09-02-2015, 02:08 AM
Kushiel nodded seriously, as if contemplating a reprimand from a monarch. Perhaps, that’s what he should have been doing, but the bright gleam of his eye gave him away. Kushiel would probably look like the devil during the sternest of dressing downs. All fire and wicked delight. It was a skill he perfected as a child. He had a high threshold for criticism. The trick was not preserving his delicate, fragile heart, but rather piercing his thick, smothering coat of self regard. Straia looking very queenly, had insisted she wasn’t trying to charm him. Well…they would see about that.
“Oh, but my dear, you needn’t try. Trying has nothing to do with it.” He grinned wickedly, implying that she charmed him whether she tried or not. Kushiel was only joking in his usual, reflexive way. Most of what he said was true if you were willing to ignore the humor. It was another trick he’d learned as a child. You could say anything if it was funny.
What was that old saying? A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down?
He laughed, full and throaty at her critique of his hair do. Hey, he could take it, and that sniff had been rather queenly.
“Well damn. I’m just shit out of luck then, aren’t I?” Kushiel’s hair was almost always burned, and in this moment it was worse than it usually was. But still, he maintained that it had been worth it. There was something about Straia, something sparkling and dark that was much more fun than a responsible ruler. He decided she was probably a riot when she wasn’t trying to rule a kingdom.
Responsibility had a way of doing that to people.
And apparently, the Chamber had a way of hypnotizing people. To that he could attest. There was no other possible explanation for why he was here, prepared to be useful if truly pressed. Until then, he was happy to live off the hospitality of a perpetual flame source and sweet spring grass. If he wasn’t careful he’d grow fat off the grass and drunk off the fire. Then we’d see how truly useful he could be.
“If everyone you rule over is mad we should call you the Queen of Fools, rather than the Queen of Ravens.” He could line of several adjectives for Straia and fool would not be one of them. Nor did she seem like the type that would suffer fools gladly. But she had said it, not him.
He looked at her carefully. As if he was attempting to see into her soul, trying to see what made her tick. He had heard that mystery was a form of power, and if so, it would make sense that she worked to maintain an air of it. Better the keep them guessing? But no, her answer had been alarmingly to the point, it was certainly nothing he could laugh at. So he tucked into the conversation with only a bit of resignation.
“And on that day, will you be relieved or disappointed?” Kushiel had no expectations for how she would answer his question. It was an honest one, and he thought a valid one. How could you not be relieved? When you completed your life’s work and could turn it over to someone else. When you could live a life that was your own and pursue selfish pleasures everyone else took for granted. Would you be happy to live a life entirely your own, or sad to lose the power and sense of purpose? Kushiel had never felt such a sense of purpose, he didn’t know how the loss would be borne.
“Oh, but my dear, you needn’t try. Trying has nothing to do with it.” He grinned wickedly, implying that she charmed him whether she tried or not. Kushiel was only joking in his usual, reflexive way. Most of what he said was true if you were willing to ignore the humor. It was another trick he’d learned as a child. You could say anything if it was funny.
What was that old saying? A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down?
He laughed, full and throaty at her critique of his hair do. Hey, he could take it, and that sniff had been rather queenly.
“Well damn. I’m just shit out of luck then, aren’t I?” Kushiel’s hair was almost always burned, and in this moment it was worse than it usually was. But still, he maintained that it had been worth it. There was something about Straia, something sparkling and dark that was much more fun than a responsible ruler. He decided she was probably a riot when she wasn’t trying to rule a kingdom.
Responsibility had a way of doing that to people.
And apparently, the Chamber had a way of hypnotizing people. To that he could attest. There was no other possible explanation for why he was here, prepared to be useful if truly pressed. Until then, he was happy to live off the hospitality of a perpetual flame source and sweet spring grass. If he wasn’t careful he’d grow fat off the grass and drunk off the fire. Then we’d see how truly useful he could be.
“If everyone you rule over is mad we should call you the Queen of Fools, rather than the Queen of Ravens.” He could line of several adjectives for Straia and fool would not be one of them. Nor did she seem like the type that would suffer fools gladly. But she had said it, not him.
He looked at her carefully. As if he was attempting to see into her soul, trying to see what made her tick. He had heard that mystery was a form of power, and if so, it would make sense that she worked to maintain an air of it. Better the keep them guessing? But no, her answer had been alarmingly to the point, it was certainly nothing he could laugh at. So he tucked into the conversation with only a bit of resignation.
“And on that day, will you be relieved or disappointed?” Kushiel had no expectations for how she would answer his question. It was an honest one, and he thought a valid one. How could you not be relieved? When you completed your life’s work and could turn it over to someone else. When you could live a life that was your own and pursue selfish pleasures everyone else took for granted. Would you be happy to live a life entirely your own, or sad to lose the power and sense of purpose? Kushiel had never felt such a sense of purpose, he didn’t know how the loss would be borne.
Kushiel
some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall