we are what the fire could not burn

and now as she stood on the precipice of change, free from the shackles she had worn since birth, rhyaenna did not know what she wanted, nor who she was. however, she knew this -- there was no better sound than that of a slamming door. her gaze looked on as her reflection smiled at her, unhinged in its glee. in no time sloane had burst through the doors of rhyaenna's chambers and demanded answers. rhyaenna reached for her soft-bristled brush and combed through her hair, her back still to her mother. "now mother, is that any way to greet me after all this time?" she tsk'ed her tongue in feigned disappointment.

she had no words to properly surmise her delight in that very moment. rhyaenna expected sloane's fury, longed for it, but seeing the older woman quake before her, held together by a single thread, well... she held no regrets for her decision. "one would think you would encourage your daughter's ambition," she said with a sigh. "or does that only extend as far as who i choose to wed?" it was stated plainly, for they both knew the rules of her mother's games. only, rhyaenna no longer wished to play.

there were moments when rhyaenna was the best thing that had ever happened to sloane, and moments where she was the worst, hellbent on personally destroying sloane and everything she had worked for. and it was not often that sloane saw her daughter's ire directed at herself. as she stood in the room, rhyaenna smiling as she eyed her through a mirror, the rage and frustration within slaone continued to build.

she did not find this enjoyable, or adorable or amusing. before her she saw a child looking to lash out at their parent, and it had the caldrithen longing wipe that smug smile of rhyaenna's face. "do not mince my words around to further this vendetta you've built up towards me." sloane started, pointer finger extended into a stern warning. "i will always encourage your ambitions, but that does not extend to this foolish decision. did you even consider that i pushed you towards marriage because it will allow you to retain the power of your spouse but also keep you out of harms way?" she did not step closer, anger and frustration not diminishing in the moment. sloane did not see this conversation ending well, but she needed to be heard. needed to make some effort at getting her daughter to willing pull her name from that horrid list. "crownwearers come and go. the last one died. do you feel that if you were to sit upon that throne that you are not going to meet the same fate? not to mention, crownwearer is not just a title. you will be responsible for the whole of nocturnia, you will be the face of them. is that a title you truly wish to carry? or is this all some childish attempt to upset me?"

Eliza bloomed beneath the prospect of a free and blessed future; he would never claim ownership over politics, but it would be his one earthly endeavour, to see her enjoy rambling across lush fields, slipping between hollows, unburdened by anything but wanderlust. "But you will come home to visit, won't you? I do not know if I am meant to travel anymore --- I have discovered I am at my best, when situated in my garden. I shall however, prize your future chronicles with great delight; I suspect that you may be in possession of a companion, in your journeys." He spoke of her friendships chiefly -- Eliza was too beloved for her newly acquired menagerie of companions to allow her to slip from their sides. Of companions of another nature --- ignorance as to such matters, kept Tristan from unbecoming irritation, or the unsightly throbbing of a vein in his forehead. "As for my wishes .... should we see peace, and be left to our own devices, I would like to grow my garden. I should like to do so with one I love, but I fear I am rather an acquired taste --- there's a rumour going around I'm rather foolish, and I worry I may have started it myself."

she had not even considered all the kinds of events that could be held. the life she had once dreamed of while in her childhood bedroom came to her mind in quick images. for a moment it saddened her that once again it seemed as though it were only possible in a dreamscape. but she pushed that thought away. it would be possible, someday. "a garden party sounds magnificent."

she smiled brightly and laughed at her brother's words, coming to sit next to him and grasp his arm. "we could never be apart for long. i would write you every day, and i would make sure to always return home long enough that it wouldn't even feel as though i was gone." how she wished he would be her companion, but eliza knew if he wanted that he would have offered. her brother seemed to be at peace when they were back in the lush gardens of their home. at the mention of him spending his days in said garden with a loved one, her expression took on a cheerful feature. but it was quickly driven away by concern over courtly gossip. "you are not foolish. how could you be the source of such a rumor if you do not even remember starting it?" she shook her head, determined to return back to the subject of love. "i do hope to see you find someone soon, brother. in fact," she paused, getting up to grasp the list she had just been thinking about.

“The news… Of the White Oak?” For a moment, Ásta truly looks aghast. “Of it burning down with all of you in it? Those news? Varyn!” But a smile comes to their face either way, painted with worry and fondness both. “All of Nocturnia heard of it, I felt like I was going to be sick when I heard… I only got back to Draegor like, right before we all had to leave for these lands. It was a lot!”

The surprise is honest as his murmurs fail to escape their ears, let alone when Ásta is hanging onto every word of his as he speaks. “Wh—You would think other things would have their attention.” Pause. “Like. You know. Your wedding. And I was not missing, just... gone. For a little bit.”

Onyx eyes follow his hands. “What are you working on?” Curious yet cautious, as they always were when it came to this. “Lately, I mean, anything new and all…” Though at the mention of Amarei, besides the small pang of envy (still unsure of for whom, as greedy as they feel for whatever company either of them could spare), comes a question they have to wonder at how to word. “You are… So she uh… Does not disagree? With your, you know.” They nod at the items in Varyn’s hands, prodding as subtly as they can. Even Ásta, for all that Varyn and them share a fascination, had never been able to stomach the implications of it all. Too sensitive, too fragile for it...

“Oh, you know!” There is an attempt to wave away the sudden shift in mood, as they look elsewhere. It feels too much to try to decipher why Varyn's smile had faded, and why he looks so serious now. “Just a little jaunt around Drakathar, seeing the sights and all.” It had been beautiful, truly. Only barely enough to stave off the grief, and only because they had left themselves behind in Draegor’s halls. But the soul called back, it seems.

the moment they mentioned the white oak, understanding bloomed across his features as he gave a curt nod. how could he have forgotten about something so pivotal? because it had been a month past, and so much had happened in the meantime. "ah yes, the fire. how could i forget?" he murmured with an uncomfortable chuckle. "it was chaotic and frightening, to say the least. i am thankful we did not have more casualties." the thought of the oak once again had him wondering what would happening here in heliophra.

"i think my wedding was exciting when it was announced two months ago, but the staff have moved onto more interesting topics. ones that they can speculate on." he put a hand out to rest on her shoulder for a moment, the only bit of affection he could give in such a public space. "how thankful i am that you were simply gone, and not missing." how thankful he was to have answers, and to see them standing before him. whole and healthy. "currently trying to research if there is some way to change or enhance the bond between rider and dragon. a way to affect the natural scent of a rider, ensure their pheromones are as appealing and approachable as possible. my brother has been speculating new concepts that i am to help put into practice. so i have come here to find some new items we can use for such research." he held out the items in his hand for àsta to inspect if they chose to.

✧˚ · . ─── There had been a flicker of a moment where Varyn had been witnessed of some worth to her, but he had so unceremoniously declined her thoughts for crownwearer and that pivoted and hindered any relationship between them greatly. He was Amarei's betrothed, but such truth and attempt at benefiting both houses mattered little in Efigenia's pursuit. She had trusted Amarei, let such plan simmer and build, but this was her moment to seize and Efigenia would not sit back quietly and let another take a place in which their family name deserved to be within. If Varyn would not propose his own name to hinge Amarei and the Velwyrn name upon it, then Efigenia would cast them away if it meant salvaging them within the end. Sometimes, a snake had to eat it's own tail to free itself from the chain. Such is what Efigenia believed she was currently accomplishing, even if it meant her dearest sister would likely never look at her the same.

he scoffed at the insult. even if he did not want to sit upon the throne, it did not mean he liked knowing other felt he was not capable of such a seat. of course, she seemed to be willing to bet on him until he turned her down. "what i proved was that i have no interest in being a puppet. and if you are willing to be one in order to earn a title, then perhaps you do belong amongst the other contenders." they had not spoken in such a way before. he had traded verbals blows and raised his voice in the company of her sister, but thus far varyn had tried to be nothing but respectful to the ruling lady of graveholt. but this desperation for power and acceptance was not going to benefit him, nor did it align with what amarei wanted. so he speak up for her in this moment.

His question prompted another spell of silence, though she had already decided it was the sort for which no adequate answer existed. Amarei would have preferred never to drift from Efigenia as she had done, in spite of her own relentless pursuit of what she deemed a future worth having -- a future that would never confine her to the halls of Graveholt. But the longer she troubled herself with what she could neither control nor remedy, the more time she squandered. "It doesn't matter what I would decide, Varyn." She looked to their clasped hands, where she could feel the thrum of his heart. "People like us learn to navigate the world as it is presented to us."

