august
—« “Then he is a monster!" the Prince crowed, "and I must slay him at once. The Formula works!" »
A
s expected, the Regent doesn’t give him any kind of signal that she understands or has felt what he’s talking about. No words of absolution, no I’ve been there too - but he’s never been one to need empathy from others. August chalks it up to her just being a tough nut to crack.Still, it stings just a little when he offers so much for her to ask him about and she only comments again on the state he’d been in at various stages of their acquaintance. Even Minya had shown more sensitivity, when she was in the mood. Then again, he’s the fool for trying to befriend someone who’s first move was to threaten people with fire.
Alas, it did not seem like it was going to get better tonight. Not as soon as he asks that innocuous question and sees her body tighten like a bow; he’s glad it’s mostly dark because he’s sure the look she shoots him then could turn him to stone if he saw it fully.
Mother, she says, and one of his eyebrows arches. The other follows when she says the wolves can have her, though August wasn’t really surprised by Morr’s lack of marital bliss. He knew as well as anyone and better than most that love - even fondness - wasn’t necessary for…activities of conception.
It seemed safer then not to be looking directly at the Regent, and so he’s idly watching the bonfires and the other horses when the paint says her name. A lucky thing, too, because a look of surprise bordering on astonishment crosses his face too quickly to catch. He schools his expression back into polite interest in a moment, but his heartbeat sticks with a quicker pace for a little longer.
Well, there was something he never expected they’d have in common. Or someone, as it were. But he knew better than to mention that. He’d rather not be roasted over a fire along with the chestnuts.
“Some people aren’t made for staying, no matter what,” he says, and it’s not Al’Zahra and the ship he’d recommended she take on his mind, but the Scarab and all his rag-tag family there. “Even when they should have all the reasons in the world. Your daughter will be alright.”
And so will you, he doesn’t add. He doesn’t figure she much wants to hear it, and he still can’t quite manage to meet her eyes.
