i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Printable Version +- Beqanna (https://beqanna.com/forum) +-- Forum: OOC (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=24) +--- Forum: Archive (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=81) +---- Forum: Lands (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=98) +----- Forum: Loess (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=88) +----- Thread: i see trouble on the rise | Castile (/showthread.php?tid=26465) |
i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Lepis - 03-28-2020 i feel a bad moon rising Talk to Castile, Straia had said. Talk to him, as though that were a simple request. A month ago it would have been; there were few creatures in Beqanna that Lepis trusted like she did the piebald. But now? Now, with the rumors (many confirmed) of the burning north? Now, with the changes that she’d brought to Loess in his absence? Lepis is not ashamed of her actions, and she can only hope that the same is true for Castile. She stands on a red precipe, easily visible from the sky, and sends out a mental call. [Uncle?] is the unspoken word, silent and strong. [Uncle, it is past time we talk.] Settling her wings to her sides, the dun mare looks down at the kingdom that spreads below her. Her kingdom, as it had once been and is now again. She had told the magician that she had wanted peace, and some part of her knows now that Loess peace, regardless of what it might have embroiled itself it at any given time. She has Loess, and for now that is enough. For now. @[Castile] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Castile - 03-30-2020 and underneath the layers, I find myself asking what's left a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was castile @[Lepis] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Lepis - 03-31-2020 i feel a bad moon rising Lepis had not realized she’d grown accustomed to his dragon form until Castile lands as a horse. She blinks her storm-blue eyes, the only outward sign of her surprise, but then her gaze narrows. He’d been stuck as a dragon, he’d said, and now he is once more a horse. Had the fairies released him, then? She wonders. Or had he freed himself? The sternness in his expression is not unfamiliar to the blue-pointed pegasus, but she is no longer a child to be chided for her misbehaviors. Once he had the right to correct her, to turn her back to the correct course when she veered away. Those days are long gone, and the relationship of uncle-and-niece had become one more akin to siblings. "You burnt the North," she says, and despite the weight of the statement there is no condemnation in her tone. She merely waits, searching his familiar mismatched eyes for some acknowledgement of his actions. "You burnt the North." Lepis repeats, whether he confirms it or not. "The place might have needed a bit of heat, but I doubt that setting the Icicle Island ablaze will reflect well on Loess." See what you’ve done, she says without saying the exact words aloud, without adjusting the cool tone of her voice. "Shall I attribute it to Fairy Madness, then?" Lepis asks, but it is clear from the way she continues that she does not expect an answer. "That’s’ what I’ve told myself must have afflicted you, at least. What beyond the supernatural would have you think informing me of your succession through Ilma was a good idea? The woman cannot keep from meddling in places and things that do not involve her, and you thought her an appropriate messenger?" Now there is something in her voice, incredulity creeping in despite her still expression, disbelief tinting her words. "and Oceane? Really?" Lest he think her dubious of the woman’s ability (for Lepis thinks the striped mare will make a fine leader) she continues without much pause. "She was captive in Pangea. She is captive in Pangea. Making her queen while in their possession would have weakened Loess. It was not acceptable." Her intent in calling him here is complete. He was owed an explanation, and now he has one. Lepis is satisfied, and she waits for a reply with her mouth drawn in a thin line. @[Castile] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Castile - 04-04-2020 and underneath the layers, I find myself asking what's left a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was castile @[Lepis] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Lepis - 04-05-2020 i feel a bad moon rising I heard you the first time, he says, and while she doesn’t roll her eyes, she does let out a quick huff of breath. Lepis very much doubts this will be the last time he hears the accusation, but at least he seems to have understood. That’s all she wanted, really, and she dismisses it with a flick of her own white-tipped tail. His assurance that no one was killed is reassuring. This time, the quiet breath she releases is relieved. The last thing that she need was death on her conscious. Or on her reputation, come to think of it. Doubly relieved then, at least until he speaks of his opposition, naming the man who had so recently shepherded Alcinder to safety and the fox-friend that Lepis had reassured not a year past that Castile was not the monster the Tephran war made him seem. It’s over and done with, he says. Does he think that will fix things? She doesn't reply, uncertain how to do so without pointing out the foolishness of his assumption, and she is grateful she does not, for when she glances up it is to a curled lip and flashing eyes. The snarl that accompanies his demand is met with a sudden coolness in Lepis expression. The dun mare had not hid her emotions from him until this moment, and they slip back behind a still mask that reveals nothing. She is calm, stoic even, when he demands that she share the glory, that she carry out the demands he had made when king, when he accuses her of letting Oceane rot in Pangea. Lepis does not respond when he makes his excuse. It is an honest one, but nestled between the same rash sort of thinking that had gotten them both into this predicament in this first place. The scales that ripple along his sides merit a single glance, but there is no fear in her eyes, there is nothing at all until he verbalizes the decision to get her back himself. "You will not." She says, each word a crack. Her blue mouth pulls into a thin line, and her grey eyes meet his. For all the burning emotion in them, she searches still for some semblance of the man that she is still sure he is, buried deep inside this madness that still has not left him. "When I visited her," she says, forcing the words to come more slowly than the first, observing him carefully for a reaction to the fact that she’d already been to Pangea. She has already taken steps that he accuses her of ignoring; she does not have to make excuses. Her actions speak for themselves. "She was fine. Since the Loessian people wished for an end to the conflict with Pangea and her captors were uninterested in releasing her, the situation was not escalated." Has he so quickly forgotten what was said by the very people he had led? By those she now leads? "They hold two of our people Castile. They murdered two others. Do you truly think Oceane will appreciate being rescued if such an action endangers this entire kingdom?" She won’t, Lepis’ expression says, and she knows that if Castile would release his stubborn pride, he would know it too. She might be able to stop him, she thinks, if she were to fill his mind with the proper dose of emotion. Exhaustion and confusion and fear, enough to keep him grounded, thoughts of theft and battle far from his mind. But she does not trust the reaction of a dragon to equine emotion, and she will not risk endangering the rest of the kingdom to keep the former king from making more mistakes. "You’ve picked a fight with the North and the West in setting that island on fire, and now you want to resume prodding at the East when they have finally given us a moment’s peace?" She shakes her head, the mask of emotionlessness having fully fallen away as she speaks, replaced by one of incredulity. "If you insist on doing this, you do it alone. Play white knight for your lover if you feel you must, but do not expect Loess’ help or gratitude." With that she steps back herself, her head still shaking in a nameless emotion. It’s not quite disappointment, not quite sadness. There is a moment in life when one realizes that those who raised them are not perfect, that they are flawed in a myriad of ways. It had happened early with Heda – Lepis had never known her mother to be perfect, but it has taken decades for her to feel it toward Castile. It is not a comfortable feeling, but she does not replace it with another. Better to acknowledge this one, she knows. Better to feel it, and to let it make her stronger for the ache of it. @[Castile] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Castile - 04-05-2020 and underneath the layers, I find myself asking what's left a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was castile @[Lepis] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Lepis - 04-07-2020 i feel a bad moon rising Oceane has been in Pangea long enough. Lepis does not disagree. Any time in captivity is too long for her friend. That most of that captivity was under Castile’s rule, and that the entirety of Alcinder’s was, Lepis does not bring up. It lingers at the forefront of her mind nonetheless, held back behind the knowledge that casting blame will do none of them favors. The control over her expression that she has relinquished returns as Castile argues with her, claiming that the West and Nerine were not involved. He set fire to a territory belonging to the north, and was opposed by a Western leader, and he wants to argue that they were uninvolved. Let him thinks so, she thinks; he is not the one that will have to deal with the blowback. The dun mare’s ear flick forward at the mention of Leilan taking over the island. Well, she thinks, at least that means Jesper hadn’t made it back in time to be endangered by the destruction. What will become of the northern island? She allows herself to wonder for a brief moment. She’d told Dracarys that a visit there would include an offer of aid, and now it seems that Loess owes their new leader a boon as well. Lepis hasn’t forgotten the bronze dragon’s return of Alcinder, after all. At the word ‘funny’, her attention turns back fully to Castile, who still seems determined to fault Lepis. If it wins you favor, he says, and for a moment she is uncertain what he means. Favor? The accusation that follows, that she must want Oceane as a captive to cement her claim to rulership, only further adds further clouds. Oh, she thinks. Oh yes. The theft of Brennen and Jesper. The pensive look she gives him is surely not what he expects after the accusation, the coolness in her expression requiring no effort. He thinks she ordered that theft to gain favor? Lepis? She does not need favor. She’d wanted them to weaken the North, and to use as a bargaining chip. She’d have released them both the moment she’d gotten what she wanted, yet the theft of Brennen had failed, and the very horse that she’d wanted the magician’s assistance with had been the one to successfully sneak away with Jesper. The Tod of the Icicle Isle had no purpose in her plans, which was why her first action after assuming power had been to release him. Castile continues in what she can only assume is an effort to provoke her. He’ll disobey her, he says, he’ll do his best to cause strife between Oceane and Lepis. Lepis sighs, and shakes the long hair of her navy mane. "If you don’t want to be treated like a child, Castile, then perhaps you should stop acting like one." With that and another shake of her head, she takes a second step away, flaring her own wings to catch the wind and depart. @[Castile] RE: i see trouble on the rise | Castile - Castile - 04-07-2020 and underneath the layers, I find myself asking what's left a hollowed out form, the skeleton of a ghost, the pitiful echo of what once was castile @[Lepis] |