She drifted from his embrace then, hands slipping from his warm skin, to float in the scented waters for a few more eyeblinks. "I think I shall retire early tonight." Perhaps it was the weight of shifting politics -- perhaps it was the realisation his closeness had not brought the comforting reassurance she had sought. She had hoped that, for a sliver of time, they could simply be. "Stay as long as you'd like."

he smiled and nodded, humming softly before agreeing. "very much welcomed," the time spent in drakathar not only allowed them to grow closer as friends, but lovers. there was a trust brewing between them that varyn had not allowed to happen with anyone else, and while that thought was terrifying, he knew if anyone deserved it, it was the woman he was to marry. and as every day passed, he recounted just how well matched he felt they were. how one day, he may not second guess any sort of interaction or statement. how a deep understanding could settle over them. and how interesting it was to realize he may want that.

as she spoke of her views and her skepticism regarding most, he simply listened. realistically, it would be best for him to assume everyone he spoke with had intentions and motives different to what they verbalized. but perhaps it is the mere desire to be friends with vaelor that has him less skeptical and more trusting then he should be. "i do understand that. i have learned much from you and this is another instance. i need to remember that no matter how much i'd like for vaelor's words to hold nothing but the truth, that does not mean they do."

he wanted to argue that they could decide. that she had made him believe there was a way to control, convince, manipulate - whatever was necessary, really - those around them into seeing the outcome they desired. but her tone had taken on something that felt distant and then she was releasing from his hold. the man's brows furrowed in confusion as she spoke of retiring. memories of their time in vallarion flashed through his head, of her seeking silence and solitude when she was upset or angry, and he knew he had done something to push her away. he did not want to argue or demand she stay, fearful of driving the wedge even further between them. amarei had not been openly angry or combative with him in over a month, and he did not want to end up there. so he tried to tell himself she was being honest and truthful, and that perhaps she had grown tired from their journey in and needed to retire early. even so, he could not help but ask, "are you certain? i can call for something to eat..."

The faintest a chuckles fell from the little nymph's lips, infectious and syrupy-sweet, muffled by a palm quick to latch to his mouth as he rustled like a small animal through the dense greenery, the thickness of the woods surrounding the river, offering a sliver of privacy amidst the tribulations of late, which he, in his infinite boredom and desire to entertain himself, had deemed fit to violate—a wisp of pale hair moves amidst the evergreen.

sloane's mind had been crowded as of lately, and so it would only be cleared by two things. writing and walking. and the trip to heliophra, as well as the death of lady garramoth and the names of the eligible chosen had already been transcribed in her notes, she decided it was time to take in the warm air of the land she once called home. she had not been nearly five and twenty minutes into her walk when she saw lord chae emerge from a dense area, giggling with a bundle of clothes in his hands.

sloane's eyes narrowed, and she was immediately reminded of a child. how clouded was her judgement, to think her daughter had influenced lord chae's actions in any way? no, baeksa clearly was not one to allow others to have the upper hand. "is there no other way you can spend your time? perhaps in a more productive manner," she chided, her tone very much that of a mother.

They were right. A war drum pounded beneath his skin—did he not welcome its reverberations? Better than the blankness that had made a home within him. He had turned his body into a haunted house, an abandoned tomb, a hollow suit of armor. He had desired this, and yet he could not accept the cost it carried: the complete, devouring desolation left in the wake of his loss.

But Luz deserved a teacher, not a maddened hound.

So he inhaled through his nose—once, twice—and said, “You are right. I should have warned you.” He ran a hand through his hair, seeming less a man and more a lion pacing his cage. “In the midst of battle, it is tempting to let ferocity fuel you. Become mindless. Drive your body forward even as your limbs ache with strain.” He huffed. “It is, however, a temptation that can bring about your own demise. It seems I, too, needed this reminder.”

The dulled carnelian of his eyes drifted away from Luz, searching for no point in particular. Shame flooded him. Vow and duty meant nothing if he lacked the strength of will to uphold them.

