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  • Beqanna

    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


    I’m still waking every morning but it’s not with you, Leilan
    #1
    you were a vision in the morning 
    when the light came through,
    i know i've only felt religion when i've lied with you ;

    ______________________

    Chryseis hated admitting when she had made a mistake, and therefore, she put it off for as long as possible. 

    It had started as a mild ache in her bones, and a general feeling of malaise. It was easily ignored, and stubbornly she continued to explore the rivers and valleys just as she had always done. She would sleep it off, she had decided, so that neither of her parents would witness her being sick and think that she had the awful disease being spread through Beqanna. And, she knew Breckin was pregnant, and the last thing she wanted was to get her sick. Staying away from everyone she cared about seemed like the ideal solution. 

    It was only a matter of hours before she realized how terribly wrong she was. 

    A cough settled deep inside her lungs, bringing with it a stinging pain and a lingering ache. Her body trembled in the cold despite the feverish heat that had taken over her, and as she lay curled beneath a lone tree near the Nerinian border, she realized she had to find her father. Briseis was too far away, but she knew Leilan could take care of her just as easily. Mustering what little strength she had, she awkwardly heaved herself upwards, her slender legs trembling as they fought to bear her weight. With glassy eyes she looks around, and the task of finding Leilan in such a massive kingdom seemed impossible. What if he wasn’t even here? What if he was at the Isle? Maybe Rhaegor was still here, she muses silently to herself, although she was certain his attention had already drifted elsewhere. 

    Ignoring the blanket of fatigue that had enveloped her entire body, she begins the tiring trek to find her father. By some absolute miracle, it doesn’t take her long, although the hour that had passed had been excruciating. She stops for a moment, watching him, fighting back the wave of guilt that crashes over her. What if she got him sick? But at the same time, all she wanted was for him to tell her that it would be okay, because right now, she felt like this illness was going to kill her. 

    ”Dad?” Her voice is hoarse from coughing, her throat raw, and the single syllable is strangled as it struggles to leave her mouth. Slowly, she walks towards him, and even though she wants so badly to curl against his side, she refrains and instead stops a few feet from him. ”I...I don’t feel very well,” The words are hardly spoken before a vicious cough takes hold of her, wracking her entire body, and to her complete alarm, bright red blood sprays the ground below her. Her eyes widen, panic beginning to creep in as she looks to her father, her voice nearly a whimper as she says, ”I’m sorry daddy, I didn’t mean to get sick. Where’s Breckin? I don’t want to get her sick, too.” She is backing away from him as she talks, glancing around quickly for the spotted mare. Tears immediately spring to her eyes, and when she looks back at her father they are streaming apologetically down her face. 

    chryseis.
    and i'm still waking every morning but it's not with you


    @[Leilan]
    #2

    Leilan
    Glaciers melting in the dead of night
    and the superstars sucked into the supermassive
    He’ll always regret being caught up by the Isle’s politics, and today will be the worst. It’s a good thing that he never sits still, so even now, or now already, he spends the majority of his time swimming back and forth and checking on both lands. He remembers his promise to Camomila wryly. I’ll probably guard this island as much as I do Nerine - it’s just a matter of if you want to have a say in exactly how I will do that.

    The sight of her is such a sorry one, he nearly drops everything he has planned. On the other hand however, it is a reminder of why he needs to continue to do it - despite the growing dreaded feeling he gets from it.

    She’s sick. He can see that from this distance, cursed with sight beyond that of a normal horse; but she’s looking. She needs help and she knows it, even if it has possibly taken her as much time to admit that, as he would have. He smiles a little, not knowing if he should be happy or sad that she takes after him so much. He knows she has that same insatiable curiosity, the wanderlust, the will to travel and meet all wonders of the world, and the same reckless way of doing it. She’ll get into trouble sooner rather than later; at least this time it’s something cureable. Or, manageable. In a way.

    She holds back when she finds him, but there’ll be no such thing. This Plague can be cured, he thinks, and that’s exactly why he had continued on his quest (once he had realized what the goal was). For his family, he’ll do anything.

    He closes the distance while she’s still muttering, whimpering like the little girl she is (she’ll always be his little girl, in his eyes). He doesn’t need to hear the excuses. He has been worrying a little too much about his children’s safety, for him to care if she had been looking for trouble or if the trouble had been looking for her. Instead he grasps her in a hug, not wanting to let go of her and certainly not wanting her to bolt, but then retreats to look at her. ”I’m glad you made it back. But you know Nerine’s no safe place either, and we’re all at risk of catching this illness - so don’t worry, if it’s not you then it will be someone else. Breckin moved to the Isle,” he says, ”Temporary.” he grins at the girl; he doesn’t think she had noticed yet with all her own wanderings and troubles. ”But @[Brennen] is here. Perhaps he’ll have time to attempt a healing.” Surely she would accept that kind of help, now?

    you set my soul alight
    HTML by Vanilla Custard


    @[Chryseis]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
    #3
    you were a vision in the morning
    when the light came through,
    i know i've only felt religion when i've lied with you ;

    ______________________

    Relief floods through her, like a warm heat that spreads in her veins and all throughout her body as her father pulls her close. Trembling with fever, she nestles her face into his mane, and despite how much she has grown, she still transforms into a little girl when curled into his side. ”I should have gone to the Isle when everyone else did,” she says remorsefully into his shoulder, biting back the tears of self pity that burn in the back of her throat.

    There had been a part of her that expected her father to be angry, angry that she had been stupid enough to get sick when could have just stayed in a safe land. She is almost certain she knows who had infected her, but she doesn’t regret it — it wasn’t Rhaegor’s fault, and instead of walking away when she had realized he was ill, she had pulled him closer. She had been sick by the next morning.

    Her father had stepped back to speak to her, but she steps back even further as the urge to cough begins to build in her lungs. Her entire chest felt bruised from the force and frequency of her coughing, but she can’t keep it from happening. There is no blood this time, but it is enough to make her eyes water uncontrollably. ”I miss Breckin,” her voice is meek and pathetic, sounding every bit like the sick child she is as the tears spurred by her coughing fit trickle down her cheeks.

    Resting her head once more on Leilan’s scaled shoulder, she listens to what he says about Brennen. She doesn’t know him, but she trusts her father; more than she trusts anyone. ”Can he make this cough go away?”

    chryseis.
    and i'm still waking every morning but it's not with you


    @[Leilan]
    #4

    Leilan
    Glaciers melting in the dead of night
    and the superstars sucked into the supermassive
    She's blaming herself, but he doesn't blame her. Heck, she could have gotten it anywhere. "You'd have missed out on everything else in the world, baby girl." Some risks are worth taking. Like the one he's planning to take (not knowing he's already infected, since he doesn't show, he can only assume that venturing out there is a risk). And so, like she, mentally, didn't blame her boyfriend, he doesn't blame her either.

    A vicious cough overcome her again, and he tries not to show her how much it worries him, yet of course, even if she doesn't see it she'll probably feel it. His eyes trail over her body, stopping at her mauled shoulder, a wound still relatively fresh there. In fact, now that he's inspecting it more, there are multiple marks. One sharper toothed - but he sure as hell hadn't - and one more blunt. He's about to say something about it, when she says she misses Breckin, and he nods; pulling her close once more. "She worries about you, since we haven't seen you for a while." His worried glance goes from shoulder back to her eyes when she asks about Brennen, and he nods. "Brennen's the former king of Ischia, he earned a magic trait in the Alliance. All of Ischia moved here, and he's General of Nerine now. If he's not too busy, I'm sure he can help you." he puts confidence in his words, giving the girl a slightly too-wry smile as he realizes he hasn't seen the man around too much. "Or we'll find another healer to ease your pains." he adds, and shrugs.

    A deep breath follows. "Your shoulder must be aching, too." he says then. He eyes her a little sternly. Wondering if she's going to tell him now. Was she ever planning to? It's out now, though. She'd better come up with some explanations.

    Good grief, he'd never thought he'd have to fear for someone... exactly like himself. But now he does. She deserves better than her mother.

    you set my soul alight
    HTML by Vanilla Custard


    @[Chryseis]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
    #5
    you were a vision in the morning
    when the light came through,
    i know i've only felt religion
    when i've lied with you
    and i'm still waking every morning
    but it's not with you
    .

    She is far too distracted by her symptoms to notice the way her father is staring at the array of bite marks on her shoulder; the ones inflicted by Ivar and Rhaegor. Neither of them had been out of malice (to her knowledge), and so she has given little thought to them. All she seems to notice now is how heavy her lungs feel, the way it hurts to cough but she can’t seem to keep from doing so, and how her nose constantly drips blood. The smile that she offers her father is a watery one, her eyes still glittering with tears that don’t fall, but she nods her head in somewhat reluctant agreement. ”I guess so,” But he knows her far too well. Not wanting to miss out is exactly why she was like this. Chryseis had never been good at staying in one spot, in being confined by borders and lines; there was always something else happening somewhere else, and it wasn’t the same hearing about it versus living it.

    Her lips are mindlessly rubbing against a scaled spot on his shoulder, still fascinated by the strange texture, frowning a little when he mentions that Breckin had been worried. ”I’ll go see her. I’m already sick, I’m sure I won’t get worse.” She says it with a laugh, another bloody cough sputtering from her lips, but she ignores it. She doesn’t know of any other healers, and currently she is accepting her fate as being sick forever.

