CASIMIRA
dragon-shifting daughter of ashhal and ryatah
There is a relief that washes over her when Mazikeen reassures her that everything in Hyaline is fine. The tightly coiled muscles under her skin loosen, and the frown that had shadowed her face clears. For a moment she almost feels ashamed that she had only assumed that the Hyaline queen was here to deliver bad news; she hated immediately jumping to such a negative conclusion, but given the recent circumstances, she supposes it is not all that surprising. “Oh,” she breathes out on a soft exhale, forcing a smile once again to her face. “That’s a relief,” she tells her honestly, because she knows she does not have to explain anything to her. Mazikeen knew better than most all the things she had been through—had been through even worse things than her, in fact. Casimira’s family had only been caught in the crossfire.
“It sounds like congratulations are in order,” she continues, the glacial blue of her eyes seeming to warm slightly, grateful to move on. “I’m glad that it sounds like things are going well for you, and that Hyaline appears to be on the path back to normalcy.” She tries to ignore the twinge in her chest when she thinks of the mountain kingdom. She had never thought there would be a day that her heart was split between two kingdoms when for so long nowhere at all had felt like home, but now, she felt such a strong pull towards both Hyaline and Tephra that it sometimes felt as if she was being cleaved in two.
“Things are going well here,” she answers thoughtfully, casting her gaze around the jungle that surrounds them. “It’s strange, being a queen. I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.” It was one of the many reasons she is grateful for the return of her mother. Even though she knows she can — and has — ask Atrox for advice, it is comforting knowing that she had Ryatah to go to. No one understood the political games that Beqanna liked to play quite like her mother did.
“I promise I don’t intend on challenging you for anything,” she says with a quiet laugh. “I like to think that Tephra and Hyaline are allies.” It is spoken as a statement, but there is no mistaking the questioning lilt when she says it—looking at Mazikeen expectantly, hoping for confirmation.