“I will do better.”

the moment hiran acknowledged his fault, any irritation or anger that was buzzing through luz was released through a deep sigh. their shoulders fell as their body grew more relaxed and they nodded their head. but as hiran continued, speaking of battle and how your actions could be your undoing, luz found herself concerned for her mentor. how often had he allowed his emotions to fuel him?

she did not hesitate to reach out a hand and place it on his arm, a warning for the softness and concern that would come in words only momentarily. "are you okay?" luz asked, using the back of their free hand to wipe away the sweat that had started falling down their face. "i mean no offense but, you seem troubled. right now you're acting as you did after the fire." her voice came out gentle, not accusing the man before her but simply willing him to open up to someone. "you can be the most honorable man i know. kind and gentle to those who deserve it. but sometimes hiran, you seem as though you are on the edge of falling into a dark pit that you cannot claw your way back out of." a simple observation, one she hoped he would speak on and not disregard.

Marya  clasps  her  hand  together,  her  flesh  cold  as  the  contact  settles  between  each  of  her  fingers.   " There  is  always  something  kept  from  someone.  Perhaps  that  is  what  makes  life  so  very  interesting. "  She  held  herself  as  the  image  of  ease,  with  no  further  explanation  to  accompany  it,  only  a  dreadful  narrative  that  said  no  more  than  it  said  less.  She  was  a  riddle  of  omissions;  like  a  page  with  missing  verses, neglected and bereft of mirth,   or  a  room  with  no  doors,  the  dust  gathering  undisturbed, where no footsteps seemed to intrude.  Still,  if  Marya  knew  anything  about  the  death  of  Lady  Garramoth,  she  found  no  reason  to  spare  her  information  with  someone  who  rejected  their  way  of  living. 

luz simple watched marya, a look of confusion spreading across their features. she spoke in riddles that luz found deeply confusing. the squire had never claimed to have a sharp mind, simply fast reflexes and an ability to read her opponent. but that seemed to only exist within a sparing ring or on the battlefield. pretty words and any avoidance from the truth was not the solkarith's forte. so she simple scoffed at the lack of information. "okay." they muttered, as they rolled their eyes.

it took everything in her not to simply hiss and clack her jaw at the way luz instantly defended the knight they were swearing themself to. knights. creatures she didn’t truly understand. what was honor really? honor was subjective. what one believed was honorable might not be the same for another? she did not find fighting for imaginary honor to mean much. for herself. for her family. her sister. her people, that made sense to her. fighting for vryn. that was what meant more to morella than anything else.

“tsk, you didn’t need him to have faith in you,” she finally ground out her jaw tight. a foolish solkraith that thought family was who they needed when all they needed to do was find their own meaning. just to have a knight of all things give it to them. “nor your family to have faith in you,” her words remained low, not for others as some still moved about the room while breaking the fast meal was being provided.

finally, she moved her cool eyes towards the other. really looking luz over. even with her distaste for knighthood, it was true that the braxigarian seemed brighter. but were they brighter because of someone else or simply they finally allowed themself to be. “you just needed faith in yourself…”

luz felt their jaw clench and their teeth ground together. it was easier said then done. to have faith in yourself when you feel as though no one else does. the solkarith had spent many of their formative years feeling as though they were unbreakable and unstoppable, but that illusion eventually faded. with every hit they took from ran in the fighting ring, or time they were called a solkarith runt, luz felt it. and no matter how skilled she was, she knew a path of honor and duty was not laid out before her. especially not in braxigar.

"Seems you've come ill-prepared, Seren." The taunt rolled off his tongue with no ill intent; he'd always been wont to tease, to jest, as the youngest of one's family might take to doing naturally, in order to arrest attention. The snap of her head had coaxed a soft chuckle from him; with each step, Cai seemed to ease into his usual, youthful insouciance. "One would have expected you to do your due diligence, and research these lands with every attention to detail." As befitted a scholar, and guardian of knowledge. He did not add that part, confident she would infer as much, and let a debonair grin soften any edge of criticism his words might have carried.

"But you've already begun to adapt." He noted as she remarked upon the unusual heat. His emeralds flitted to her hair, to the artful manner in which her raven locks had been swept upward and held in place. "Your hair. It looks lovely."

