you gave me something to miss

          The smell brought not just saliva to his mouth, but also an urge to drink from her - one he had been fighting against for half of his existence. He should have gone hunting the other day, it would have been easier now. “It’s… alright,” he replied trying to smile, even though the only thing on his mind was wondering how her blood would taste. “It happens,” Aristeo continued with a small shrug and tried to focus on helping her pick up the glass shards. He got a whiff of the iron filled scent of blood every time she moved, but he was stronger. He had to be. He had promised that to himself. “If you wish, you can go take care of it now. I will pick up the rest of the glass shards, you don’t have to worry about that.”

a sigh slips past their lips , esra watches the young woman as she comes to terms with what has happened to her . their hunch is that this will not last forever but who can be sure ? each week brings new terrors in this gods forsaken kingdom and esra tries not to hurt her head with the worries of what tomorrow will look like . “ quite like it , ” they nod , their eyes falling to their hands , their fingers marked by days spend with a bow string clutched within them . “ it was strange at first , but the academy is an arduous but necessary evil . without the training … i can’t imagine what you might be going through . ”

Zareen brought her hands down to clutch at the fabric of her skirts, if only to release some nerves she felt. “Learning to defend myself would be one thing but controlling powers such as these is entirely another. I’m sure it takes you years to learn such skills,” she sighed. She only wished she could handle a bow and arrow or such weapons, but the vrajiit powers were all so different, she didn’t know how they all learned to control them. “Does your control of them...do they come from the same place for all vrajiit?” she wondered. “I always wondered how such things were taught at the academy when so few powers are the same.”

owaine let out a quiet huff as he chuckled beneath his breath. the church rose to its feet, a hundred perfectly pious nobles asking, or begging, adi for forgiveness. owaine followed suit, standing and sitting back down again. church always felt more like a solid cardio workout than a religious experience. when the clergy had started to talk again, owaine let himself speak, “are you telling me polgara is your favorite royal so i can earn you some brownie points? you should know ahead of time that i speak exclusively ill of the living, dear lady.” 

Layella followed everyone’s lead, although she had been paying absolutely no attention whatsoever. “Of course not,” she whispered over. “She loves me, why should I need brownie points?” she added with a soft chuckle. She knew that had to be fact by the way her aunt let her get away with being so awful at being a lady-in-waiting. “Do you mean to say you speak ill of me as well?” she wondered with a fake look of offense, but it was soon replaced with a look of distaste instead. “Oh no please don’t call me lady, it feels so formal. But I still refuse to believe you speak ill of me. I’m much too fun for that.”

Zareen: "Duty, of course. Love is fleeting."

Layella: "Love, without love what is the point of living?"

moiré :   

    ❝      mmm   .      ❞     there’s   distaste   in   both   her   eyes   and   words   ,   lips   pursed   as   the   lady   guardian   of   danruba   glances   upon   the   maiden   .   she   has   changed   little   ,   still   holds   with   her   a   flimsy   sort   of   charm   a   foolish   man   might   find   welcoming   -   her   son   certainly   had   .   what   brings   her   the   most   grief   is   how   much   her   child   takes   after   his   mother   .   ❝      i   hadn’t   realized   you’d   been   stationed   here   .   what   an   unfortunate   surprise      ❞   

eyes   graze   over   her   frame   in   interest,   casually   leaned   against   cool   stone   wall.   a   wall   as   cold   as   her   own   flesh.   “   ms.   stefan,   ”   she   greets   smoothly.   icy   blonde   brow   lifts   in   question   at   the   young   girl.   she’s   beautiful,   doe   eyed,   ready   for   the   worlds   taking.

but   claudia   does   not   underestimate   the   other   before   her.   “   i’ve   heard   you’ve   been   gifted   with   sleep.   is   it   true?   the   walls   talk,   you   know.   ”   she   muses   playfully   pushing   off   the   wall   just   as   smooth   as   her   honeyed   tone.   claudia   is   seemingly   warm   &   inviting   but   beneath   her   small   warmed   smile   is   something   more   sinister.   “   lady   polgara   and   i   spoke   just   a   bit   ago,   and   we   got   to   chatting   about   you.   ”   she   lies   with   practiced   ease,   conversing.   “   and   she   told   me   of   her   lady   and   the   gift   of   sleep,   and   i   thought   to   myself,   surely   not?   yet,   here   you   stand.   ”   smile   grows   slightly   before   bowing   in   greeting   of   the   others   company.   *    * @offortis

☑ my muse wants to know better: Esra!

⛄️ my muse has very mixed feelings about: Artair for sure, even with all the pain she experienced he was still her first love

☎️ my muse first contacts in a emergency: Polgara definitely, Keon would be a close second. The most adultiest adults she trusts. Owaine if it was some trouble she got herself into.

