hush, darling, hush.

the realm characters as songs from my 90s country spotify playlist: (1/?)

neilson: mr mom (lonestar)

isiah: 5 o’clock somewhere (alan jackson)

charlene: hot mama (trace adkins)

hayden: my give a damn’s busted (jo de messina)

ashlynn: where the green grass grows (tim mcgraw)

illias: save a horse [ride a cowboy] (big and rich)

galen: pickin’ wildflowers (keith anderson)

thaddeus: no shoes, no shirt, no problem (kenny chesney)

portia: little bitty (alan jackson)

holden: achy breaky heart (billy ray cyrus) 

el: great day to be alive (travis tritt)

adela: T-R-O-U-B-L-E (tavis tritt)

celine: man i feel like a woman (shania twain)

halle: ready to run (dixie chicks)

hypatia: kiss this (aaron tippin)

janelle: wild one (faith hill)

mina: that don’t impress me much (shania twain)

serafina: queen of my double wide trailer (sammy kershaw) 

elwinn: friends in low places (garth brooks)

oberon: some girls do (sawyer brown) 

prisca: goodbye earl (dixie chicks) 

cason: chicks dig it (chris cagle)

elinor: piece of my heart (faith hill)

enyo: bye bye (jo dee messina)

pierce: dust on the bottle (david lee murphy)

phyllis: she’s got it all (kenny chesney)

Two men fell to the ground. Men — not rats. He looked at his drink. What was in it? Could he have another? He burst into loud laughter, which quickly settled into a broad grin as he took another swig. “If I wasn’t committed to my bachelor lifestyle, I would propose to you right now, woman. You are a natural showman. Have you thought of performing? My sister and I have an act that could use your talents.” He gave a small, flourished bow in his seat. “Cason — you’ve probably heard of me.” 

Celine watched the man with growing curiosity, raising her brows at both his fearlessness and his enthusiasm. What a strange creature. “No, I’ve never heard of you,” she replied with a shrug, taking a sip of her drink and letting her fingertips tap against the pint after she’d set it down. “Celine. And I don’t see the point of performing---it would be for money, no? I can just threaten someone if I want something. Or turn them into a pig and take what I want anyway.” 

“It’s hardto say which of them is more disgusting.” Maeve said, a quirk of her lipsshowing a dark smile. She already considered the other woman smart and admirablyindependent for being alone at the tavern. Sparks of gold flashed from delicatefingers and Maeve raised an eyebrow as the mice vanished. “Nice trick.” Shedidn’t hide her almost childish amazement. “Maeve Blythe. The pleasure is allmine.”

For all that she hated to be studied, Celine did so enjoy being admired. And she always appreciated someone as quick to quip with her about men rather than try to defend them from her cruel tongue. She grinned at the other woman, dark eyes shining in the firelight of the tavern. “Celine Reece, Miss Blythe. How may I help you, now that you cannot lecture me about feeding the vermin?” she teased, taking a sip of her ale.

Tania’s smile grew as she heard the other’s words. Good. She was glad that her friend seemed to be doing well despite her apparent loneliness. Perhaps she had just read the situation wrong. Either way, she was quite happy to be seeing the familiar woman across from her now. She smiled at the barmaid but quickly brought her attention back to Celine. “I simply haven’t had the opportunity yet! I’ve only just arrived but, as soon as I saw you, I said to myself, ‘There’s dearest Celine! I must go say hello!’ And here I am!” She excitedly punctuated each sentence with her hands. “I’m not quite sure… I trust your judgment! I’ll have whatever you have!” She then stretched her hands across the table with her palms towards the sky, inviting Celine to place hers on top of them. “I haven’t heard from you in so long! How are you? How have you been?”

Celine’s smile spread wider at hearing that Tania had made her way right over upon seeing her, eyes ducking to the table for a moment before turning her eyes back to her companion. “A pale ale, then, for my lovely companion,” she ordered with a winning smile, not taking her eyes from the other woman as the barmaid left to fulfill the order. 

Tania’s hands were warm in hers as she rested her palms on the upturned ones before her, sighing happily and letting a flutter of her magic run through the other woman. It was a warm, pleasant flutter where for anyone else it would have been a warning; curling through her body and warming her pleasantly from the chill lurking just out the tavern’s doors. “I have seen better days,” she admitted, though her smile lingered. “We cannot leave Westedell, so I find myself a bit out of sorts. I thought I would be back in my home by now, rather than finding refuge in odd places, but I make do. There are dark magicks at hand that I fear may be beyond me.” 

“I know the city’s dirty, but it certainly seems you’ve accepted the dirt more than most — ” Cason nodded towards the mice on the table, taking a seat across from the woman. No, she hadn’t asked him to sit down, but it was a public place and he deserved a drink. He always deserved a drink. “Let me guess their names: rat one and rat two?” 

“Actually, they introduced themselves to me as Richard and Jacob.”

A night ina tavern could say a lot about the men in the area, as it was where they showedtheir penchant for drinking and terrible manners towards women. Maeve watchedit and wished she could do more, to make them pay for leading their wives on –she would have to stick to helping the women see whom they were really marriedto.

But otherthings often caught her eye. This time it was a woman looking lonely at hertable, prompting her curiosity. She sat beside the stranger and frowned down atthe rats circling the wooden bench. “You really shouldn’t do that, those littlebeasts only bring trouble.”

“I doubt they bring any more trouble than the patrons,” Celine replied mildly, though the words did prompt her to hide a smile. Yes, the fellows were much less troublesome than the men they’d been. She wondered if someone would accidentally step on them or if they’d continue nudging her feet and tugging at her dress to try to get her to change them back. 

“But if you insist...” She flicked the mice away with a sweep of gold, before giving her companion a smile. “There we go, all better. A pleasure to meet you, Miss...?”

“Why do you sigh so?” Tania offered a friendly smile as she slid into the seat across from Celine. While she wasn’t normally one to consume alcohol, the most recent news had shaken her enough to make her wish for the relieving buzz of intoxicants. She sat with her back perfectly straight and she tucked her hair behind her ears. “Don’t tell me you’ve been lonesome this whole night. If someone has wronged you, I shall find them and I shall… I shall… I shall twist their ears until they cry mercy.”

"Tania.” Celine’s demeanor changed when the other woman slid into the seat across from hers, a smile lighting up her face. She didn’t question why the other woman always managed to lift her spirits whenever they crossed paths; she just accepted it. Tania was, after all, the sort of person who could make anyone smile.

                                   She was going to die of boredom.

Celine sighed as she gazed down at the ale sitting in front of her, ankles crossed neatly beneath her dress and elbow resting on the tabletop. She was going to die. They’d been stuck in Westedell for far too long with nowhere to go, and now... There was nothing left to do. 

He smirked at the sound and tone of that voice, not sure if she had already seen him, and not sure where it was coming from. Just like the old times. The trail of smoke and its scent led him easily.  

“Can’t blame them, really,” Oberon said, once he was close enough to the window frame, as he leaned against the wall, hiding from the cruel sunlight. “I’ve been told this city’s had enough experiences with witches.” There was no such thing as enough, he thought, as he innocently took a peek over her shoulder, to see what had gone wrong. He spotted what it looked like a snake, and frowned, curious, at the creature brooding in the corner. “Friend of yours?” 

Ever eager to welcome a lovely lady into his arms, Typhon stepped towards the walls, waiting for her to tip forward. ( surely she would … she seemed the woman to enjoy a little play and risk. ) “My, my. We’ll have to rectify that then, won’t we?“ Though he certainly didn’t doubt her ability to entertain, he always found company better when wine flowed. And then the woman leaned — Typhon’s arms stretching out—

Cradling her EASILY as she landed. ( had he seen a sparkle in the air? a glimmer in the air? ) He shifted, hopefully making her more comfortable against the barrel of his chest, grinning wickedly when he caught her eye. “Clearly,” he agreed. “But what man would I be to allow you to fall without the grace you command otherwise?” It’d been very easy. Almost too easy, as if she weighed no more than a feather. “Now, where shall we go?” Typhon asked, turning fluidly on his heel, the woman still situated in his arms. Of course, if she were to ask, he’d set her on the ground. But why do that so soon? When she seemed so comfortable up close where he could admire her? “A tour? A tavern? I have a fine selection of spirits in my chambers, if you’d prefer to remedy your earlier comment.”

Celine didn’t even consider asking to be let down, finding herself supremely comfortable in the man’s arms. He seemed wholly capable of supporting her weight without trouble, so she’d enjoy the luxury of being carried around why a handsome man. Especially if that handsome man would be leading her towards drinks that it seemed she wouldn’t be paying for. She’d thought, when they’d first met, that he would’ve made a fine addition to her collection; she was beginning to think that she preferred him just as he was. ( After all, bulls didn’t keep fine collections of spirits in their chambers. Men did. )