To bear the arid air, his wardrobe had shifted to breathable fabric, linen tunic and silk-lined doublet in paler shades than he was known to don. It painted a fine contrast to his dark hair, which tumbled more freely than usual. "I am touched to hear she remembers me so fondly. It was a pleasure to keep her company." He let his mind linger on his conversation with Lady Elowen for a moment, remembering most vividly her tender vigilance for her daughter. She had struck him as a clever woman, dangerously so, with an eye much keener than his own could hope to be. It was why he had not dared twist truth in her presence, confident she would have read him for falsehood before he'd even finished the lie.

she let her mouth fall open in offense at his words, although a laugh soon followed in a way that showed she felt no true disrespect. she had learned of cai's playful and teasing nature early on, and had come to grow fond of it. it reminded her to allow herself to be playful sometimes. allowed the serious nature she often carried to be washed away for a moment. "forgive me, the local wildlife was not at the top of my research list. i was too busy looking over maps of heliophra and familiarizing myself with local politics." there was truth to that, but she had also come ill prepared. spending much of her time in vallarion with her family and settling her emotions after another frightening event.

at the compliment regarding her hair, the woman found herself blushing a breaking eye contact for a moment. "thank you," she breathed, softly laughing as she remembered the conversations that surrounded the updo. "my maid said it would help cool me, and also mentioned something about elongating my neck," what a strange comment, she had though, given her neck would not change depending on how she wore her hair.

she looked him over then, realizing his attire and windswept hair caused him to look every bit like the debonair hero you would read about in stories. "heliophra agrees with you as well. i am sure many have remarked on how beautiful your eyes are, but against the brightness of the moon and the shade of your tunic, they are... mesmerizing." she allowed herself to hold eye contact for a moment longer then she normally would, before the warmth of her cheeks and chest had her turning her attention to her hands, grasping amongst her pockets for a fan.

a  blush  crept  into  her  cheeks  at  the  mention  of  her  devition  .  she'd  never  thought  the  words  she  uttered  about  vaelor  to  be  any  different  than  the  words  for  others  ,  but  perhaps  she  wasn't  able  to  be  neutral  when  it  came  to  the  man  who  would  one  day  become  her  husband  .  she  came  from  a  family  of  many  ,  of  keepers  of  dragon  hatchlings  and  a  household  rooted  deep  in  their  bonds  .  she  might  be  the  wrong  one  to  ask  when  it  came  to  vaelor  ,  for  how  could  she  not  show  off  how  worthy  he  would  be  ?  no  matter  how  frightened  she  was  of  him  taking  upon  himself  something  he  should  not  need  to  .  however  ,  who  else  was  worthy  ?  who  else  would  sacrifice  their  lives  together  ,  happily  in  drakathar  ,  but  him  ?  for  the  sake  of  prosperity  and  wealth  to  the  people  .  "  perhaps  he  is  the  perfect  fit  because  he  in  truth  does  not  want  it  and  maybe  that  is  why  he  would  be  a  good  choice  .  "  she  murmurs  and  tries  to  smile  back  at  the  woman  ,  now  accompanying  her  and  her  book  .

her head fell softly, a brow lifted as she asked, "he does not want it?" but he had to have put his name forth in order to be considered, did he not? unless he was convinced to submit his name for chosen, but had never truly wanted such a title for himself. if that was the case, perhaps he was the best one suited for it. she would much rather have someone in the seat of power who did not crave it.

His gloved hand shakes hers, and there is a glint of amusement in his eyes, there and gone again. Cian gestures with a tilt of his head for her to take his side, and then they start to trail around the fountain’s wide edge. “To be frank, were there need to choose, I would wish for the latter over the first. Then I will know whether you’ve already reached the end of mine own inquiries, and I shall know which ones are hopeful even if their truth remains unknown.” He ventures a small breath of a laugh. “And your theories are welcome to join mine.”

The shadows cast by that which grows around them flicker in the corner of his eyes, but his steps do not stumble and neither do they stop their steady pace. “I shall offer one of my own, disjointed as it may be. It may even sound more like a fear, but what happened over a moon ago speaks of great ill: a seat of sacred knowledge lost to the flicker of heartless flame. And a family, now grasping to keep whatever they can.” A pause. “Does that not sound familiar? But I do not understand to what end.”

so they would not bother with formalities or pointless conversations. she appreciated that. when it came to knowledge, theories and fact, she would much rather speak plainly and get to the meat of it all, then waste time elsewhere. as he offered her his theory, she kept her fave neutral. had this theory grown because he knew that the fire started had never been the councils doing, or because he wanted to ensure no one looked too closely at the council as a potential subject? she would not ask such questions outright, but hopefully could goad such information out of him. "it does sound familiar. painfully, familiar in fact." she answered, clasping her hands behind her back and holding tightly.

