[P] daybreak

[Seraphina]

OH MY OWN VOICE CANNOT SAVE ME NOW

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Hazy golden light drifted through the murky panes of the windows lining the walls of the library facing inwards, towards the courtyard; Solis’s rays fell prey to Calligo’s clutch, and the sun fell from the sky, set to rise once more with the morning. She’d lined the desk with candles preemptively, but they remained sadly unlit while she still had the necessary light to see the mess of papers splayed out across the desk in front of her. Of the most immediate concern was a set of blueprints for an irrigation system. It was a good enough idea in theory, – the Oasis was the only reliable source of water in Solterra, and they needed water for both the gardens and the citizens in the capitol – but, even as she mulled over the papers, she hadn’t the faintest of how they would actually accomplish all of the labor that the trench-digging and pipework would require. She’d known this before she’d requested the blueprints, but she’d thought that looking them over would give her some notion of how this could be accomplished…but, as she stared the papers down like some enemy on the battlefield, Seraphina could only feel the faint, numb prick of frustration.

Those blueprints were only one of the many tasks that lay before the young queen; it would require considerable effort to stabilize the Day Court again, and she hadn’t any time left to spare. (In Solterra, hesitance could cost her head.) For now, she needed to recreate her own inner circle – two of Maxence’s champions were gone, and, perhaps more pressingly, her former role lay empty. She knew firsthand of the importance of a court’s Emissary, particularly considering her hopes for outreach and trade with Terrastella and Delumine. (She didn’t even consider Denocte in that approximation; it would be enough, she thought, to keep their hostilities at bay.) Considering Solterra’s reputation, whoever she selected needed to be reasonable, even pleasant; they remained rash, volatile warmongers in the eyes of most of Novus, and, while Seraphina couldn’t care less of the court’s reputation on a strictly personal level, she knew that it did her no favors if she hoped to garner foreign support. In a land of quick tempers, she needed someone stable at her side.

Someone, perhaps, a bit like an oak tree.

She’d sent a messenger to fetch Eik earlier in the day, but Solis only knew how long it would take for the messenger to find him – Solterra was vast and full of places to disappear. With any luck, however, he’d arrive before darkness fell…she had a proposition, and, should he agree to it, she imagined they would have much to discuss.

For now, she waited.

@

@Eik - <3