♡ my muse is crushing on / in love with: Not in love yet but will crush on anyone who is nice to her

~

In truth, Dorian was a little lost in his own thoughts, staring blankly ahead. It wasn’t until he noticed someone behind him that he was brought back to reality, arching a brow as he glanced over his shoulder at her. Turning to spot the person she appeared to be hiding from, he stood a little straighter, watching the person carefully until they gave up their search here and moved elsewhere, the guard moving to lean against the wall as he listened to her with mild amusement. “Always happy to help.” He muses with a waved hand, smirking slightly. “Well, it is my job to protect the guests at the keep–if that includes saving them from a day trapped indoors, so be it.” But his eyes narrow slightly. “Although, I do hope you aren’t up to any trouble. I am not fond of getting yelled at later for aiding a troublemaker.”

Layella gasped, pretended to be insulted although her smile proved otherwise. “Troublemaker? I would never,” she chuckled. She did realize though that he would have a right to ask considering his position. “I work for my aunt, and I am quite sure she understood very well that I dislike work when she offered me the position. We have an unspoken agreement, you see,” she explained with a nod. “I stay out of trouble and she prevents me from having to get married. It’s a lovely arrangement,” she smirked. “No one can go against the wishes of Lady Polgara. But really, isn’t it nearly a crime to force someone indoors on such a day?” she asked, gesturing to the bright sunny spring day around them. She turned quickly to pick a small bunch of wildflowers that had sprouted nearby and then offered them to him. “For your chivalry, good sir,” she said with a dramatic bow and a laugh.

“  certainly,  ”  sylus  says,  honest.  it  is  a  common  agreement  between  him  and  his  friends,  although  often  unspoken.  their  lives  are  already  hard  enough  as  it  is,  with  nothing  but  their  names  it  is  often  difficult  to  find  any  solace.  but,  at  the  very  least,  they  can  always  find  it  in  one  another.

“  have  you  noticed  any  strange  activity  lately  ?  ”  sylus  asks,  automatically  turning  to  scour  their  surroundings.  with  little  information  given,  he  finds  himself  on  high  alert  -  protective.  “  tell  me  what  has  happened.  is  it  protection  you  need  ?  ”

minding his own business, keon’s eyes cast over a few sheets of tactical movements that he was trying to familiarise himself with. the king’s attempt was completely laughable, and true things would take time– but come what may, he would reclaim their home. the voice cuts through his concentration causing him to look up with a warm smile, greeting a familiar face.      “miss layella,”     is said with a comforting warmth, glad to see someone of kind heart.     “aye, whatever happened effected me much like the rest of the vrajiit. i will admit, it was odd looking in the mirror to see a pair of brown eyes staring back at me. thankfully, we’re back to normal.”     golden hues wink to the young woman as he quietly folds away the papers, trying to be as discreet as possible as to their contents.     “how do you fare? well, i hope.”

@offortis​     /    layella    /   closed.

         “ the first blooms of spring are beautiful, “ reverently murmured, petal held between fingertips as if to inspect. it was a moment’s reprieve from the never-ending worries, from feeling so powerless both literally  &  figuratively.  emir has always been one with no self preservation  &  now,  with danger lurking round every corner he’s run himself ragged. though you’d never know it from how his shoulders are set, the smile so soft & warm gracing his lips. 

        emir’s head turns towards the other, idle memories on the tip of his tongue. “ when i was younger, i learned to make a sort of crown out of their braded stems. i saw some of the other children doing such so i spent the afternoon teaching myself. ”

“You know how to make a braided flower crown?” Layella asked with extreme enthusiasm. She smiled widely and looked back to the flowers making their way back to life as the weather warmed. “Please say you will teach me when there are more blooms to work with, I would be so grateful,” she pleaded a bit, excited by the idea of it. She would wear them every day until they wilted and she was inevitably forced to stop. “The most I do is put a flower behind my ear, although any amount of floral touch will brighten any mood, I stand by that,” she laughed. “I wish the king would allow everyone a day to just enjoy and welcome spring, not a soul to work in the palace,” she sighed. 

esra sighs , their head shaking as they gently squeeze the young woman’s shoulders , attempting a look of softness , of kindness , but she is no flower . instead they are something impatient , un-understanding , something avoidable . “ i know . and you won’t be . the king is many things but he would not send an army of untrained soldiers off to war , i promise you . ” not that they can guarantee this , king basradu has been less predictable by the day and the world , it feels , is something unstable . “ i’m … coping , i suppose . i’ve had these powers for most of my life , to be without them now is like missing a vital part of me . ”

Zareen gathered some comfort from the gesture, if anything it helped ground her in her thoughts. “I will have as much faith as you do in the king, then,” she nodded. She had never spoken to the man of course, but coming from a family of royal servants she had heard some...things. “Like a missing limb I’d imagine...I am terribly sorry you are going through this. I do hope things return as they once were so that you are all reunited with the powers you so expertly carry. It must take great strength to have such power and control it,” she mused, remember herself as a child and wishing she would be blessed by such a gift.

"Keon is the best! Everyone from Crysala is, but we were always so lucky to have such a wonderful lord. I adore his eyes and the warmth there, it is almost like being back home and I so miss it there."

"Careful, she would not like you addressing her so informally. It's Lady Aleyna, didn't you know? She seems a bit uptight if you ask me, but I hardly know her otherwise. Maybe it was just not a good day for her, but time will tell."