"however one could argue that in all the ways they are similar, they are incredibly unalike. the fire that was lit in my home was contained to the library, with clear intention to remove all the knowledge we carried. the fire upon the coven seemed to happen with the goal to create a much larger impact. why choose a moment when we were all gathered inside, when the largest amount of casualties was possible? if their intention was to rid nocturnia of the knowledge the coven harbored, they could have acted while we were all at the ceremony site. in fact, that would be allow the arsonist to ensure the most impact, as we could not do anything to stop it so far away from the great oak." she paused then, if only to wet her lips after talking for so long. "unless the fire itself was a distraction? are we certain the scroll was burned?" had it been taken?

seeing seren, did something to denma’s heart that she couldn’t completely explain. not in love, but in grief. this was the last person to look upon her little brother’s face before he died. the last person that had felt any warmth in his skin or seen the light in his eyes. for all of the death denma saw and all of those she ferried to the next life with love. with respect. burning her brother’s body had been the first time her hands had ever shook. the first time she had ever wanted to weep and perhaps join them as they left the world completely.

but – that pain did not turn into anger for the woman. could never do so. not unless the blade had been in her hand and that was something denma knew to not be true. she had grieved in the halls of arshamal. had gone home for the first time in months to confirm the news to her parents. they had all grieved then. their hearts were loud and bleeding things on the floor as they allowed themselves to cry. it had not just been her or a select few that had built his gravestone among their family with careful precision. those of their lands and come to. in the open air, under the moon, they all grieved.

she would hold him in her heart until her end of days, even as she took a seat next to young tenelith, she offered a nod and the slight switch of her smile still curved her lips. “i fear far too many of us have been touched by dread these last months,” she offered softly, soft bells jingling on her belt as she shift. “i do not wish for any of us to be reminded that it can touch us here as well.”

the reminder that death seemed to follow them all was like a ice cool bath. in quick succession seren was reminded of that night moira castle, of the dance with the chosen. of the fear she felt when the lights went out and the dread that filled her bones when she saw the bodies at her feet, the blood spilling from their wounds.

moments later seren shook away such images, and blinked away the warmth building in her eyes. "then we should hope for nothing but health and happiness during our time here in heliophra." she said through a partially forced smile.

at the question of her family, her smiled bloomed into something softer, more genuine. "yes, yes my mother's injuries she sustained in the fire have healed, as have my own. we spent most of the last month enjoying each other's company. and you? your family?" she wondered, another question quickly forming in her brain. she paused for a second, before following up her first question with another, "were you allowed to leave braxigar even when the rest of us were confined to our hollows?"

.✦ ݁˖ ⸻ Similar to the last gathering, where they were forced to linger in close chambers while madness and undeath lurked, Taemris placed as much distance as one could before it could be translated as fleeing from obligation. His things were placed within the chambers designated for House Morvaen and before Marya and he could even plausibly discuss such fetid turn of events, Taemris disappeared into the blinding hues of gold and ivory. Even amidst the blankets of dark which housed their kind as velkynar, the sharp brilliance of Heliophra was unnerving. Elaris Keep was built fragile as glass yet had withstood time as resilient as stone; an anomaly within itself yet something to be respected.

Taemris sat within the sanctuary of night, perched within a low hanging branch. Silence had overtaken him and only thing which broke through such stillness had been the occasional thwack of his throwing knife hitting the tree bark opposite of him. It sprayed in small splinters, dusting the ground beneath it. When footsteps resounded off the path leading to his little alcove of peace and solitary, Taemris did not pause his target practice; the knife now diving into the ground, nestling just between the two feet of that who had approached.

upon arriving in heliophra, eliza had desired to explore further. to shift into a being of four legs and dark fur and run for as long as her lungs could handle. and so when the moment presented itself, she snuck out into the surrounding foliage of elaris keep. she had though her steps silent - she had taken off her slippers, after all - unheard by any potential guards or staff, but she was mistaken. the appearance of a knife in her path, close enough to have taken off a toe if she made one step sooner, had the girl bringing a hand to her mouth to muffle a scream.

before an sound could be let past her lips, she looked up towards the owner of said weapon. the anxiety over another potential attack dissipated when she saw it was lord morvaen. the fearful expression on her face began to settled, the tears in her eyes drying up, as her breathing returned to normal.