![[Image: rhosmusonartsmall.png]](https://image.ibb.co/cvttvR/rhosmusonartsmall.png)
As they walked through the colourless night Rhoswen allowed her thoughts to run over a thousand different scenarios, on and on. They simmered and burned, branding their mark into the very synapses of her mind until it was all she could do but breathe. What if she had stayed, condemning herself to a lifetime of darkness with only a weary candle and a pair of blue eyes carved from a winter ocean; what then? Would the world have made more sense, would she have been free from the shackles around her porcelain throat? Would he have kissed her and led her to a salvation she had only dreamt of - to a place where gold ran like water and the moonlight did not taunt her with it's opalescent derision.
No.
Rhoswen turned a sanguine cheek toward him once more, stealing a furtive glance as their flanks brushed, electricity coursing through her hot skin. It was as they approached the great stone steps leading up toward Solterra's ancient fortress that the red girl found herself flooded with familiarity, as though everything here had happened before. Her step did not falter but deep within, her heart beat tenfold, and she closed those grey eyes in memory of a forgotten time when she and Raum had once slipped home under the cover of a pearly midnight, not long before she had absconded. It seemed so long ago, so remote it almost felt as though she were imagining the lives of two strangers. But there were no strangers here, only a boy and a girl who's lives remained infinitely coiled together into a wreathe of the past, present and future.
And she had done so much to change it all - to escape whatever path had been laid out for her by the universe - yet somehow, inexplicably, nothing truly had changed. They might have been standing in a different city, belonging to different societies and deities, but still here they were: walking side by side in the dark. As though no matter how hard they tried to fight it, this was always meant to be.
They slow and pause as their hooves reach the steps, and Raum's voice bores into the all-consuming shadow, catching her attention like a hook. "The invasion is planned for a few days time." Rhoswen's stormborne eyes narrowed, alive and incredulous. How could he unleash this information unto her and expect her to do nothing in defence of her people, did he trust her that much? Where before the siren might have bitten back a response, this time she remained tight-lipped and soundless, keeping her cards close to her chest. There was still time to report this to Seraphina if she should so wish; there was no point discussing it with Raum.
The silence between them is chaotic and violent, and Rhoswen wants to smash it into a dozen sharp pieces so that she might drive one into his heart. It seems Raum got there first.
"... if you do, I won't be here when you return."
Rhoswen stared at him, languidly processing his serrated words with an expression of malevolence. How dare he pass these unveiled threats, brandishing them high and low. Who was he to cast down the conditions within which they coexisted; what choice did she have in all of this? Confusion and dangerous pain flashed in her gaze, forcing Rhos to look away as her soft curls fell protectively over those marble cheekbones. For the first time, the lucid holes in her guard began to show. She lilted, her jaw clenching as a wave of nostalgia came calling - her brimstone heart cooling.
"My father once told me a story of how the Sun loved the Moon so much he died every night just to let her breathe," a murmur, brittle and quiet, "could you imagine ever loving someone that much?"
No.
Rhoswen turned a sanguine cheek toward him once more, stealing a furtive glance as their flanks brushed, electricity coursing through her hot skin. It was as they approached the great stone steps leading up toward Solterra's ancient fortress that the red girl found herself flooded with familiarity, as though everything here had happened before. Her step did not falter but deep within, her heart beat tenfold, and she closed those grey eyes in memory of a forgotten time when she and Raum had once slipped home under the cover of a pearly midnight, not long before she had absconded. It seemed so long ago, so remote it almost felt as though she were imagining the lives of two strangers. But there were no strangers here, only a boy and a girl who's lives remained infinitely coiled together into a wreathe of the past, present and future.
And she had done so much to change it all - to escape whatever path had been laid out for her by the universe - yet somehow, inexplicably, nothing truly had changed. They might have been standing in a different city, belonging to different societies and deities, but still here they were: walking side by side in the dark. As though no matter how hard they tried to fight it, this was always meant to be.
They slow and pause as their hooves reach the steps, and Raum's voice bores into the all-consuming shadow, catching her attention like a hook. "The invasion is planned for a few days time." Rhoswen's stormborne eyes narrowed, alive and incredulous. How could he unleash this information unto her and expect her to do nothing in defence of her people, did he trust her that much? Where before the siren might have bitten back a response, this time she remained tight-lipped and soundless, keeping her cards close to her chest. There was still time to report this to Seraphina if she should so wish; there was no point discussing it with Raum.
The silence between them is chaotic and violent, and Rhoswen wants to smash it into a dozen sharp pieces so that she might drive one into his heart. It seems Raum got there first.
"... if you do, I won't be here when you return."
Rhoswen stared at him, languidly processing his serrated words with an expression of malevolence. How dare he pass these unveiled threats, brandishing them high and low. Who was he to cast down the conditions within which they coexisted; what choice did she have in all of this? Confusion and dangerous pain flashed in her gaze, forcing Rhos to look away as her soft curls fell protectively over those marble cheekbones. For the first time, the lucid holes in her guard began to show. She lilted, her jaw clenching as a wave of nostalgia came calling - her brimstone heart cooling.
"My father once told me a story of how the Sun loved the Moon so much he died every night just to let her breathe," a murmur, brittle and quiet, "could you imagine ever loving someone that much?"
@Raum her soft side is peepin
