I am not afraid... I was born to do this.
The scent, ever familiar, clings desperately to the soft lining of her nostrils. She follows it like a hound dog, ravenous and determined. It leads her from Nerine, across rivers, hills, and forests. The scent guides her into a place that she hasn’t seen in years, not since Magnus held the crown comfortably upon his head. But now it’s someone that protects monsters and disregards common formalities. It’s someone she has seen once prior in Hyaline.
Offspring, she remembers.
His scent is most prominent here. It mingles alluringly with the acrid smoke of the volcano. Memories rush back to her, and she holds a steady silence for a while to relive those days. Dahmer, Lucrezia, Magnus… Their names tumble around freely, untethered, but it’s with another lungful of Offspring’s scent that she shakes away the images of the past. She calls for him then, her voice level and her expression stoic and unreadable.
Aggravation rips through her core, but still she holds an eerie calmness. He had thought to slip into Nerine as though he would be undetected. Certainly, Nayl saw him. Very little happens without her knowing, but she saw Tantalize with him and so she didn’t investigate. She duly noted their meeting before slipping back into the dunes, her eyes narrowed in mistrust. The only thing she could do then was wait, bide her time until he abandoned his unwelcomed place among the sisterhood to return home.
And here he was.
Nayl waits until he heeds her call and sates her need for the company. She stands placidly at Tephra’s gates. She dulls her spiteful edge to look at him and address him more formally than to make a fool of herself, not allowing the frustration to rise as it had in Hyaline.
”What business did you have talking to Tantalize at Nerine's border?” In most cases, she wouldn't care. Everyone has personal conversations, private agendas, but her mistrust in him is evident. It gleams in her autumn-colored eyes when they meet his. "Last we met, I found out you housed a boy that burned Hyaline. I can only wonder what would bring you to Nerine now."
queen of nerine
daughter of covet & myrina
daughter of covet & myrina