The stranger’s voice is husky with disuse, but soft at its core. Inviting like a clam, the flesh made sweeter by the challenge of getting to it. Anandi smiles, and the expression is somehow both sharklike and angelic. “You poor thing,” she croons sweetly, sounding like someone with a bigger heart. “You must be tired. How long will you be staying? I’ll find you accomodations that are clean and dry.” Such a task was easy for someone of her station. It only took a few words, spoken to the right people, with a gracious smile;
Some days it felt like nothing was out of her reach.
“You are staying, yes? At least for a little while?” Anandi pauses, her impatience at war with courtesy. Politeness just barely keeps her from asking downright: what can you contribute to our court? How soon can you get to work? Instead she plays the kind stranger.
“You must tell me stories of your travels,” Anandi gently bumps her shoulder against the stranger as though they’re comrades. The kelpie’s skin is slick and smooth and warm to the touch. “And in return, I will tell you all I know of Terrastella.” As she speaks, they pass beneath the broad stone entry to the court proper. The emissary moves forward without hesitation. “Or at least, most of what I know,” her lashes flutter, thick with implied secrets, and her lips purse as though to contain a great, wicked smile.
@
some say the loving and the devouring are all the same thing
☾
