got a devil on your back so shake it out

[Straia]

sometimes we want what we want --
    -- even if we know it’s going to kill us.

The girl is an open book, but Straia enjoys her ambition. It reminds her a bit of herself when she was that age, though Straia had always known her end goal. She had been made of the dust and ash of the Chamber, and she would always bleed for it, live for it. Even now, when the Chamber does not exist. What other purpose can her second life hold but to make it again? It, and so much more.

She wants those that long for more on her side. Aela will be among the best of them.

The memory that comes to her is hardly a memory at all, but rather a sharing, and for a brief moment Straia sees herself as the girl does. Her smile grows and she nods slightly. It is a thank you and a silent understanding that passes there. Straia would do her best to help Aela on her path, though the girl would need no help with such unbridled ambition and desire.

I will share with you a secret I teach only my daughters. Act like you own the place. Act like you have already accomplished the things you set out to do. Act like you have nothing to fear. She pauses, letting the idea of what she is saying settle in. There is a complement in there too, to call Aela a daughter in some way. Not that Straia is trying to replace her family, and that does not appear to be the case, but simply that Straia will treat Aela with as much care as she does her own children. Being comes from first believing something to be true. If you act a certain way, people will believe it to be real, and eventually it will be. But more often, you need only to convince others. Truth can be a relative thing.

Aela takes her time but chooses the path Straia suspected she might and after a moment, asks for help. Certainly, though you need less help than you think. I will teach you how to be a diplomat, but you do not need me to find your voice. It is there, you know. Can you feel it?

-- straia

the raven queen

@[Aela]