Phina dismounted the horse, not Blaze, since the Hyouden prince had taken him. She missed her horse, but sacrifices needed to be made. Her death on the front wouldn't have meant anything; the heir-apparent would have. The two guards who had escorted her from the front were waiting on their horses while the palace doors opened.
"You can go now. I made it here safely." Seraphina called to them while the doorman looked at her in shock. She understood that the older man looked at her as such. She knew Enzo had sent a letter before she left the front about her being discovered, but after almost a decade of living somewhere else, this was probably the first time the man had ever seen the Princess. She was 17 now, covered in dirt, and she knew she looked different, a way only war can change someone.
"Your Highness, our orders are to stay until you get inside." She closed her eyes, cursing the man she betrayed on the front lines for thinking about he reven in such a harrowing time. Still, she wasn't sure how she felt about men that she had battled and drank with, having a change in tune as soon as they found out about her title.
Phina looked at the men, giving them a single nod, knowing they were headed back to the front, before turning back to the door man. "Lucky for you, I only have the one." Phina gestured with the military bag strapped to her back before walking past him.
She walked into the palace with her head held high. The only person in her family there to greet her was her mother, still in a robe from sleeping. "Mother..."
The slap was expected. The burn of her right cheek was a reminder that she wasn't wanted here as much as she didn't want to be here. Phina had never intended to come home from her 'education.' Phina knew she shouldn't expect a warm welcome, but still. The immediate hug that followed that took her by surprise. "I'm happy you are alive." Her mother whispered, the only praise she had ever heard from the woman for her life. She pulled back, finally studying the woman that Seraphina had become before shooing her away. "Go. Your ladies will help you bathe. Tomorrow we shall discuss more."
Seraphina understood the dismissal when she heard it. One of the ladies tried to take her bag from her, but she shook her head. The bag was the only thing she had to her name, or at least what was important to her.
Seraphina followed her ladies into her wing of the palace. It was decorated for a young Princess, a title she held but didn't connect to. There was a sitting room, an entrance hall, a study, and her bed and bath in the back. The three maids guided her to the bath that was already full, hovering as she stared at the water. Seraphind hadn't taken a real bath in six months, but it felt like it should have been drawn for someone else. She was just a soldier playing at Princess. The flower petals and perfume smell felt overkill when her people were suffering on the front.
"Princess, pl-"
"Shut the ******** up and get out," Seraphina said, malice in her voice as she did. The same maid tried to interject, but Phina turned to her, "I said: get the ******** out!" Her words were a scream as the maids went scurrying. Phina chuckled to herself before sinking into the water.
"You know those two are too soft. And before you say anything, your mother said she wouldn't pay us if we left you alone for even a second. You, milady, are a flight risk."
The maid with bright green eyes and soft skin was the first person to talk to her in such a straightforward manner in a long time. Seraphina had been used to the roughness of war, but here was someone willing to speak to her like a person. She didn't mince words when she helped Seraphina bathe, or get too hurt when Seraphina couldn't hold her tongue. No, she dished the anger right back as she helped her dress for bed and sat in the chair next to the bed. The sweet maid sang her to sleep that night, and it was the best sleep she had gotten since the attack on her home.
---- "I'm not wearing that." Phina had her arms folded as her lady's maids went over her options for breakfast. Of course, twiddle-dumb and twiddle-dee had picked the most traditional and over the top Seraphina had ever seen. Seraphian was pretty sure she had never worn something that grand even before going to war.
"My lady, it was requested-" Dee started, but Phina cut her off.
"No. The fire goddess herself could have requested that, and the answer would be no. And if you ask again, it's ******** no." Seraphina walked into her closet and pulled out something that looked like it was meant to spar in, but she didn't care. She was dressed, and her hair was up before the two maids even stopped bickering about which one would confront her.
The third, Sophia, walked over and handed Seraphina her military bag. "I replaced some of the stuff in it, specifically new bandages and water. I'll have a talk with them about boundaries." Phina looked up at the green-eyed woman, a question in her eyes. "My dad came back, missing a leg. He changed, and I didn't recognize him. It took a while, but I learned, and he slowly came back to us." Sophia patted Seraphina's hand before shooing the other two maids away again.
With the sun out and the halls bright, Seraphina made her way through the palace. She followed the cacophony of noises before she finally found the formal dining room for breakfast. She stood just outside the door, thinking about seeing her family for the first time like this. She had nothing to say to her parents and even less to her older brothers.
None of them knew her, and she knew even less than that. All she knew about them were their faces from the portraits that rotated in and out of her manor. Besides that, she knew nothing about the family she would join for breakfast. Slowly, she rounded the corner, her parents sitting at the head of the table. She bowed her head before sitting in the furthest spot from them.
The servants looked nervous, and her mother was shocked at her outfit. "We had them make a little bit of everything, darling. We didn't know what you liked."
"Of course you didn't. I haven't lived here for what, 7 years?" Seraphina muttered under her breath. "It looks great, though, mother." She tried to keep the bite out of her voice before grabbing the first attendant she could.#24a23d] "Lemon tea, please, and if you could bring honey for it, that would be great. Thank you."
Phina leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her stomach, as she looked at all the food on the table. They were living in excess while her people were freezing on the front lines. She hadn't eaten this much food combined for an entire day, let alone one meal. Being home was going to be a trial.
It was far too early to be awake, but that was a thought that Micah had every morning and it did not stop Shifa from smiling down encouragingly upon the more industrious among them. It was too early to be awake, but at least breakfast would be served and he did enjoy a good meal. He did hope there would be plenty of fresh fruit and hot coffee.
Micah made his way to the dining hall where he greeted his family as enthusiastically as always. His parents were not particularly responsive, though they did acknowledge him. That was the norm; Micah’s rare bouts of excessive energy were met with calm and patient acceptance or, at worse, gentle correction. Uriel was usually more receptive and often, as he was today, the recipient of an affectionate side hug before the older prince plopped into his seat.
What a spread they had today! There were more options than usual, Micah noted with a soft hum of appreciation. He almost couldn’t decide what to have. But what was the special occasion? Yes, yes, they were the royal family, their table always held enough food to sustain a poorer family for several days, so on and so forth, but even they did not normally avail themselves of quite so much.
Micah was washing down a bite of date bread with strong coffee when a lovely young woman entered the room. She was dressed in light clothing that looked more like what he would exercise in rather than dine in, but she bowed her head and joined them at the table. Well, joined was a strong word… She might have had to leave the room entirely if she wanted to put much more distance between them. Who was she?
It wasn’t until his mother spoke, addressing the woman familiarly, that Micah’s eyes widened and he set down his cup. ”Seraphina?” He asked incredulously, a smile tugging at his lips, the prince almost not daring to believe it. He had not seen her since he was a boy! He could not have been more than ten years old when she was just snatched away for everyone’s safety, or some such nonsense. He had asked after her, pleaded for his little sister to return, but it was one of the few desires he had been denied.
In an instant Micah had leapt from his chair; if his sister would not come to him then he would go to her! ”Seraphina! It is you! By the gods, it has been too long… You are a woman now!” In his excitement, Micah did not notice the tension in the room. He could not comprehend that he was a stranger to the woman sharing their table. He threw his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek; he had missed her and that was all that he knew at that moment.
”You are staying, aren’t you? I have missed so much; I want to hear everything!”
Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2025 9:11 am
talking★thinking
There were two things that Uriel looked forward to every morning: breakfast and Micah walking in with the radiant joy that always brightened a room. He returned the morning side hug when it came. The thought of a day when his brother projected anything but was a terrifying one and could only mean something truly horrific had occurred. Few and far apart were the pleasant conversations he had with their mother during their first meal of the day and it had been like that since he returned home from the war. He could never tell if it was because of their father’s presence or her own disappointment, but never asked. So instead he filled up on tahini nut buns and tea and when he wasn’t talking with Micah, he put his nose into whatever small book he brought with him. Breakfast would end eventually and he could go somewhere else and be away from their parents.
A new though familiar voice came into his ears. Like he’d heard it before but it sounded different. When he looked up, he saw the same thing. A woman that could be no older than his nineteen, with a face that he felt if he did not figure it out soon, he’d end up hurting the both of them with his forgetfulness.
When she addressed their mom as mother, Uriel looked at her more pointedly, astounded by the sight. “Seraphina…” the name slipped right out. Though fuzzy he could still remember the last time he’d seen her face to face, back when they were only a fraction of how grown up they were now. He was filled with joy at seeing her yes, but under his skin was a grating resentment that was no stranger to him. The inside of his lip found itself between his teeth because he didn’t need to cry or accidentally set his book on fire. Which, oh the inconsistencies of their parents' decisions. But just as quickly as she appeared, she was disappearing. Hey wait, where was she going?!
Uriel closed his book and looked at Micah, who had picked up on Seraphina’s identity too. He followed his lead and without a word put more baked goods on his plate before moving down to the other side of the table. It made sense now why there was more food that morning. Even with his hollow legs he'd never be able to clean off everything that was provided on a normal day let alone today. He took the seat opposite of Micah’s beside Phina while he sung her praises and showered her in brotherly attention. As much as he wanted to do the same and give her a long overdue hug, he held off to see how she would react. It was loud and animated but never exaggerated and that was the best thing about it. ”I hope she is.” He commented then looked at their sister. ”Please say you are, Seraphina. It’s been forever and I almost didn’t recognize you…” He admitted.
”Did your trip here go smoothly? Whe– when did you get in? It was from the family manor, right?” Uriel remembered going there exactly one time, before Phina was sent away.
OOC: The Dawoud siblings drawing lines at the breakfast table!
Seraphina didn't remember much about her childhood with her brothers. She was so young when she was taken to the manor that it was hard even to recognize the men in front of her. She was seventeen, still a baby even after coming off the war front, but the eldest of the Dawouds was still as excitable as ever. She often thought of him like a puppy, excited to see anyone who would pay attention to him. Micah was sunshine and rainbows found physical form. Uriel, on the other hand, was much quieter. He held a book, and she found comfort in his lack of energy.
A scowl for the prior's antics was forming on her lips as the servant returned with her tea, and she even pulled up one of her legs to fold into herself as she started to add the honey. However, Micah figured it out first. His question about her name, while Uriel was more sure it was her. Still, Micah was the one to reach her first. His arms were around her, and he kissed her cheek before she could push him off.
She stood still, trying to tame the snarl from her lips. Nobody was meant to touch her so casually, even if it was her eldest brother. When she was finally set down, she shook her head and sat beside Uriel, who had moved closer. There was a look of disbelief as he questioned her existence.
"You want to hear everything?" Seraphina questioned her older brother while sitting up straighter and looking right at her mother. "They sent me away since I didn't have control over my fire touch, and I've been there since I was six. About six months ago, the village around the manor was attacked, and I pulled out dead bodies, mothers off of their children, and killed every Hyouden I could get my hands on."
She paused, shaking her head. "I then took the horse that Enzo gifted me, since he was the only person who would visit me, and made it to the front lines. I celebrated my seventeenth birthday in a firefight with Hyouden and drinking with Enzo. Where father's men were cold, hungry, and broken!" She yelled the last words before sitting back and taking a few breaths.
Seraphina counted her breaths as she was taught. She shook her head and looked at her father with the same anger, but her voice was quieter this time. "I was finally discovered as Princess Seraphina Dawoud about a week ago. Enzo had me sent back, since I was more at risk with my identity known."
