The horizon is draped in gentle, dusty moonlight interrupted only by the brilliant lights of the Night Kingdom, easily mistaken for starlight from a distance. It is in this strange mingling of warm light and welcome darkness that a rapping comes at one of the windows of the palace. When the window is opened, it reveals a sleek, red-gold hawk with a message tied to one of her legs. She ruffles her soft feathers, golden eyes darting and alert as she examines whoever might approach her with a predator's intensity; she brings with her the unmistakable smell of desert sand, which might be anticipated. However, she also brings with her the fainter, but unmistakable, scent of blood and ash, and, most nauseating, burning flesh. She seems to finish her analysis of the individual who allowed her in, and, reluctantly, outstretches her leg to offer them the message. It is written on crisp, yellowed paper, emblazoned with a gold that catches the light and sealed with a wax emblem of the sun. The hawk takes flight, her job complete, and disappears into the darkness from which she came. The scent of death still lingers on the paper. In a crisp hand, a single word is written in neat hand beneath the seal: Reichenbach. When the seal is broken, it reveals a message ominous in its brevity; of the aroma of death and flame, after all, it says nothing.
"King Reichenbach,
Your sister and her newborn daughter should arrive at the borders of the Arma Mountains by tomorrow night. I have sent an escort to accompany them, but I suspect that you will not wish for her to encroach upon your kingdom, nor would I wish for someone inexperienced in traversing the perils of the mountainside to learn them while tasked with their protection. Both mother and child are healthy, though exhausted.
Congratulations on the birth of your niece.
- Seraphina"
☼ by popular request....
comes on the heels of this thread! worth noting that it's only been ~2 days since the Davke attack, so no one who finds it should know what's occurred in Solterra, yet. tagging @Reichenbach, but since I at no point actually mentioned this to you preemptively, anyone is free to find this little note if they so desire, ahaha - or they need not respond at all. ;D
I'M IN A ROOM MADE OUT OF MIRRORSand there's no way to escape the violence of a girl against herself.☼please tag Sera! contact is encouraged, short of violence
04-08-2018, 03:22 PM - This post was last modified: 04-08-2018, 04:06 PM by Seraphina
Reichenbach did not know how the hawk knew which window was his — or whether it had simply found the largest window of the Keep to deliver it's message. Regardless, the hawk found his chambers first, and had rapped it's sharp claws upon his windowsill. He was glad it had. The scent of blood and death seemed to emanate from the sharp eyed bird — and while some may have brushed the smell away as purely Solterran, Reichenbach knew otherwise.
As capable and fierce as the Solterran people were, they did not stink of burnt flesh. It was an unnerving find, perhaps made even more so later by the lack of mention it received in the letter. The neat script he did not recognise — but assumed belonged to Seraphina, the new Sovereign of Sand. To think, the two of them had met all those months ago by the oasis... and now each of them bore a crown and the weight of a nation.
"King Reichenbach,
Your sister and her newborn daughter should arrive at the borders of the Arma Mountains by tomorrow night. I have sent an escort to accompany them, but I suspect that you will not wish for her to encroach upon your kingdom, nor would I wish for someone inexperienced in traversing the perils of the mountainside to learn them while tasked with their protection. Both mother and child are healthy, though exhausted.
Congratulations on the birth of your niece.
- Seraphina"
Reichenbach straightened as he read the letter, argent eyes swiftly devouring each word.
A niece!
A niece that would be making the trek back to Denocte!
A slight scramble of thoughts followed as The Night King attempted to devise a plan of action. He wanted to leave himself, meet his new niece and his exhausted sister immediately — but first...
His telekinesis grasped a long eagle feathered quill, his own messy scrawl appearing on jasmine-scented parchment a moment later. Once he had tied his message to the hawk, first ensuring the bird was capable of doing such a journey so soon, he turned from the window and slipped out of his chambers.
Aislinn's door loomed before him, reminding him momentarily of a different night, a different time. He paused, baritone voice rumbling from outside the door:
Moonlight dances and curls across her skin, where the stormsinger lays bathing in silver splendor. Slumber ails her as dreamlands murmur their sweet, flirtatious nothings in her ear. The gauze of stars that cling to her is too akin to the sandman’s dust she longs for as she circles her tower room in search of sleep. Cloaked with the heady incense of lavender and chamomile, the stormsinger just barely collapses onto her mess of pillows when a trio of knocks finds her door.
Aislinn? I have some news.
She should not have been surprised when she heard the raps on her bedroom door. Much like she should not have been surprised to see her dark king waiting on the other side. The familiar baritone was unmistakable. However, as she pried the heavy doors open, Aislinn couldn’t help but be reminded of a completely different night.
Now, the tables had been turned.
The Regent stands before him with her shock only flickering in the flames of her blue eyes. Her ears cock sideways with curiosity as she searches his face. The hour was late; enough to where the thrums of Veteris began to fade into a sweet lullaby, instead of the pounding of drums and pipes to dance with. Yet, she was reminded then how utterly alike they were — night owls who barely slept, who would find more comfort in Calligo’s shadows and stars than the blisters of daylight. Seeing him here before her in the dead of night was not the surprise that had questions whirling across her mind.
But why.
She could only pluck a single question from the swirling storm at a time, her voice wary as she met his silver eyes. Trying to find answers hidden there within those twin moons. "What’s happened?"
@reichenbach @Seraphina ♡ please excuse the rust
"Aislinn speech."
