The name was spoken questioningly from dark lips, accented formally, poised and proper as he always was. There was a shift in the Dawn King’s demeanor as he approached, his expression softening with a roll of a golden shoulder, emerald eyes glittering in the evening light. The meeting had just adjourned, but he had already made up his mind. There would be no need for deliberation with his Regime, not when he knew who he wished to arise to the task of Champion of Wisdom.
She had switched professions recently, proving herself as a capable Sage. He could still recall their first meeting, in the cool early morning inside of Delumine’s citadel. Somnus had been impressed by her sweet candor and devoted passion, as well as her quick wit and charming tongue. A lady of the court, learned and noble, with an insatiable appetite for learning, knowledge, and truth.
There was a flicker of guilt that pooled bitterly within his gut. By all rights, Nimue still held the rank of Champion of Wisdom, but the wise woman was nowhere to be seen. It was as if she had simply disappeared from the world entirely, and while Somnus loathed to replace her in her absence, they could not linger in limbo or make exceptions for those who were not around. Should Nimue return, he could only hope that she would forgive them for their decision. Hopefully nothing ill had happened to her…
’Mind on track, Somnus. There you are.’ Alba’s gentle prodding snapped him from his thoughts, and he glanced to the barn owl who rested upon her customary perch upon his croup. She knew his troubled thoughts and doubts but did not judge him for it. The owl was a blessing, through and through. Turning his head, he focused once more upon the spotted lady in front of him.
“A moment of your time, if you would?” He hoped that she had nowhere pressing to be. This was a discussion that needed to happen, and the sooner, the better. Verdant depths met soft baby-blue, lips twisted in a jovial enough smile. While still holding the air of the Sovereign, his posture was relaxing, slowly shifting from Somnus the Dawn King to simply Somnus the man. This would be a political discussion, of course, but he felt oddly at ease in Messalina’s company. He knew why Ipomoea enjoyed her presence. The dunalino felt the same.
She had retreated to the ivy-wreathed balcony nestled atop the citadel’s main courtyard in an attempt to escape the sea of nobles and commoners alike all clambering for a moment of the newly ascended Regime’s time.
Cerulean blues narrowed as she glanced down at the flurry of activity that bathed the usually serene castle in a swirl of limbs and silks and shouts. She did not belong down there, among the madness. After Somnus had finished delivering his eloquent speech to the crowds who’d gathered for the sudden announcement, Messalina had struggled valiantly for a chance to voice her congratulations to the Sovereign and his Regime. Yet it had been a hopeless endeavor, the dancer’s slim figure shoved to and fro by the far more — eager, to put it politely — members of Delumine until even Ipomoea’s steady crimson gaze had been smothered by a head of sleek, auburn curls.
“Excuse me,” she’d whispered to the woman, ducking into a short curtsy, but the taller noble had spared Messalina only a pointed glare before once again blocking the girl’s path in a swish of perfumed satin. There is no use forcing my way through if they refuse to even look at me. I give up! was Messa’s parting thoughts as she huffed her way back to the fringes of the crowd, and then to the very balcony she stood upon now.
Imagine her surprise, then, when her name of all things slipped like satin from a sonorous voice she knew all too well. “Messalina?”
“Somnus,” she gasped, ivory braids swishing wildly about her neck as she lowered into a hasty bow at the Sovereign’s approach. Am… am I allowed to address him so brazenly by name now? the flustered dancer realized, far too late. Stilling her breath, Messa rose softly to smile into the verdant eyes of her King.
“I was not able to offer my congratulations earlier, but I offer them now heartily,” she said, her composure settling daintily into place with each word she spoke. “There is no one else better fit for the throne than you, Your Grace.”
“A moment of your time, if you would?”
Though her expression never wavered, curiosity blossomed like a spring flower in Messalina’s chest. She had not the faintest idea what Somnus would want from her. She was not a noble, nor apart of the court. She wasn’t even a native — and though she’d tried her best to glean all she could from the scrolls of Alexander’s vast library (and the citadel’s own, if she had the time), and even gained the title of a Sage, there was still so much the girl was ignorant of.
“Of course. Anything you ask, I shall do.” For Dawn, for Somnus, for Ipomoea. Her loyalty was as eternal as the blooming rose that would never wither, tucked like a haunting whisper behind her ear.
@Somnus | "speaks" | notes: this is so rough but I didn't want to delay it anymore!
04-11-2018, 04:11 PM
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Sparrow [PM] Posts: 196 — Threads: 34 Signos: 25
It wasn’t very often that Somnus found himself flabbergasted, or even remotely perplexed. To do so was an achievement all its own, and Messalina’s reaction to him calling out her name was one that he had not expected. She whirled about, a pale, spotted blur, silky tresses and braids bobbing and bouncing along her neck and she recognized him and fumbled into a kneeling curtsy. He hadn’t been expecting such a reaction, not when he recalled so vividly her jokes and keen conversation the morning of their first meeting. Were they not past all of this frivolity?
