[P] blackbird claw, raven wing

[Seraphina]

S E R A P H I N A

in the absence of everything
ABSTAIN FROM FEAR

--

Shards of colored light glared down from the stained-glass window on the far side of the throne room, leaving the dull sandstone cast in broken fragments of color. It was there that Seraphina stood, engulfed in suffocating silence, with her eyes cast up to examine the curling iron frames that encircled the glass. She traced the golden silhouette of Solis with her gaze, luminous even among the vivid colors of the window; she felt as though she should be praying, but no words came to mind, no devout whisperings to ease her thoughts. Strange as it felt, it had been months since Seraphina had found herself facing death – not since Viceroy. She couldn’t say that it was chilling, considering how many times she had seen death before, but it was sudden, a frank reminder of just how quickly life could be stolen away in the harsh deserts of Solterra. The desert claimed whatever it desired, and its people were left to pick up what remained. If nothing else, it grew survivalists.

She stepped closer to the window, letting the soft light wash over her. She had brushed blood and sand free of her coat from the fight with the teryr earlier in the day, though the narrow gashes that the runt had managed to leave in her sides still stung like fire in her veins, a constant reminder of events she would prefer to forget, even if only for a moment. (When she closed her eyes she was blinded by sunlight, only interrupted by the dark, disappearing form of the teryr.) Seraphina told herself that there wasn’t time to focus on the fight, only the results, where they would go from here.

The wind hummed through the ancient corridors, a ghostly, dry whisper at the back of her mind. Her thoughts returned to more immediate – and concrete – matters. The Day Court had only just begun to recover from the gashes left by Zolin; they couldn’t go without a sovereign for so long again, even with a dedicated group of champions and two-thirds of the regime remaining. Seraphina suspected that Avdotya would step up after Maxence, but she hadn’t immediately announced her claim; it might have been a matter of timing, but somehow Seraphina had the impression that she wasn’t interested in the position. Capable and efficient as she was as Reagent, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Avdotya didn’t enjoy it. She shook those thoughts off, however. Speculation was meaningless until she had a chance to speak with the serpent herself.

She waited for Avdotya to arrive, her eyes never leaving the sun god.

@

@Avdotya - <3