It had been a wild few days. It had been weeks ago that Israfel had asked her to be her queen. Yet it hadn’t become a reality until just a few days ago. You couldn’t simply promote someone to such a rank so easily, there were logistics to figure out. Especially when none of the courts had ever had a second sovereign. Not until now. They needed to see if the court would oppose, but quietly, without causing a stir. But it was official now.
She had stayed at the clinic a few more days, warning her patients that she would be closing, and then she put up a sign saying so. Her stuff was still there for the most part, but she had moved into the citadel with Israfel. It was everything she could have ever hoped for and more.
But there was so much to do. She had to go introduce herself to all the sovereigns, let them know. And in terms of administratives… There was so much. Events to plan, laws to uphold. It was exhausting, and she relished in it. But she needed to start making her introductions. Terastella would be her first stop, the easiest, she already knew Liam as a friend.
She left early, before Israfel was awake. She didn’t intend to stay the night in terrastella, but it was a long walk, and she was a slow traveller. She brought Yara and Mithra with her, letting Yara press up against her while she ambled along, Mithra bounding ahead as their sentry. They had grown so much since she had first found them, both developing such different personalities. Often she wished she could speak to them as she had to Picoro. He still hadn’t come back to her.
The timing was poor, what with the weather getting colder, and the days getting shorter. It wasn’t the best time for her to be travelling between courts, but she didn’t want to delay her trips until spring. This was important.
She dipped her head to the guards at the door of Dusk courts citadel, before heading in. She waited a moment for one of the employees to notice her. “Luvena” she introduced herself. “Queen of Denocte. I am here to see Liam, if you would care to take me to him” they were quick to return the gesture, dipping their head far lower than she had, before turning and leading her down a series of hallways. She thanked them, for tapping softly on the wooden door.
The last few weeks had been a whirlwind. There were more equines joining his court than he could keep up with, and while he was thankful for the new citizens, he couldn't help but feel an ache for those who had left. Had he done something wrong? Had he not calmed their worries or fears enough? Had he ignored their needs and desires? These thoughts plagued him as he strode through the Citadel, for the first time not shadowed by his advisor. It was a good thing; Liam just wanted to be left alone. At least, for the time being.
His meeting with Leviathan had been disastrous, to say the very least. As it stood right now, there was no alliance with any court, and should war break out, he would be the only one fighting. Perhaps Bucky would join him, but Liam very much doubted it. As the sole Sovereign, should he fall, the Dusk Court would be left without leadership, and it was a very sobering thought.
Perhaps there was hope on the horizon. Should he give up the crown, live his life as a citizen, give up the soldier's life? It was a nagging thought, one that constantly banged around in his skull, but try as he might, he couldn't step down. Not when so many lives and citizens relied on him. But were they happy? Flicking his ears as he stood in the archway leading to his private garden, the stallion stared at the different flowering plants, one leg cocked as he shifted his weight on his hooves.
Having not yet been to bed, Liam looked a bit ragged. His coat and mane, normally pristine and perfectly placed, were unkempt and sticking up this way and every way. At the moment, though, he couldn't be bothered to care. Without realizing it, one of Liam's chambermaidens approached him and placed a blanket over his frame, and as he looked over to her, she offered a smile, dipped her head in respect, and wandered off again. Glancing at his side, he noticed the thick blanket and felt a smile grace his lips before he turned his attention back to the garden and the gardeners.
It was starting to get a little colder in the mornings before it warmed up in the afternoons. It never got too warm, but at least it wasn't freezing. Nightmares still haunted him about the creeping cold, how it spread its icy fingers through his veins, his muscles, his very being. Because of this, he made sure that there was always a lit fire in his home, in the Citadel itself, and wherever he was going that had a fireplace. The noise of the burning logs and the smell of it helped calm his anxieties over the autumn and winter, and it set his mind at ease as a sort of white noise.
Looking up at the knocking to the door leading into the meeting room, Liam approached it and opened the heavy wooden door, eyes brightening as he spotted Luvena, the tiny mare with who he'd explored the portal. Flicking an ear forward, he stepped back to invite her in, a gentle smile on his face. "Luvena. It's a pleasure seeing you here! Did you walk all the way here?" He asked, quickly asking a staff member to run and start a large fire in the fireplace. Once that was done, he took the blanket that was draped over him between his teeth, pulled it off his body, and offered it out to the mare, ears pricked, a gentle expression on his face.
"Liam Speaks."
Notes;; Hi, I love them.
Tag;; @Luvena
Voice claim;; Chris Evans
Words;; 600
She smiled as he opened the door, all ragged edges and and tousled mane. She almost wanted to tease him for it, but she wasn’t sure whether or not they were on close enough terms to trust such words. Afterall, they were both on even ground, but this was his court, and she had left hers miles behind. “How else would I have gotten here?” she asked, stepping in through the door.
Her gaze was pulled quickly to the worker lighting the fire, and she stopped herself from inhaling too sharply, though she still shifted over a couple of steps, putting some distance between herself and the fireplace. She pulled her gaze back to Liam as she saw him hold out the blanket. She accepted it, dipping her head in thanks. “I’ll admit it’s not the best weather for it” already her bones ached, and she dreaded the walk back, but she didn’t want to spend a night in terrastella, away from Israfel. Not so soon. She threw the blanket over her own shoulders, wrapping it around her chest.