“Messalina, please,” he implored, emerald eyes glittering in fond warmth and his voice, elegant and rich, was smooth with affection, “There’s no need for that. I will always simply be your partner for raiding the hallways of the Citadel in the early morning hours, first and foremost. That is the greatest honor.”
Still, her following words warmed his heart. It was a nice feeling, knowing that he was surrounded by those that supported him, who genuinely cared. Somnus knew that there were surely those who did not appreciate his sudden ascension into power. He, an outsider to the Dawn Court, to Novus, crowned sovereign in a year since his arrival to this very land? Absurd, truly, and he did not fault them for their way of thinking. It was not his job to be liked by everyone, after all, but to do what was best for their Court.
“Thank you, Messalina, all the same. That means so very much, coming from a dear friend such as you.” He had heard the words of congratulations from the crowds that had immediately lingered and clamored for attention after the meetings closure, and while he appreciated their kindness, hearing it from the regal, spotted lady was an honor. A blessing. She was special, beloved, and Somnus valued her opinion dearly. “I only hope that I do not disappoint you all. The amount of pressure is vast, but I believe that with a close Council, we will overcome all tribulations. That’s… Actually what I wish to discuss with you.”
The crowds lingered around them, as though waiting for their turn to talk, but Somnus’ eyes were only upon the fond baby-blue’s before him. They all could wait. They would have to wait. The Dawn King’s posture relaxed, as it tended to do with the speckled lady. His shoulders loosened, his wings drooped, but he looked no less regal. His smile, when he spoke, was a humbled one.
“You are a brilliant mind, Messalina, and a passionate sage. From the moment that we met I was captivated by your sincerity and eagerness, with your knowledge and poise. Your respect for Delumine, for Dawn, for the library and all we represent is positively astounding and humbling, and I would be honored if you would stand as our Champion of Wisdom.”
Let the lingering crowds overhear. He did not care. All Somnus cared for, at that moment, was the answer that only Messalina could provide.
It was becoming her kryptonite, her unbidden formality. It was so hard for the glass-boned girl to speak without titles, without curtsies, without the tenets of gilded mannerisms that Mother had instilled into her docile, snow-spotted daughter. Uncertainly blanketed her heart like a blizzard, her cerulean eyes carefully lowered as she curtsied to her gentle-hearted Sovereign.
“There’s no need for that. I will always simply be your partner for raiding the hallways of the Citadel in the early morning hours, first and foremost. That is the greatest honor.”
So Somnus was… alright with things staying the same between them? A crinkle of confusion passed like a shadow across her eyes — slowly, slowly, was Messalina coming to understand the warmth of camaraderie — but it was replaced by a bloom of happiness at his honesty, a relaxing of stiffened shoulders. She’d been fully expecting for a wall to rise between them, a natural accompaniment of what it meant to bear a crown upon one’s head. Yet for that to be as far from the truth as possible... she was flooded with an inexplicable sense of relief.
Somnus was as close to a true friend she'd dared to consider after her arrival in Dawn, and the noble man’s heartfelt confirmation eased a part of her thawing heart that'd desperately needed to know. “Your words mean… very much to me, Somnus,” she spoke, a smile as warm as the sun lining eyes of the softest blue as she discarded the title with a flourish.
“I only hope that I do not disappoint you all.”
“A king should not worry so much, so fresh as you are into your ascension. I do not give my praises lightly, you know,” she jested, a twinkle of humor bringing a quirk to her lips as all prior tension dissipated from Messa’s bones like vapor.
“That’s… Actually what I wish to discuss with you… I would be honored if you would stand as our Champion of Wisdom.”
That — had not been what she was expecting. For a moment, Messalina remained wide-eyed and still as a doll as Somnus' words echoed in her mind. Her gaze drifted momentarily to the equally stunned audience that had gathered around them like stoic sentinels; yet she’d never paid much attention to the Court's haughty aristocrats, and now was not the time to start.
With a dip of satin curls, she gazed deeply into those noble eyes of the deepest emerald green. She was surprised, of course, and without a doubt anxious at being entrusted a responsibility as large as this. But Messalina’s resolve was solidified. Her King and steadfast friend trusted her as no one ever had before, and that in itself was the greatest honor she could dream of.
“If you are our King, Somnus, then there is no doubt in my heart when I say that I shall be your Champion of Wisdom. You have my loyalty, and I will give my all to uphold the tenets of knowledge that form the heart of our fair kingdom.”
