08-26-2015, 01:41 AM
Oh, this is necessary, very necessary. If pressed, Kushiel could give no possible reason for why he had to drag Elysteria away from her meeting. Most of his ideas moved through him like a wave, briefly registering with his brain before taking action, for all intensive purposes, on their own.
Some men believed in logic and reason. Kushiel believed in his gut. And his gut told him that his was a great idea. So far, he hadn’t been wrong. Granted, she wasn’t have a great time yet, but she hadn’t immediately flown off. Kushiel graciously counted himself as ahead.
At her hissed rebuke he just grinned a little more. She would come around.
He had mainly been teasing her about Ramiel, trying to see how far he could push it before she got really mad. Apparently, he had found that line. He could see that he had disturbed her, the extent of it, however, had surprised him. He had come to expect subdued responses and reluctant, sometimes resentful, courtesy from Elysteria. To his growing pleasure, she gave him a real answer, rather than a diplomatic party line.
“Your nephew, huh?” This conversation had quickly become quite interesting. He took a moment congratulate himself on his truly excellent instincts. Sure, he never applied them to anything productive, but Kushiel knew is way around a conversation. For example, he knew that you didn’t get to the good stuff without asking a few awkward questions. Kushiel just liked to skip over the bullshit. Namely, the trust building and small talk. Hoping she wouldn’t clam up again, Kushiel continued.
“So, is that why you follow him with such tedious determination? Because he’s family?” That, at least, was something he could understand. If his mother decided she wanted to be a queen Kushiel would have no choice other than to hoist the flag and rally the troops. He would complain mightily about it, but he would do it.
“Would you still follow him if he wasn’t?” Now that, that was the real question. Kushiel watched her with avid interest, excited to understand what it was, exactly, that made this mare tick. He was so wrapped up in unraveling her that he wasn’t prepared for the party line that followed. A second ago he had been talking to Elysteria, now he wondered if he had found the diplomat again. He groaned loudly, theatrically, dramatically in protest. He threw his head back in a way that was bound to convey the depths of his frustration. His surprise caused his response to be sharper than it otherwise would have been, and in a way, much more real.
“Sure stoicism could be considered a compliment, but it’s not! When you think of your king is that what you want to see? A granite slab who rouses himself to say something long suffering when it is required?”
When Kushiel thought of a king all he could see was passion. If he loved something as well as a king should love his kingdom, he would burn the whole world down before he let it come to harm. It was a good thing he didn't love anything so well.
But still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Elysteria shared some of his passion, if not his utter recklessness and folly. He wanted to see what she was like when she wasn’t playing the pleasant diplomat. He wanted to see what happened when she forgot to be nice. If he hit too many more nerves he might get his way.
Kushiel
some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall