↘↘↘ let there be -- war ♞♥♚

[Winterling42]

As if puzzled by her faith, Julian frowned. The expression was not directed in any particular direction, except perhaps himself. "Sometimes all I have is a burning urge to leave it all behind," he admitted quietly. "Find someplace where I am entirely unremarked upon, or at least not stepping between so many swords." After a moment he shrugged and cast his eyes around the room as if searching. "I wouldn't make it out of the palace."

[zombliez]

Amelia looked at him thoughtfully before asking, “Do you fashion yourself as a coward?” The young woman did her best to keep her voice light but there was no denying the underlying edge to it.

She of course knew the feeling he was talking about—the desire to leave and be left to one’s own desires. But that wasn’t the world either one of them had been born into, by whatever cruel devices of the universes that made it so, they were born here. Now.

She didn’t agree that they had to become slaves to their positions but she didn’t agree that those positions should ever be left without solid reasoning. A feeling of hopelessness wasn’t really a solid reason—it was an excuse and she knew that more then she would care to admit to the man sitting next to her.

Quietly she said, “I’ve always wanted to be a knight, I never had much of a desire to be Queen or King.” Her words were careful as she continued. “But now, my brother is dead and I don’t really have a choice in the matter. If I were to ever be permitted home…I would have to make the best of my situation.” It was a fleeting thought for, a small hope that perhaps wasn’t actually a hope at all. She knew that she would never escape the elven kingdom. She knew that she would never really take up that post but she also knew that if she had too, despite her reluctance, she would.

She finally added, “As I’m trying to now.” Her voice had reverted back to it’s normalized emptiness—tone was only used for special moments and occasions at least when not speaking her home language.

[gingerprincessannie]

At the look of sadness on Ceath’s face, she felt a pulling in her chest. “It’s alright,” she reassured him, removing one of her hands from the back of his neck to place it on his chest. “We’ll figure something out.”

[Winterling42]

Julian rejected the sharp instant of indignant reaction to her question; he had deserved it. Still the verity in the question hurt more than it should have. He did less to banish the frown that crept over his face as the sharpness of the question was subsumed by his consideration of it. Was he? No one likes to consider themself a craven. Perhaps he had considered running away, but the essence of it was that he would never leave. He had chosen this life, and it was only his to live.

And how could he have forgotten who he spoke to? Would she not like more than anything to run away, to go home? Julian compared his cage to hers, and remembered that the gilded bars of his own prison were a much prettier fit than hers. "I'm sorry." He offered, knowing it was not enough.

[zombliez]

Ceath gave his princess a quick, reassuring smile, as if that would be enough for the both of them. He of course still had no real way of knowing the map of the land but Aneira didn't seem to have any suggestions either. So without haste he wandered aimlessly in the woods, hopeful that he would come across something, anything. Perhaps a grove where they could lie in the grass and immerse themselves in one another or a field of flowers in which they could hide while cuddling.

xx

Amelia wasn’t quite sure what to say, “I’m sorry” didn’t cut it. The words were too polite and too empty no matter how many people attempted to fill them with meaning—no matter how many people were actually sorry the words were never going to be enough.

There was a strange wetness to her eyes and it was almost too late for Amelia to realize that she was on the verge of crying. Her breathing was shallow but forced to remain steady. Excessive blinking was the only options she had to keep herself grounded and she wasn’t entirely sure that would work either.

It was sudden to her then that she had no real idea of what was happening at all. That she hadn’t really taken the weight of the situation until this moment and it made her more vulnerable still. She shifted carefully in her seat, craning her head away from Julian’s sight as best she could manage. She couldn’t leave and part of her was glad for this fact, the last thing she needed to be was lonely but the embarrassment of her current weak state made loneliness seem like a pleasantry.

[Winterling42]

She twisted away as if he had struck her; hiding herself as she had since she came. But her mask had not lasted long in a single conversation, and Julian was torn between a longing to know what lay behind her cold flatness and an honor nearly painful in it's demands that he leave her be. She did not care for him, nor for his prying. She could only hate that he had brought her here and would not leave the slight defenses that were all she had in this court. She could only hate him.

