𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 / ꜰʀᴇᴇ

IT WAS QUIET. ironically, the same quality that had initially drew her to the room now left her feeling restless. very much a fish out of water, eija wandered the old aisles– not bothering to pay any attention to the various titles adorning the shelves. it was spotting another, however, that brought her wandering mind back to reality. eija was nosy. so of course she crept closer, gaze darting between the woman and the cards sprawled out on the table before her. to be honest, she wasn’t too keen on the idea of card reading, though she wasn’t sure if her distrust wasn’t directly correlated to her general distaste of magic. the universal dependence on it had always felt foreign to her, likely in huge part due to the fact that she had been born without it.

a chuckle hummed in her throat when the seer spoke, ❝ something tells me the trepidation on your expression confirms that the read was, indeed, meant for me. ❞  with interests piqued– not that she really believed it– eija kept a light-hearted and nonchalant air about her as she found herself another chair. ❝ well, hell, if it’s free, ❞  a shrug rolled off her shoulders as a grin grew on her lips, ❝ let’s see what your cards suspect is in store for me. ❞

ALYSANNE CURLED HER lips into a smile at the younger woman’s words. the minute she’d entered the library, alysanne had sensed they would meet. she had the salty, stormy aura that the njorans shared ---- it was one that alysanne was always curious to interact with. locked high in her mysterious tower on the zorian plateau, she hadn’t seen much of them, except for in her dreams. 

“who knows ---- maybe it was. card reading isn’t an exact science. not when it’s learned, at least.” she wasn’t afraid to admit her lack of expertise in the matter. she was high seer, after all, not a god. it didn’t surprise her that the devil card came up - strength and defiance were two of it’s main traits. 

After the ride that morning, he returned to Welkin and found himself exploring the watcher’s council’s homestead and ended up in the library. He had seen her shuffling the tarot cards and though Wheldrake had sorcerers and spoke to the dead, they didn’t generally believe in divination and predicting the future. But curious he found himself looking as she turned over the card to reveal the devil and call him amused. “Maybe there’s something to your cards after all.” He mused unconcerned by the card; though he imagined many may have gazed upon it in fear. As the stories go about his own homeland, the river styx ran under the city and Hades himself had blessed the city. Take it for what it will. Maybe her cards were just telling her of the company she was keeping or rather just luck of the draw. “I’m not a huge believer in a deck of cards being able to predict my future.”

closed for: @highseers​ / where: welkin keep great hall

He had already rejected five proposals to dance that night. For one, Torbjørn didn’t want to be here, he didn’t care for all the nonsense and false pleasantries (and angry drunk women threatening him any time he refused a waltz), and two, he didn’t dance. He just wasn’t made for it - physically, he was built like a tower and made for battle; not for twirls and two-steps. Truthfully, he just felt like he’d been wasting his time at the banquet, waiting for the hours to whittle away. The boredom felt like a heavy coat over his shoulders, weighing heavier the more time he spent around kings and princesses. 

Finding a table with just one other person (a rare sight in the hall), he placed his pint of mead down against the wooden surface before taking a seat, watching as a server made their way past, placing a loaf of bread down in the center of the table. With bare hands, he tore off a piece and began munching away as his eyes surveyed the woman across from him. There was something about her. Maybe it was the way she’d been dressed, the rouge on her lips, the contrast of dark hair against pale eyes - “How are you finding this?” he asked suddenly, gesturing to the scene around them, “the banquet and all that?”

PERCEPTIVE CERULEAN EYES were cast downwards as alysanne sat herself at the table. quiet and stoic, she sensed that most of the nobility crowding the hall would avoid her. all the better ---- she was quite overwhelmed, and was happy to take a breath. better sit to stand, besides, lest someone cajoled her into a dance. she was a clumsy dancer, always had been. aly was much more at ease watching from the sidelines, but she’d learned the hard way that the realm’s nobility rarely took no for an answer. a finger twined a loose dark brown lock as she let her thoughts drift. 

𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄,  anxious  hands  bunching  up  the  fabric  of  her  gown  before  smoothing  it  out  once  more,  only  to  repeat  the  process.  tianrie’s  facade  had  finally  cracked  in  alysanne’s  familair  presence,  the  copious  amounts  of  mead  and  ale  she’d  been  sipping  on  throughout  the  night  catching  up  to  her.  she’d  like  to  have  touted  that  she  was  flushed  simply  because  of  the  drinks,  but  she  had  no  doubt  in  her  mind  that  alysanne  would  easily  be  able  to  see  through  her  rouse.  the  crown  princess  had  retreated  from  the  activities  when  she’d  felt  the  flash  of  an  aura   ——  one  altogether  unfamiliar,  but  still  known.

