you can hear when the heart stops
 | HELLO DARKNESS, MY OLD FRIEND
Pangea was nowhere near as familiar to her as the Chamber had been. It was growing on her, to be sure, but she was more attracted to the potential that these undbaked lands held. And it seemed that making her plans more public had a secondary effect. She was easier to find now that she’d stepped out of the shadows and into the sun. And with what, familiar faces had begun to appear. This, more than anything, emboldened the shadow-mare.
And it was familiarity that she detected today.
She’s not surprised when she sees him. The familiar painted shape was the same from her memories. She began to close the distance immediately, even though such was unnecessary when magic flowed through their veins. Magic they had both won in the name of a kingdom that now lay dead somewhere deep beneath this new Beqanna.
“Would you expect any less?” she asks in reply, a small smile blooming on dark lips. Time was precious, even to those it does not touch. She was tired of letting such an important resource just trickle past. She was never meant to be an observer.
The shadowmare is genuinely pleased to see him, which in itself is significant. There are few she holds in such high regard - few she has fond memories of. Set is certainly counted among the few. As time drags on, the list dwindles. Time has not been kind to them - those born of the old world. But here they stand in Beqanna born anew, living and breathing as they had before.
Things with Set had never been complicated. Anaxarete luxuriated in the fact. Too often relationships became muddled and confusing. But the pair had never breached such territory. He was never hers to love, and she was never his. It had been apparent from the very start. But respect? Lust? Admiration? Power? Surely that wasn’t a foundation to be scoffed at. It was that ease that trickled back now - even after so long.
“We may be creatures of the old world, but that doesn’t mean we need to sit quietly and observe, now does it?” It had been a revelation of sorts for her. She couldn’t bring back the Chamber, nor could she fully cope with the loss of it. The shadows had sealed the wound, made her strong. She may as well build her own place in this strange new world than simply become a relic living within it.
With her strength restored, the ambition came flooding back. She wasn’t one to stand on the sidelines. And she knew he wasn’t either. Which did make her wonder why he had come. For companionship? Or for something more?
“It’s good to see you, Set,” she says, wearing the same dark smile. It was a simple sentiment, but genuine all the same. “It’s not the Chamber,” she says, inclining her head towards the somewhat stark landscape of Pangea, “But we’ll make something of this place. One day.”
“We could use you.” she adds, simply, her icy gaze returning to Set’s golden eyes. The invitation is not subtle. I could use you, is what she could have said. But she knew Set better than to assume she knew his intentions.
A N A X A R E T E |
image credit
YAAAAAAAS!!!
@[Set]
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