She both loves and hates the way he makes her feel. He can crawl beneath her skin in a way that no one else ever has. Not that she would ever jump off a bridge for him, but the prick of his thorns is a release, letting out whatever seems to be bottled up inside of her. Pushing them that much closer, her skin parting just a bit to let in the plants that are so much a part of him. Just as the ravens have become very much a part of her.
It is that same feeling that nibbles at the back of her mind when he’s near. He’s never quite close enough. Even pressed up against her, words a breath against her ear, it is not enough. She does not move closer, but she does not move away. Instead she watches, the barest of smiles on her lips (the truest smile she really has, and rarely shows) as he replaces the tree. "Yes."
For a greedy moment, all she wants are more trees. She wants to fill all but the heart of the kingdom with pine forests, wants new paths to explore, new trees to weave through as a cat does through legs. She wants to get lost in an impossibly large forest all her own. But he is not here for that, and she will not ask. She is not that greedy. The Chamber does not need more trees, though she doubts the kingdom would complain if it were to happen.
He laughs again, and her smile grows just a hair, more mischievous now as it often is. But conspiratorial as well, because no one else need know about this. Not yet, anyway. “Oh, I am sure you can be,” she says, and she means this is so many different ways. But only one meaning is clear in her tone, because she will never let on completely. Just hints, here and there. “Should I let you fly away then?” Because she wants to set him free, let him plant seeds of doubt and start rumors. They always spread through Beqanna like wildfire.
Though there’s a part of her that’s almost afraid of the moment when he pulls away from her. She does not show it, does not say it, but she knows he may not come back. And of course, she wants him back.
straia
the raven queen of the chamber
Use of mild power playing is allowed; no injuries without permission