Rhoswen reached Denocte at the break of dawn, having travelled stubbornly through the night. It had been an arduous journey south, one in all honesty she could have done without, what with the appointment of Maxence as her Court's new Sovereign. But, the winged warrior was not the only man to be promoted so: she'd heard of her brother's rise to power, and the swell of pride could not have bound her to Solterra a moment longer. As a boy, Reichenbach had abided within their eldest brother's shadow; the dragon's general, the blue-knuckled guard, and though Rhoswen knew Reich had not ever forsaken Rhaegar, she understood better than any how Reich would thrive in his brother's place now that he was gone. Pride, however, was not the only emotion broiling within her sparrow-boned chest: there was something covetous and indulgent swimming among the plasma of her blood. Knowing that her familial line held a position of high power pleased Rhoswen; oh it pleased her greatly - for she had tucked this knowledge quickly into her arsenal of future ammunition with a smile that oozed arrogance.
The first shards of roseate sunlight doused prairie and girl in a flush of virgin gold. She stood tall; cigarette smoke lingering about her auburn curls, fingers absentmindedly caressing the flowers tucked into the bun set behind her ears. Rhoswen did not often return to the place she had called home as a child. Too many memories haunting these hills as though they were imprinted into the very fabric of the land. It would be a brazen lie to say she did not miss her family - mother, father, brothers - but this visit would be brief; she had neither the time nor the patience to be chasing her past.
Came his baritone voice through the early dawn air, his slick body melting seamlessly from within the mist and shadow. Unless he was sleeping off a night of celebration, Reichenbach often greeted Denocte with a dawn walk - solitary, so that he could think clearly and without interruption. This interruption, however, was a welcome one.
"What are you doing here?"
His rough hewn face split into a pleased smile, his long lashed eyes bright with welcome and happiness (and guilt, guilt, guilt) as he looked his sister from head to toe. At first when he'd seen her, a flash of crimson hair through the trees, he'd thought it was Rhaegar. Had thought it was Rhaegar and stumbled, his heart tumbling from his chest to his throat and staying there as it beat incessantly - he hadn't thought what it would mean to have his brother returned to him, hadn't considered where his loyalties truly lay now. Family, always, would be the most important to him, but seeing Rhoswen.. his heart hurt with the guilt and the shame. He shoved that horror down to the darkest depths of himself, where it grumbled and settled with it's usual intonation of "I'll be back", as he brightened.
He took her in - so regal and proud, a vision that had always turned heads in Denocte. She was that girl, to so many boys, a heart thief if there had ever been one. But if she had been beautiful in Denocte, living under the desert sun had turned her radiant. Reich watched her through knowing eyes - heartbreaker, stronger than me, beautiful as the rising sun, trouble. The words sang through his head swiftly, and he could not stop the mischievous grin that blossomed upon his open face - she'd always been stronger than him, a leader in her own right, but she'd also always been ready to cause trouble at his side. Silence hung between them for a moment before the new Sovereign of Night leapt forward and tucked his sister into a warm, smokey embrace.
The mist spiralled upon her fire-borne flesh, cavorting slowly as though it were a dancer and she a ballroom. And she watched, and she waited. Patience did not come naturally to a hurricane; Rhoswen incinerated, Rhoswen beguiled - Rhoswen did not wait. Figments of memories long passed seemed to beckon her through the early morning light; some singing, some snarling. She closed her eyes, impervious as ever. "Rhos...? What are you doing here?" Those same eyes flashed open, burning with an abyssal grey flame; licking the bones of her brother. A year in time since she had last laid her feverish gaze upon Reich - he had not changed; like a dark ship anchored to the earth he remained as strong and unyielding as ever. "I asked myself the same question, don't you worry." A smile, soft but impassioned; true to say she had not intended to return to Denocte so soon. She had left in a flurry, desperate to shed Calligo's morbid shackles. But, then, she had not expected her brother to be made Sovereign of the entire Night realm. As the ochre man leapt toward her she rolled her eyes and bit a smile back, as all younger siblings would, allowing Reich to embrace her briefly before stepping back and addressing him with a shake of her auburn curls.
"Congratulations, brother. Who knew we'd be standing here."
@reichenbach muse is dead but i wanted to reply ;-;
His lips responded to hers - though while Rhoswen's smiles were delicate and fleeting (and often had to be earned through hard, hard, labour) and his was eternal. If there was one thing the two siblings had in common though... fire. It burned in their veins and brought a savage kind of rage to their lives. Rhoswen was that hurricane, that unstoppable force... but she was also the wildfire, as he was. They burned and burned and their love was perpetual, unyielding and unending. That same love burned between them now, displayed unabashedly upon the Night Kings handsome face.
He gave a wry smile at her uttered words, ignoring the coolness with which she regarded Denocte. While Reichenbach might have been the perfect fit for Denocte and her lifestyle, Rhoswen had always longed to make her own path, had always been bursting with sunlight where Reichenbach burned long and low like embers in the eternal night. He offered an intimate chuckle, shaking his rugged head and creating music as his coins tinkled within the whorls of his wild hair.
"Who knew indeed..."
Reich mused, baritone voice fading out as he regarded his sister, subtly checking her over for any injuries or scars - he'd fucking murder anyone who'd had the audacity to touch her.
"How are things in Solterra? I hear Maxence has been rallying the troops, getting things back into order just as we are here."
@Rhoswen sorry poop post and table change bc my old one was giving me grief haha
![[Image: reich_sticker_by_aimless_claims_dbf6kcy_...bf9ubj.png]](http://orig12.deviantart.net/a5ae/f/2017/187/3/9/reich_sticker_by_aimless_claims_dbf6kcy_by_arrakis93-dbf9ubj.png)