She turned to her brothers, but it was Uriel she spoke to. "I fought tooth and nail to stay on the front with my people, but Enzo won in the end." She looked down, trying not to remember the look of betrayal he had when Ivan got away. "Anyways, how has it been here? Looks like you are living in the life of luxury, while your people starve and give their lives for a war that our father refuses to try to end."
She leaned forward, looking at her father again. "You could at least do me a favor and send supplies to that front. They deserve it." An eerie calm came over her as she stared down her father, waiting for the family's reaction.
Talk color = #24a23d
Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2025 3:36 pm
Micah did not notice at first just how averse Seraphina was to his touch. He did not at first see the scowl that she was trying to tame. He was so happy to see his sister again that he could perceive nothing else but the fact that she was really there, truly within his reach, for the first time in years. She asked if he really wanted to hear everything and Micah did not hesitate. ”Yes, of course!” He even crouched down by her chair, not bothering to find a new seat of his own. He was quite comfortable where he was.
That Seraphina was sent away he knew. He still remembered being inconsolable for days. It was not until he was older that he knew why, and he had argued with his parents upon learning the reason. Surely Seraphina didn’t have to stay away forever; surely she had gained some control in the passing years. What Micah had not known was where she was sent to or what had happened there. His pale eyes widened when Seraphina spoke of an attack on the village where she was staying. Of having to extricate the corpses of mothers still curled protectively around their deceased children.
He wanted to turn to his parents, to demand to know whether they had known of this occurrence. They had said nothing! Seraphina could have been killed, and still they had said nothing? But the tale was not done and Micah wanted to hear everything. Even the parts that stung.
It hurt to think of Seraphina facing death head on with no one there to comfort her. Micah still remembered the first time he had seen one of his comrades fall in battle and it had not gotten much easier to handle since then. He could not even imagine seeing unarmed civilians dying in their homes under enemy attack. He could not blame her for wanting to do something, but joining the war effort? Fighting and drinking and facing the worst horrors of the front, far from the comforts of home?
At least she was not entirely alone. He would have to remember to show Enzo his appreciation for being such a stalwart companion to their misplaced princess. Was that a part of their parents’ plan? Was that why they were so unconcerned that they felt no need to inform Uriel or himself? No, that did not seem to be the case… Not if he had sent her back the moment her identity became known.
The accusation should not have been surprising, but it was. Did she resent them? For still living in the palace while others suffered and died outside it? Noticing that it was Uriel she was speaking to, Micah intervened. ”Uriel has not been long returned himself. Father sent him to the front to fight.” It was in his nature to defend his brother. It was just as much in his nature to defend his sister. He simply gave no thought to defending himself; besides, of the three of them, he was the only one who had been given a real choice. He could have remained in the palace, in the lap of luxury, blind to the suffering of their people.
Seraphina glared down the table at their father and Micah felt a lick of worry. Father was not a man to take a challenge lightly, least of all from a woman. Even his own daughter might not escape his wrath if he was in a mood. Micah rose to his feet and rested a hand on the back of his sister’s chair, careful not to touch her again but still wanting to be close. He smiled toward his parents, shoving down his misgivings about Seraphina’s treatment.
”What say you, father? It could only boost morale. All the better if we send aid to the families they fight for as well. Some food and water, temporary homes for the displaced; nothing too taxing to provide but it would be everything to those without. Perhaps enough so to endear you to the people despite their losses.” Micah wished he could believe that his father would agree out of the goodness of his heart and because his daughter had asked it of him, but this was the man who had sent that daughter away for years and never looked back on that decision. Better, he thought, to make Seraphina’s suggestion seem eminently practical, beneficial to him, and low in cost for the return.
The snarl that Phina presented to Micah’s celebratorious affection was signal enough for him to tread lightly. Being that the day she was ripped from them was heartbreaking, the day they were reunited was supposed to be the opposite; more exuberant, was it not? Too great and naive of a wish, but one he carried the whole time nonetheless. The energy that radiated off their sister was anything but, and she’d not once had shown any joy. Not even the faintest of smiles or a spoken word that matched. Uriel waited like Micah to hear what she had to say, but leaned back slightly with unease when he noticed the way she started to stare across the table toward their parents.
