her mother had been smart. knowing that after the run, once she pushed her in, she wouldn't have the strength to come back out. She had waited there trembling all night. when she finally crept out, smoke filled the air and her lungs. She had found her parents' bodies not far from there.
It felt like yesterday... But it also felt so far away. She had been a princess once, something she often forgot. When she had first come to Elysium, two years after the coronation, she had it fresh in her memory. She never greeted something without squaring her feet, and forcing her head into an arch. Always chose her words carefully (that still held true). Introduced herself with a full name. Now she often feared she had forgotten her last name. She had used it for a short time when she was Queen of Crucis, and after that, never again.
Caelum had reminded her though. She could see the traits. The way she was careful how low she dipped her head. Her stance before they had laid down. Her overall mannerisms.
The woman's question took her aback for a moment. No one had asked her before. Most asked if she was alright and then danced around their own questions, trying not to be offensive. In all honesty, it was refreshing. " I don't believe you rude at all" she replied. "I'd rather people ask that stare at me wondering. I do. I have from the time I was born. It's nothing I'm not used to" she stopped for a moment. thinking if she should ask what she was about to. " I suppose it's my turn to ask a prying question then? You hold your neck up as if you have to impress, though you have no need for it here. You dip your head to be sure that it stays above my own, and you hold a look that I am all too familiar with. So my assumption, I suppose, rather than a question, is that you were once royalty, a queen or princess. I suppose even duchess. Though you no longer hold that title"
It was not often that she took it upon herself to be so forthcoming. Typically she reserved her thoughts for those she knew well, but the mare seemed kind enough. Worst-case scenario, she would return to dusk court, and more than likely, never see the mare again. Seeing as she had just said she was of the night court.
The words struck a chord with Luvena. She had felt that way once. In Elysium, the first thing she had done was learn the herds, the firstborns. She had worshipped each one at the gardens, and seen some of them in action. And she had done the same for Mythos, only for it to dissapear a month later. She hadn't intended to let bitterness creep into her voice as she replied, but it did so anyways. "I'd like to make sure this one doesn't collapse, or whither before I get attached"
@Caelum
