Asterion The winter has settled into an uneasy rhythm for Asterion. Oh, there is nothing wrong with the bay, or with the world he’s found himself in. He’s mostly content to work on understanding the black marks scrawled in countless books, trying to unravel the mysteries of words that Isorath had so patiently explained to him. He doesn’t take well to it; he isn’t made for reclining on pillows and reading through books. Still, he tries. Sometimes he wonders what his unicorn might think, to see him struggling through dusty pages when he’d claimed to want to learn of war, and he flushes with hot shame. But there is nothing else to do, here, and his sister is busy with the duties of queen. He is left to wander Terrastella as the winter winds lean against the stone and howl their longing, and he is alone, too, on aimless walks across the sloping fields, leaving tracks quickly covered by snow. He expects no different when he climbs countless steps to the balustrade, the sounds of his footsteps echoing around him. The bay liked to watch the world from such a height; it was as close as he would ever get to flying. Perhaps, this afternoon, he would catch Florentine on one of her brief arrivals. He does not ask where she goes, but he has a guess – one that makes his stomach twist with vague discomfort. But he is not alone. As he steps out into the sunlight he sees the girl, standing in a column of light that turns her white-and-gold to something shimmering, something like magic. She looks like sunlight on snow and it takes him a long moment to place her. “Israfel,” he says when he does, the name half-remembered from Florentine. Perhaps he should leave her be – she seemed to be utterly absorbed by something, hardly an ear twitching his direction – but the bay was too glad to not be alone. He eases up beside her, dark muzzle curving her direction, dreamer’s gaze curious on her vibrant, violent eyes. They, too, looked sun-touched. “Are you expecting someone?” Perhaps she, too, was hoping for a glimpse of their queen. @Israfel |