War touched her too when the entire time he believed her to be safe and sound, away from the travesties it spread. At least, that was the tale he spun for himself. The air grew heavier and he stared with increasing disbelief as she shared detail after detail. He exchanged a brief glance with Micah. Was he hearing this right? No amount of basic training prepared him for being thrown head first into the havoc and loss he had to weather. More than once he discovered the remains of someone he’d shared drinks with nights before, while the images of fire-ravaged farmlands he helped destroy still weighed on him. To hear that Seraphina found herself fighting for kingdom and survival and that she was exposed to so much was gut wrenching. Like Micah, she should not have been out there. Uriel looked over to their parents and dark brows furrowed at their lack of reaction. Were they even paying any attention to her?
“...where father's men were cold, hungry, and broken!"
The cry that came out of her was a little startling, but what hit him harder than her rage were the words themselves. Except for broken, the descriptors of ‘cold’ and ‘hungry’ were not ones he ever recalled using in the letters he wrote home. In fact, when his camp had excess supply it was spread to the surrounding ones that were having to tighten their belts. Uriel’s mouth moved like he wanted to say something and he looked at their parents again before looking back to their sister who was collecting herself.
If he could, he would have given Enzo the biggest hug he could offer for being the everpresent knight he was, and for sending her home, far away from enemy lines.
Uriel gave Seraphina a bewildered look when he found she set sights on him and announced charges. While there was no denying the unpleasant truths between themselves and their subjects, he recognized the barb for the unfair accusation it was. And he nor Micah did anything to be so deserving of it, not that they ever had the chance to begin with! Their brother beat him to the punch with a statement in his defense. One that was simpler and more neutral than the one he considered making himself. Micah had swooped in over the years to protect him more times than he could count. Even when it came to the war, he’d acted in similar fashion in his defense.
And seeing how she was unloading her anger with a sharp tongue, Uriel interjected before she could turn it onto their older brother. “Micah fought too, Seraphina. He volunteered, went to the front lines and…” Would she even know what he meant if he mentioned the key to Jamal’s capabilities, and all that it entailed? Such devastation and burden for anyone involved… He said the latter part of his defense more quietly, his head down and staring ahead at the empty space on the table. “Shouldered a great responsibility for our sake.”
Seraphina’s request sounded reasonable, especially if what she said was true about her part of the front lines. How is it one part of the front could be well stocked like his, but in dire straits like hers and by extension Enzo’s, who was still out there? It made no sense and in fact sounded counterproductive to the cause, if he was right to believe his camp was receiving preferential treatment on account of him being a prince. The thought had his eyes hardening with his own inflammation of anger. Had then his people fallen into the same level of hardship and deprivation when he was discharged? Uriel posed a question to his siblings. “My camp didn’t have those problems. Were there others that did? Besides yours, I mean.”
Micah wasted no time backing Phina up by packaging what she wanted in a way that would reflect well on their father. With how their parents were able to order their morning meal to be furnished with more food, could they just as easily order and cover the cost of aid to their people? Uriel rolled his lips, pondering a second before he spoke up and threw in his two pence. “And extending aid to other parts of the front line would strengthen that result.” His standing with their father, all things considered, might have been no better than Phina’s. For all Uriel knew he either tanked the attempt or helped it. He did not move from his seat, but he did place a hand down on the table near Seraphina’s place.
From across the table he could see both their mom and dad, who listened with silent indignation. Their father leaned over and muttered to their mother, whose face twisted cold with embarrassment in response as she looked back at them. “We’ve barely begun to break our fast yet all three of you are already trying my patience with your grievances.” The older, graying King spoke with clipped words and warning. “What have any of you done to believe yourselves any position to have a say? Have you claimed any major victories for our Kingdom? Won the war? Sired any heirs?”
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