nepenthe.

𝐂aelia has never been one to sit idle. especially when there’s risk involved. even as they spoke, her mind raced with possibility. there was no question of her loyalty to the rulers, rather her deference was well-known. however, until they bade her stay in her chambers, she deigned to do so— least of all for the knight. ❛ we don’t, and we might not for some time, ❜ her tone was even, each word weighed carefully, ❛ your answer is to bide our time and wait for further instruction… as you should. ❜ they found agreement in larger concepts yet rarely saw eye to eye on approach. now would have to be another of those times. ❛ i’m not going to hide away. ❜ an old thorn indeed. ❛ no harm has befallen us, and while i’m sure that will change at some point, i don’t intend to wait until it does. we’ve been spirited away to a strange court with hosts who present us with beds rather than cells. if they sought to kill us, the beasts that patrol their skies would have seen to it by now. ❜ would she tilt her head skywards and dare them to try? well, to spite linnea, perhaps. ❛ i won’t be reckless, but i refuse to be cowed by nerves, general. the monster you know loses its ability to inspire fear. ❜

lux  was  unprepared  for  everything  the  world  of  the  fae  introduced  her  to,  but  just  when  she  felt  she  had  a  grasp  on  anything,  the  world  seemed  to  laugh  in  her  face.  her  life  in  autumn  had  become  quiet,  a  struggle  of  the  heart  her  only  concern  and  buried  beneath  what  her  duty  to  those  who  took  her  in  was.  the  redhead  felt  as  if  the  events  of  the  capital  were  the  worst  she  would  see,  but  it  seemed  she  was  entirely  wrong  for  the  very  ground  beneath  her  had  been  stolen  and  replaced  anew.  confusion  flared  in  her  mind,  fear  settling  in  her  chest  like  an  old  friend,  and  the  orange  hued  skies  that  mirrored  her  own  hair  did  little  to  calm  a  single  thing  in  her  wild  being.  “  not  even  fables  or  ones  thought  to  be  make  believe  ?  ”  she  can’t  help  but  ask.  lux  knows  she  should  be  more  proper,  address  a  lady  of  another  court  as  such,  but  her  mind  was  not  in  such  a  place.  “  they’re…  something.  ”  she’s  at  a  loss  for  words,  the  flying  beasts  terrify  and  interest  her  all  in  one  breath.

𝐓he lady’s anxiety is palpable, looming over her like a dark shawl, although caelia knows better than to draw attention to it. it is a frightening thing to first find oneself confined to the capital and then awake to even still more unfamiliar skies. there is fear in the unknown; only the known is safe, only the known is tolerable. here, all is a mystery. their surroundings, their hosts, the circumstances under which they were moved. the best they can do now is speculate. ❛ those speak of everything, ❜ she assents, ❛ cataclysm, the fall of man… fae. far worse fates than our current predicament. ❜ she searches for the fae’s gaze with a warm smile. ❛ best not to lose ourselves to them. ❜ once they give credence to fables, the boundless possibility is overwhelming. unless… ❛ there was a story of a lost solar court. i’ll admit, i never gave much credence to it… now i wish i had. ❜

❛ i hadn't actually. you mean we aren't still trapped in gaea? ❜ she deadpanned. the fae did take an interest in what the seasoned tactician thought of the present situation. or, she had, until she was reminded who she was speaking to. ❛ unfortunately, the way you taught me happens to be at odds with what I'll do. ❜ a statement born of petulance, to be fair, but she balked at the idea of blocking out the opportunity that had been presented to them. ❛ we might be more likely to endear ourselves to our hosts if we approach with curiosity rather than paranoia. ❜ an explorer's perspective, ever at war with the sentiments of the warrior. for all her pragmatism, caelia desired adventure above all else, for all the spontaneity it held. if linnea's discipline was derived from protocol, caelia's was born of chaos. ❛ aren't you curious about why we're all here? how these creatures that clouded our skies can live in harmony with this court? ❜

❛ 𝐇ow fortunate for us. it's always nice to see a friendly face. ❜ she smiled at his gesture. courtesy felt out of place in this realm, the strange ordered chaos that befell them seeming to call for its own set of niceties. ❛ it does, doesn’t it? ❜ a large shadow passed overhead, sliding over them with a lazy, effortless flap of broad wings. a distinct reminder of the reality of their situation. ❛ almost. ❜ she toiled in dreams, made a habit of exploring them, yet this was a landscape that none had come close to replicating ❛ what was your childhood like, ambassador? ❜ the day court, one of the few vistas she had the pleasure of visiting, albeit for a short time. she had accompanied her mother, an envoy to treat with the court's lord. they were neighbors, it only made sense to seek a more permanent pact. nothing came of the visit, but the young fae left with a newfound appreciation of the sun. ❛ i spent mine dreaming of endless horizons and mythic creatures. monsters— ❜ she tears her gaze away from the beast's retreating form, ❛ — rarely feature in dreams. ❜

from the moment he realized that he was not within the capital, he felt the unyielding drive to find his family and ensure that they were all right, of course -- the issue was, he didn't know how to characterize his brother's future child. were they family? even if they weren't named or claimed, did he have a responsibility to them? it didn't matter in that exact moment because vaati wasn't sure how he would go about finding them. the dim light may have suited his owl form, but without being able to see through both eyes, his depth perception was sharply limited. had he been a fae prone to falling to his tempers, he would have raged. instead, he grabbed a long stick that his hand could fit around comfortably, one that came nearly to his shoulder, and he used to test the ground in front of him in case there were traps.

never underestimate the value of a 10 foot pole... even if this was four and a half feet shorter than ten feet ... it'd do the job.