She glanced around the room, letting her gaze wander everywhere but the fire that she could hear crackling against the stone walls. It was deafening. They never lit theirs at home. Israfel didn’t need it, and as long as Israfel was there to curl up beside, neither did Luvena. Liam’s room was similar in build to their room at the night court citadel, though the decor was different. All sunset symbolism, and ivy covered stone. It reminded her of the swamp bound hospital. “Truthfully I have only partly come for a visit. I do bring news as well. Israfel asked me to step up beside her and I have accepted her offer. I am taking up the role of Queen with her. We know it is a new concept to Novus, two rulers… But, we hope that the other sovereigns will take it in stride. You are the first to know”
There it was. Luvena's sarcastic wit amused him as she asked how else she would have gotten to Dusk Court. "I should have asked if you rested at any part of your journey. I'm sure someone from Night Court would have my head if they knew you walked all this way without resting," he teased, muzzle wrinkling in amusement as he stepped back to allow the mare into his Citadel.
Frowning to himself as he watched Luvena's strange behavior at the fire being lit, Liam glanced between the mare and the licking flames as it roared to life in the fireplace. Saying nothing, he pretended not to have noticed, instead offering a tender smile as she accepted the blanket. "No, no it isn't. Perhaps you could leave when the day is much warmer? Or I could escort you. Keep you safe when needed?" He offered, shrugging his shoulders lightly as if he made that journey every day. It'd been some time since he had, and he was sure that Luvena would reject his offer, but at least he offered, right?
Gazing around the Citadel's main room, the stallion sighed peacefully. The fire was slowly warming the room up, and Liam could feel it coaxing him back to sleep. Fighting against it, the copper-coated stallion shifted his weight and gazed around at the decorations he had sprinkled and splattered throughout the room. He hadn't gone to see Vespera since the day he spoke up to try and become Dusk Court's next Sovereign. That had gone to Rhone, but with his disappearance, Liam stepped up. It seemed like the right thing for the stallion to do. It seemed like he was a natural-born leader. Always seeming to take charge when he was a young colt, Liam never let his previous tiny size slow him down, and he routinely took on equines larger than himself. Of course, that had been before the serum, before the experimentation from Erskine. Turning his attention to look at Luvena as she started speaking, Liam's face broke out into a giant smile, his eyes sparkling. "I think it's a grand idea. You two are some of the strongest individuals I personally know. You compliment her style in quite a few ways. Is there anything that you need from me or from Dusk Court in order to make this a seamless transition?" He inquired gently, his joy nearly causing him to vibrate in place.
"Liam Speaks."
Notes;; He just wants to heeeelp lol
Tag;; @Luvena
Voice claim;; Chris Evans
Words;; 405
“And I’m sure someone else from Denocte would have your head if you told her girlfriend that she did not” she chided right back. For moment she moved towards the closed door. “For legal reasons” she called through it. “That was a joke. I have no plans on beheading your king”
While she listened she shifted so that she was mostly facing away from the flames. Both facing them and facing away from them seemed like poor options, but this was the lesser of two evils. At least she couldn’t feel the reflection stancing over her eyes. She reminded herself over and over that this was a building of stone. That the tapestries on the walls were far enough away not to be caught. That the flames would not lick up to the blanket around her. That the smoke would vent out to the sky, not into her fragile lungs.
She shook her head slightly. “I’d rather get back before the sun sets fully. I've other places to be this week and things to do this evening. You can walk me back if it bring you some peace, though these two do a fine job of it themselves” she gestured to the dogs, who sat on either side of her still.
She watched him look around the room. He truly towered over her. A good 5 hands higher. She may not have had the height of a queen, or the strength. But, she certainly had the demeanor for it, and she had no fear in using it. “We do balance each other nicely. She is strong where I am weak. I am changing currents, where she is raging fire. Your continued allyship with Denocte is enough, and support of a joint sovereignty. I do fear that some in novus may be in opposition of it”
"Like I said, you're both some of the strongest mares I know. Remind me not to get on either of your bad sides," he teases. Their relationship was good, and it seemed that his relationship with Luvena was turning into much the same as his relationship with Israfel in the fact that they were acting like siblings. Huffing a laugh, Liam dismissed the guards as they began to move toward the mare, rolling his eyes. "Always overreacting. I mean, I get it, but your joke was perfect."
It didn't escape Liam's attention that the mare before him shifted so that she was mostly looking away from the flames. The stallion's curiosity was piqued, but he said nothing, just watched as Luvena looked over the tapestries that hung on the walls and momentarily watched the flames as they danced in the fireplace. The blanket, thankfully, was fire- and flameproof, something that the stallion had made sure all his blankets were. On more than one occasion before he became a Sovereign, he'd found himself having fallen asleep before a fireplace with a blanket and a nice book, and he knew that the flames could have started an incredibly dangerous fire that could have spread throughout Dusk Court. Since then, he'd made sure his blankets were both fire- and flameproof.
At the gentle decline, Liam grins in understanding and huffs softly, lips curling up gently. "On top of you not wanting a certain fiery pegasus to find out that you left on a journey and didn't rest," he teases in a good-natured ribbing, his eyes flicking over to the dogs. "I'd be honored to escort you and your lovely dogs home," he responds happily, eagerly.
As he listened to Luvena speak and explain the relationship between her and Israfel, he frowned at the way she explained that some may be in opposition of it. He didn't understand. Isra was a fiery queen, that's for sure, but he trusted her more than he trusted any of the others. Though, to be fair, he had yet to meet the Sovereign of Dawn Court, so that wasn't a very fair assessment. "I don't understand why some would be in opposition of either your courtship or the fact you're now Israfel's co-Sovereign. I think you're incredibly perfect for each other. You calm her ways where she stokes your internal flames. It's admirable and nice to see a couple such as yourselves find each other and stick with each other through everything. I like it. I will support Night Court as long as they'll have my allyship. Did you want to grab a bite to each or a drink before we leave back for Denocte?"
"Liam Speaks."
Notes;; Okay, hi, I love their friendship so much <3
Tag;; @Luvena
Voice claim;; Chris Evans
Words;; 447
