CASIMIRA
i’m only whatever you make me
The sound of Claudius’s voice causes her to turn, twisting her pale head around to take him in. She smiles around the orchid in her mouth, delighted to see that he had made it. Even though she cannot say that she knows him especially well, there is still a kinship in knowing that he had lived in Tephra during her reign, and of course, the fact that they share blood. Carefully setting the orchid on the ground in front of her, she says with a shake of her head, “No need to apologize. Tephra has been gone a long time, and I think she would gladly wait for anyone willing to climb the mountain to complete the task.”
She follows his gaze to the tree, and while it may not be something that holds special meaning to her, she can clearly see by his expression that it is something dear to him. And that, she thinks, is part of what makes places like Tephra so grand — the fact that each of them could look at a different part and think that this this is what made Tephra home for them, and putting all of those pieces together is what creates the larger picture the rest of the world sees. “I think that will be absolutely perfect,” she tells him earnestly, her own heart now elevating with renewed hope.