MESSALINA
“Be warned should you have ulterior motives... I will not go quietly.”
Perhaps if she were not so cold and miserable, shivering like a quaking leaf as the winter sea threw pinpricks of spray that pierced like needles against her skin, Messalina would have scoffed at the gilded girl’s barbed words.
Even if I did, I dare say I would succeed, she huffed to herself, noting with disdain how much she had to angle her eyes upwards to meet the guarded gaze of the tall, slender-boned Noctiilucent.
Messalina was not built for battle, for unleashing fury with nimble hooves and tearing through muscle with gnashing teeth. No, no–she preferred tamer pastimes entirely, and the day she took up arms with her too-fragile dancer’s limbs would surely be the day all hell had broken loose. Never would the girl touch the handle of a knife, the vial of a corrosive poison; violence was barbaric, and to draw the blood of another so carelessly… she shuddered to think of it.
As Noctiilucent reluctantly agreed to follow her, Messalina merely nodded, cerulean eyes sliding from golden cheekbones to stare resolutely ahead as she made for the cove. With a grudging murmur of thanks, did the ivory dancer acknowledge the Sun-borne girl’s attempt at taking the brunt of the howling wind’s anger.
As they walked, Messalina answered the girl’s probing questions in between gusts of salt and sand. It was not the most pleasant way to hold a conversation, but she did not wish for any more hostility between the two of them to resist. Her usual soft, melodic voice strained to be heard over the gales as the storm refused to settle.
“This place is called Novus, and you’ve just so happened to arrive in Ruris, the lands unclaimed by any of the four courts. I am from the kingdom of Dawn, north of here. Of the courts themselves, there is the Day court to the East; the Night court is right below it, and to the Southwest is the court of Dusk.”
Taking a breath, she shook her head to sweep away the curls that had escaped from her utterly destroyed braids. I wonder why I had thought it such a wonderful idea to trade my warm bed for a fate like this.
Heaving a soft sigh at her recklessness (up till then, she had not known it to exist), Messalina turned to gaze solemnly into Noctiilucent’s eyes of flickering sapphire blue.“As to what we value… I am still figuring that out, myself. It is up to you, I suppose, from the court you choose to settle in, to the gods you choose to worship.” The distance between the warmongering Solterran populace and the scroll-loving Delumine sages had never been so glaring.
“And now, I have a question of my own. I am curious of your homeland that you seem so fond of.”
Perhaps spending hours in Dawn’s vast library nightly had fanned the flames of her curiosity; perhaps she had always been a curious creature, but never had the chance to act upon it.
“Your title, Ashes of the Sun–are you descended from the gods of your land, then?”
Perhaps if she were not so cold and miserable, shivering like a quaking leaf as the winter sea threw pinpricks of spray that pierced like needles against her skin, Messalina would have scoffed at the gilded girl’s barbed words.
Even if I did, I dare say I would succeed, she huffed to herself, noting with disdain how much she had to angle her eyes upwards to meet the guarded gaze of the tall, slender-boned Noctiilucent.
Messalina was not built for battle, for unleashing fury with nimble hooves and tearing through muscle with gnashing teeth. No, no–she preferred tamer pastimes entirely, and the day she took up arms with her too-fragile dancer’s limbs would surely be the day all hell had broken loose. Never would the girl touch the handle of a knife, the vial of a corrosive poison; violence was barbaric, and to draw the blood of another so carelessly… she shuddered to think of it.
As Noctiilucent reluctantly agreed to follow her, Messalina merely nodded, cerulean eyes sliding from golden cheekbones to stare resolutely ahead as she made for the cove. With a grudging murmur of thanks, did the ivory dancer acknowledge the Sun-borne girl’s attempt at taking the brunt of the howling wind’s anger.
As they walked, Messalina answered the girl’s probing questions in between gusts of salt and sand. It was not the most pleasant way to hold a conversation, but she did not wish for any more hostility between the two of them to resist. Her usual soft, melodic voice strained to be heard over the gales as the storm refused to settle.
Taking a breath, she shook her head to sweep away the curls that had escaped from her utterly destroyed braids. I wonder why I had thought it such a wonderful idea to trade my warm bed for a fate like this.
Heaving a soft sigh at her recklessness (up till then, she had not known it to exist), Messalina turned to gaze solemnly into Noctiilucent’s eyes of flickering sapphire blue.
Perhaps spending hours in Dawn’s vast library nightly had fanned the flames of her curiosity; perhaps she had always been a curious creature, but never had the chance to act upon it.
eyes so blue,
I drown.
I drown.
@Noctiilucent
this is sooo late i'm so sorry ;__;
this is sooo late i'm so sorry ;__;