𝐈t was a dreamless slumber, the kind most laborers wished for and caelia abhorred. her shoulder ached, something hard digging into the soft flesh beneath the fabric of her dress. a rock, she realized, as the chirp of evening birds came into focus. perhaps it was her fault for making a habit of venturing about gaea so late into the night. except, the river that so reminded her of home was missing, and the air felt… heavy, charred. she remembered then the events of the evening. her father’s leather-bound book, a favorite of the late high lord, clutched in deft hands. she had slowly moved about her chambers as she leafed through its pages, an outpouring of resentment having prevented her from doing so sooner. a chapter on the seasonal courts, no more thorough a telling than other historical recitations, followed by the whoosh of something floating to the floor. the seal of the high lord glared up at her, pressed firmly to an aged envelope. reeling, she had stolen into the night to read her father’s words…

the scratch of paper tucked against her bosom returned her to the present. she needed to speak with julian, urgently. but first.

Every shadow seemed to whisper secrets, and every corner held potential danger. Yet, amidst the unknown, her heart quickened as she recognised a familiar figure ahead. "Caelia!" Linnea's voice echoed softly against the stone walls. Usually dripping with vexation, the name on her tongue now held a rare pitch of relief.

Their eyes met, and for a moment, the rivalry that had defined their relationship was tempered by the shared bewilderment of their new surroundings. "It's good to see a familiar face," Linnea admitted, her gaze steady. "Even if it's yours." No truer words had ever been spoken. Her lips curled into a smirk, knowing Caelia would relish nothing more than to wipe it off her face. "Better an old thorn in my side than an unknown threat." And despite how welcoming their new hosts may be, everyone was a danger until confirmed otherwise.

𝐓he sound of the general's voice brought with it a myriad of emotions. ❛ linnea. ❜ she didn't hate the winter fae, not entirely, although it would be fair to say that conditioning had wired the brunette to loathe her. especially when she smirked. caelia had to work to school her features, to settle the flare of competitiveness that ignited only in the other’s presence.

❛ if memory serves, the ‘old thorn’ has proven several times over to be more than a simple threat, ❜ her tone was fond, and a smile took shape on her lips, ❛ but then, the only histories that interest you end in bloodshed and glory. ❜ it’s meant in jest, and the history between her and her cousin’s half-sister would reflect that. she must admit that the familiarity is a comfort in the present haze of change. ❛ i am curious, what dangers does the wise and noble knight perceive might befall us? ❜

Her steps are as steady and firm as she can manage between the confusion of her wake and the swollen stomach as she tried her best to find any familiar face, although her heart prayed for only one person, her husband. the place was beginning to look slightly familiar, she could not quite pinpoint it, but she knew she had at the very least read about the golden skies and the magnificent structure that arose as the home. but she could not pin point it, perhaps because of the fear and the panic she could not think straight. finally she wonders to the gardens where it seems most people have gathered, her pale green eyes scan the crowd stopping on the familiar shade of auburn hair that resembles her own. she is quick to pull her into an embrace. "you're well, that is good, caelia." she steps back to take a good look at her, the distance between her siblings and her was not enough to not make worry for them or to be happy to see them well, specially where they stood.

𝐒he wanders about the outskirts of the group that has coalesced, fingertips running over the petals of a nearby lily bush. an ounce of familiarity in this foreign landscape. until warm arms wrap around her, she can’t help but relax, a negligible action to be discerned only by the slight droop of her shoulders and momentary tightening of her hold. ❛ and you, ❜ green eyes catch on the swell of her abdomen, flicking up to meet their mirror with silent acceptance, ❛ you're glowing. the night court suits you. ❜ there is a part of her —the young girl who grew up in awe of her older sister's gumption and seethed at her loss, the hands that saw to the swift departure too far above her reach to sway— that has longed for the woman’s presence. to ask what has transpired since they last spoke, to trade experiences, to pry. it’s strange and uncomfortable, as if reverting her to her basest self; she smothers it. ❛ it’s beautiful here, ❜ caelia muses instead, plucking a bloom from its stem. it occurs to her that her sibling is perhaps the best person to have met in the garden. ❛ tell me, do you understand any of this? ❜

𝐓o say that caelia is thriving would be an understatement of monumental proportions. sleep had come swiftly that night, and, as she was growing accustomed to, starkly dreamless. it was a jarring adjustment for a woman so deeply entrenched in the worlds that flickered behind closed eyelids. the disappointment was quickly extinguished the moment she glanced out a window. monstrous scaled beasts soared about the sky, folding in and around themselves until serpentining out of sight, and she beams. what was this if not the adventure she longed for? she encounters the frightened fae on her way outside, or, at least that's her intended path. in truth, the unfamiliar palace is more confusing than anticipated. ❛ i have no idea, the histories don't speak of anything close to this, ❜ her smile falters if only for her momentary loss of direction, but a glimpse of obsidian scales just beyond a set of pillars sees its return. ❛ isn't it incredible? they're enormous yet they ride the wind like feathers. ❜

prythian courts: spring court | summer court | autumn court | winter court | day court | night court