    He mentions her shoulder, and she glances backwards. The bite left by Ivar had been deeper than she originally noticed, and after she had left the river she had found it odd that it seemed only then to ache and throb. Even though it had not bled profusely, it was deep enough to leave a thickened scab that was easily distinguished against her roan coat. Rhaegor’s mark, while also drawing blood, had mainly bruised her skin. It is this one, however, that made her face suddenly feel hot, not daring to tell her father just exactly how she had earned that branding. Somehow, admitting a kelpie had bitten her was a lot less daunting than telling him she had willingly been letting a boy kiss and bite her. ”Umm...yeah, I guess it hurts a little.”

    Diverting her eyes, she pretends to study something in the distance, doing everything in her power to ignore the way he is scrutinizing her. When she finally can’t take his relentless stare or the silence anymore she finally sighs, a noisy and flustered sound, knowing that he wasn’t going to let it go. ”Okay, one of the bites is from Rhae, but we didn’t, you know...do anything?” She still refuses to hold his gaze, only flickering her eyes to him nervously now and then. This was absolutely not the conversation she wanted to be having with her father right now. She didn’t even really want to have it with her mother, either. Deciding it would be better to immediately switch the conversation, she adds a bit too nonchalantly, ”The other one is from Ivar. He’s a kelpie, did you know that? But, I don’t have scales like you.” A thought strikes her, tipping her head slightly as she thinks aloud, ”Maybe he wasn’t really a kelpie. Maybe he lied. No, he was covered in scales and had sharp teeth. I’m pretty sure he was a real kelpie.” She nods her head decisively, satisfied with her own convincing, and oblivious to the fact that she had just given her father two reasons to ground her for life. Again.


    chryseis

    @[Leilan]
    #6

    Leilan
    Glaciers melting in the dead of night
    and the superstars sucked into the supermassive
    To be honest, Leilan is rather happy to be the father of Chryseis, even if she doesn’t know it. Lucky with her mother not blaming him for her existence, and to have found them again in the river that day. But most of all the girl reminds him of himself so much, it’s easy to predict what she will do if he’s not looking.

    Well, most of the time.

    She’s still a girl where he grew up a boy and perhaps up until now that didn’t matter, but he’s made painfully aware of this fact, because of the marks on her shoulder. Already claimed by not one, but two stallions, both not giving him the decency to come meet so that he knows they’re serious about it, that she’s not some object to be claimed for any random herd - and that where he was still thinking of her as a young as a young girl.

    But she is a teenager now. She could, potentially, find boys her age attractive. Still they shouldn’t use her as some chew-toy. If they wanted her for real, they could come ask him, or at least meet him.

    Chryseis talks about Breckin some more - she is, in this aspect, growing up a bit. It’s slightly sad to see her man up, and talk big, when she’s still so young. But of course she wouldn’t see it that way. When he ran away from home himself (granted, triggered by his parents’ deaths), he was even younger, so she probably thinks of herself as an adult.

    He stares at her, trying his best to be neutral while she goes through several visible and invisible stages of what’s best called self-loathing and admitting. One of the bites is from a certain Rhae. She’s smart to add that she didn’t do anything with him, and so the scaled roan clenches his jaw and looks at her some more until the rest spills. She seems to have a hard time with it - Leilan’s not sure if it is about Rhae still or about the other bite.

    Her nonchalant tone is quite enough intel at this point, and he outright starts glaring. Ivar, he repeats slowly and with emphasis, ”is a real kelpie with really dangerous tricks. Not to mention three or four times your age. And you let him mark you as his prey? Do you want to be his fucking broodmare, Chryseis? Or rather let him drown you? You’re bloody lucky to be alive at all! Do you want to be Rhae’s herdmare for that matter? Sucking it up with some twenty other girls? You’re not some fucking object to be claimed! I won’t have it. In fact, you’re grounded. If this boyfriend of yours wants to visit, first thing he’s gotta do is come see me. And you’re going nowhere near any kelpie again!” Nearly growling now, he pushes past her, making sure to block her path should she try to run elsewhere. ”You’re my daughter and it’s time you started acting like one. That means you tell your family about where you are going, so if you need rescuing, you won’t end up drowning all alone. From now on, you’re to stay here in Nerine or Icicle Isle until I can trust you not to go dying.”

    you set my soul alight
    HTML by Vanilla Custard


    @[Chryseis]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |
    #7
    you were a vision in the morning
    when the light came through,
    i know i've only felt religion
    when i've lied with you
    and i'm still waking every morning
    but it's not with you
    .