“  what  is  the  purpose  of  being  able  to  see,  when  i  can’t  even  see  who  i’m  meant  to  be  spending  the  rest  of  my  life  with ? ”  she’d  seen  glimpses  or  them  ever  since  the  betrothal  had  been  announced,  much  to  her  dismay,  and  with  the  knowledge  of  them  being  in  the  hall  as  well ;  well,  tianrie  would  rather  dive  neck  deep  into  talks  of  politics  than  encounter  them  for  the  first  time.  // @highseers​

ALYSANNE COULDN’T HELP but feel doubly responsible for the selanker children, more than usual. she took it upon herself to make sure the girls were safe and taken care of in this new setting. it was almost a MOTHERLY feeling, one she wasn’t quite used to. the brunette felt the younger woman’s anxiety from across the ballroom, and had discreetly followed her out. she could tell tianrie was overwhelmed ---- alysanne was as well, but she was determined not to let it show to her younger royals. 

Boudica caught the girl who had wandered into the fray, clearly wearing that dreamy look of someone who sees more than the present. It reminded her of a daughter of hers. “Nonsense,” said Boudica. “You can only get better by keeping at it. We could carefully twirl through the crowd to an edge then we can dance in an area less terrifying than these dignitaries who are practically being whirling dervishes. If you don’t mind dancing with a woman, that is, but I taught all of my siblings and children to dance and have gained enough calluses on my feet that I won’t even feel if you step on them,” she said, knowing that she probably was showing a bit more nostalgic a face than was expected. She was older than a lot of these royals here, which worked in her favor in negotiations, but worked not so much in her favor as she had raised or helped raise so many children that she felt like herding them into talking and interracting properly. “It will be more fun than sitting on the sidelines being afraid of making a mistake, especially a harmless one.”

Oh, how Javaid would laugh at her now. You’re too soft. This is politics, he would have said. You can’t afford to be weak. She’s royalty and can ruin you. play nice—but not too nice. You aren’t her mother but potentially an enemy.

That damnable man had been dead for twenty years and still haunted her thoughts. She had never dreamed of him speaking into her ear—he had raised her but wasn’t truly related to her so he could not communicate with her from beyond The Veil—but she had never needed his spirit to hear his voice. 

THE OTHER WOMAN had a strong, commanding presence. there was no doubt as to who the high priestess was. alysanne couldn’t help but to follow along. a relieved smile pulled at her lips. “you are truly a blessing.” she started, feeling as childish as she looked, with her big blue eyes filled with curiosity. she knew she was meant to be more intimidating than this ---- after all, she was the high seer. but she was the first of her kind to be able to meet all the people she dreamed of. she couldn’t help herself. “to be quite honest, i much prefer the presence of women. who wants to dance with a large oaf anyway?” she teased. “i’ll try my best to dodge the feet, at least to practice for the next unfortunate soul that falls into my arms.” 

she could sense the other’s power, working mysteriously as she watched, blind to anything but gut feelings. she often felt lost, her knowledge that came from her abilities also made way for doubts and questions she would never be able to answer. 

she smirked, bemused by the teasing. “if it were truly important you’d repeat it without prompting. therefore no, i have no interest in what you may have said if you have no desire to repeat it without a specific request.” she wouldn’t be bullied or pestered into anything, or belittled into doing or saying anything she didn’t want to and she certainly wasn’t as polite and accommodating as some of the other princesses surely were. another reason she felt she didn’t belong here.

seraphina axelsson was a princess but she was least likely to behave like one. she didn’t want to come to the summit and she didn’t want to be married off but both were set in stone it seemed, one already fulfilled. she sat off to the side, wondering if she could go unnoticed the entire night when her pleasant silence was interrupted by a voice. “i’m quite sorry, but i didn’t hear a word of that.” she didn’t ask them to repeat it and wondered if they would just be annoyed with her lack of attention and go away.

ALYSANNE’S EYE FLUTTERED open as she jumped awake. another one of her seeing dreams had taken her midday. she hastily moved towards the desk tucked in the corner of her bedroom, and jotted down illegible notes that would stop her from forgetting the bulk of the dream. she then wrote down a second note, a clearer one with an invitation ( more like a summon, with the way it was worded ). and called for her maid to deliver it to the recipient. “don’t come back without her.” the brunette warned. the high seer moved out of the room into her solar, still fighting off the last wisps of sleep. she had never met the woman she’d requested, yet the dream had been vivid. storms raging against a small battered shack in the middle of the ocean, the candle in the shack’s window blowing out suddenly. and before she could wake, the other’s face and name had burned into her memory. aly didn’t have time to call her seers to help her decipher this, so she took her favorite place against the cushioned window sill that looked out from the high tower to puzzle it out. she was most comfortable the higher she was, closer to her friends, the constellations. pensive fingers worked mindlessly against the inlaid pearls of her bodice as she replayed the dream in her head. she knew the skies wanted them to meet today --- but WHY ? 

ALYSANNE WYLCROFT is a HIGH SEER hailing from the kingdom of ZODARC. The THIRTY SEVEN year old is travelling to the council summit because they believe in PEACE. They HAVE NOT lost their magic and possess the ability to DREAM OF PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE, AND DIVINATION. SHE is CUNNING, RESERVED but also MISCHIEVIOUS. i wonder if they’ll get what they want at the summit? (lex, 23, EST, she/her)