obelialuin — lady merlin .
she considers him from where she lounges. lids slightly heavy as though she might doze off. but, it was interesting the slight variations of his day to day, the way he held to a knights code & yet… so heady was he enticed still by the way of the druid. perhaps, it was in his blood as was her people’s ? a question she will never voice. living in isolation led one to thoughts a plenty of an aura they seemed to share. but hers was a daily dance, one of imagining a city breathed to life again as she remembered it. yet she stood as it did now. empty & awful.
body adjusts, shifting spatially to rest so she’s peering over his shoulder. an awful amount of purification plant. head tilts, smile disguising such an overwhelming sadness creeping up her throat. words like fire tear it asunder.
“ vandal root & – ah, here it is, golden root. use them both to make yourself some tea. .
though… vandal is particularly foul smelling. mix it with something sweet. “
a beat, as she turns her attention back to him. “ use them separate. “
she brings herself to stand next to him, instead of hovering above ground. pushing him aside slightly, a playful bump of her hip to his. gathering what she needs to make individual little containers for each. & despite telling him, she’s also mixing them into something preferable.
“ I came to restock. “ but perhaps that wasn’t all. an omission, an easy enough facade. as death clung to him, it was but a scent, not yet sunk deep into his marrow. she is lost in thought, a haunting evenness dropping her smile until she remembers what she’s doing again.
“ you were expecting to see me ? ”
he knows these herbs . from childhood , from looking through old writings when everyone else in the village was asleep . before they left him with the dead , hendrickson had been oh so fond of sneaking into the clan’s archives , learning all that he could . tragic , his brilliance would be so hindered by his fears . he’d made teas before , when the mornings came & he stood shaking before jenna & zaneri . when they did the same . had him hold out his hands , gave him herbs that perhaps would help him .
so , this was strangely comforting , despite how much it reminded him of … well , he didn’t belong with the druids , did he ? when they found him on his knees , hands upon the shrouds , unfamiliar chants turning corpses to dust — back when he couldn’t harm the living with his touch , only the dead . before acid , there was necrosis . so they called him a boy cursed with death .
he doesn’t comment on merlin’s mixing of the two , despite her telling him not to — in the same way jenna did . except , jenna had teased him when she’d found out how he’d been stupid enough to take the golden root first , becoming restless , & subsequently using the vandal root in some attempted self - sedation . & mixing the two had been an entirely different disaster , where his body had no idea what to feel . so yes , he knew what not to do , at the very least .
ah , he lets out a gasp when merlin playfully bumps him aside , although he can’t help but smile . smile , like the sorrowful , desperate thing he is . still , after all this time , he hadn’t really changed much from the young man who had a tendency to propose to women who called him sweet & smiled . ❛ well , it’s certainly important to have herbs on hand … ❜ a pause . ❛ i guess … i mean , it isn’t that i thought i wouldn’t see you — i just didn’t think we’d end up looking for herbs in the pantry at the same time … not that i don’t like your company … i do — ! ❜
dailybridgerton
andulkaphoto