All his mind screamed to send her away, to let them both draw back. It was a small corner of his mind that clung to the danger she really was in. And within that curtained-off section he hated himself again, because it was not his own suggestion but Kindle's that she stay hidden. The part of him that was glad to have an excuse to keep her here, the part that was relieved to take an order, even from Kindle.

"I could never match what you have accomplished," he said, having let his own thoughts run away from any coherent thread of conversation. "Perhaps I am more coward than I thought." His voice even caught on the last word, making the sentence truer every moment.

[gingerprincessannie]

The shade under the trees was cool and the deep, wet smell of the forest surrounded them. The scent of life, of things living and dying and being reborn. Aneira inhaled deeply. It wasn't at all unpleasant and the farther they got from the palace, the more relaxed she felt. For how could Magnolia know? Surely they were out of her range. Surely she would never know. The ginger woman repeated it like a prayer in her mind.

"That way." Aneira's voice was sudden, startling even herself in the quiet of the woods. She reached out a hand and pointed between the trees, a faint path marking the ground. "I recognize this way, there's a clearing not far from here." She looked up at Ceath with certain green eyes. "It's secluded, quiet, and I'm sure we're far enough from the palace now," she said as though she was trying to convince herself too. "Don't you think?" She glanced back despite herself.

[zombliez]

Amelia stared at Julian for a long moment, not sure what to say. She was never sure what to say and it seemed to be eating at her nonstop. She did think him a coward and yet, a part of her knew he was one of the bravest men she had ever met. She hated him for it. She hated him for being kind to her, for being respectful. She hated it more than she hated it anything. To see how moral, how kind her captors were was one of the worst things she could have ever imagined experiencing. And yet, here she was.

With a gentle voice she finally said, “Perhaps you’re not a coward but instead a fool.” Her eyes were made of steel and she folded her arms quietly across her chest. “Only a fool would defy his mad Queen for a [i[slave.” She said the last word with a bitter tongue. “That is what you’re doing, you know? Not telling her about who I am.” Amelia’s eyes fell to the floor, her grip tightening. She knew he was aware of it, it had already been established and yet she felt the need to remind him once more.

“Unless of course you’re doing it for him.” Her eyes turned towards the door and then back to Julian. “But I don’t believe you have any obligation to him just as he has none to you. Or so that is how you both have made it seem.”

x

Ceath looked down at his little princess, eyes bright with a smile to match. His feet followed to where she commanded without hesitation, as did his heart. “I’m sure we will be fine, my darling.” His voice was soft, careful, as he dared to call her anything but her proper title. It was frowned upon in most societies, especially when done before marriage, but he could not think of anything better to call her. He couldn’t think of any other way he’d want to address her. If only he had been back in his home with his true title could he make such a claim.

Without much realization they hit the spot in which she spoke of. Hidden by trees and covered in flowers it seemed like the perfect spot for him to woo her. He looked to her and asked, “Is this the place?” He hoped she would say so for it was beautiful beyond compare. He felt a twinge of betrayal by himself for finding it more magnificent than his own land but kept it a secret that would not leave dead lips.

[Winterling42]

“To Lord Kindle? Or however he might style himself next. I would not ally myself with such if given the choice.” Julian shrugged, his distaste evident. Dwelling on her last statement was better than dwelling on her words before. He honestly had no way to answer her, but perhaps it would be clearer to him if he tried to speak his reasons aloud.

“As for my foolishness… It has been a trait well noted in my family.” He shifted in his seat, made uncomfortable more by his words than by his position. “I think that, just possibly, I regain part of myself when defying her. There are too many here who are wholly her creatures; I do not wish to be one of them.” He kept behind his teeth the true reason for her safety, the reason blooming in his mind even now. For you I would betray the world above and below. Still, his feelings would not allow themselves to be wholly silenced. “Your life is worth far more to me than her favor.”

[gingerprincessannie]

Her heart had leapt when he called her his darling and her face broke into a smile. So caught up was she that she almost didn’t hear the question that left his perfect lips and so there was a brief silence before she answered.
“Yes,” she replied, looking around in recognition. The trees, the flowers, it was all how she remembered it. Like a dream made real. “This is it.” She looked up at him, her heart racing. She loved the feeling of his arms around her, and never wanted him to let her go. She reached a hand up to his face and touched his cheek gently as if to guide his face down to hers.