    There is a part of her that knew her father would get mad. He had warned her not once, but several times, to not go searching for kelpies on her own. There was also a part of her that suffered from the misconception that he could never get too mad at her. She was his baby girl, the first born; how could he possibly stay mad at her when she looked up at him with doe-eyes and long lashes, and now with blood dripping from her nose and mouth? She was cute, and sick. The perfect recipe for softening him up.

    It turns out he could, in fact, still get pretty mad.

    The more she talks, the colder she can see him growing, his gaze hardening until it is ice as he glares at her. By the time she is finished, the tension that has built between them is so thick she nearly chokes on it. The way he says Ivar is her first hint that she has done something wrong; not being bitten, necessarily, but the fact that she told her father about it. Her own muscles draw tightly underneath her blue roan coat, clenching her jaw until she fears her teeth might crack in an effort to keep from interrupting her father’s tirade. There is a moment of heavy silence once he has finished, her dark brown eyes smoldering when they capture his own.

    ”First of all,” Her tone is taut, making every effort to not disrespect him in her attempt to explain her side, even though the muscles in her shoulders are trembling. ”I am no ones broodmare, or herdmare, and that wasn’t either of their intentions. Ivar is just a friend. He never tried to do anything to me, or get me to go anywhere.” She takes a steadying breath, then, trying to figure the best tactic to describe Rhaegor. ”And Rhaegor isn’t like that. He is one of my best friends, we grew up in Hyaline together. He is Kagerus and Solace’s son, and he is not with twenty other girls.” There is an indignant toss of her head, her eyes narrowing at her father as she says this. She was the only one allowed to be suspicious of Rhaegor — if anyone else tried to say anything negative about him, she would adamantly defend him. ”I never brought him to you because I didn’t want you to be mean to him. You’re already accusing him of something and you haven’t even met him yet.”

    There are so many words that remain unsaid, so many thoughts at war in her brain, but instead she falls silent. She knows to dispute his demand that she stay here or on the Isle would be useless, for now. Eventually, he would have to realize she was nearly an adult — and if her choices broke her heart or got her killed, she could be the only one to blame.


    chryseis

    @[Leilan]

    So if you want, this could be the end of the thread? Since they are overlapping with the current thread. Unless Leilan feels like needs to say something else haha
    #8

    Leilan
    Glaciers melting in the dead of night
    and the superstars sucked into the supermassive
    She never once asked him why - why kelpies are so dangerous. It’s not, like she seems to suspect, their teeth or their ability to swim, and breathe underwater - it’s the hypnotic way that they are attractive, making one forget they are capable of drowning someone, luring them in the water. The only reason Chryseis hadn’t been taken in his opinion, was either she was too young to be attracted like that (though, the way she speaks about her boyfriend suggests otherwise) or perhaps the kelpie himself had taken less interest in her still youthful look.

    And she thinks him a friend.

    Really?” More calm than he is, and she knows it - the same way she speaks in a too-cold way, too. ”He didn’t invite you home? You don’t have the crazy stupid idea to go and follow him at all, some time later? Join him in the water? Friend! You’re too bloody naive for words. Of course he doesn’t outright tell you if he’ll kidnap, fuck and drown you. Doh!”

    He shakes his head again, not believing how stupid this girl is. Even stupider than him, he thinks. Although that’s probably, technically not true (he’d followed Deiti everywhere back then), but at this point he can’t find himself to care.

    ”As for this boyfriend of yours,” he continues flatly, ”Clearly he learned no manners. He doesn’t visit either of your family, so to me that looks lile he doesn’t care - and don’t you use me as an excuse, you never told Breckin or your mother either! Marks like that don’t say ‘I love you’, Chryseis. They say ‘I own you’. Perhaps if he’d ever had he decency to show his face this would have been different. For now, I stand with my decision. He can visit if he wants but you’re not going away from home. Pretend to be an adult all you want, but as long as you don’t convince me, you don’t get the freedom of one. End. Of. Discussion.

    A sigh follows, and the roan stallion looks past her, through her, as if her brain might just be lying out there. That would solve everything, but unfortunately, nothing is there. If this Rhae of hers never shows up, then he’ll have to find time to go visit him instead. Get a feel of him - perhaps his little butterfly is indeed the one, but even if she isn’t, he’d better know that breaking her heart will result in the breaking of some, several, or all, bones.

    Perhaps she was right that he would be mad at this guy, or perhaps she wasn’t, but by not even telling him about it, she certainly has found that one way to make 100% certain he is indeed, very mad at the boy.

    And her. Let’s not forget that, too.

    you set my soul alight
    HTML by Vanilla Custard


    @[Chryseis]
    He has plenty words but he’s not gonna listen to anything else she says probably (:
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
    |




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