[PRP] Among the Roses (Margaery & Davina)

[xo maho]

This is a private roleplay between Margaery Tyrell (Mahogany Sunset) and Davina Mo Nighean Donn (Nyx Queen of Darkness).
They are being roleplayed as foals.

 

[xo maho]

The flowers around her perfumed the sun-lit air with sweetness, their golden petals almost sparkling in the light of day. Beneath the trees that sheltered them from the harshest sunlight, the roses and the Tyrell family grew strong. Margaery's cousins had reappeared after a trip to she knew not where, and she was practically wiggling with excitement to see Davina again.

Sometimes they played at being sisters, since the filly was the closest thing she had to one, but they didn't fight like sisters. At least, Margaery didn't think they fought like sisters. When it came to fighting, she and her litter-brother were the best at arguing, but her father had never allowed her brothers to touch her. Battles of intellect were different from physical battles, and Margaery had had to train her body in other ways. Like right now - she had a bucket of water clamped between her teeth, ready to offer to her cousin to wash the dust of the road from her throat. If there had been any dust on the road, anyway; she could have gone anywhere. Wherever she had gone, Margaery was ready to hear all about it.

Nyx Queen of Darkness

Kawani Highgarden reference - flower beds are dug in the shape of a rose.

 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

It had been a long journey from the herd of Lys. Davina had gone to see her father, Tregor Ormollen. And her mother Lynesse. But it was her father she missed desperately each time she left. She doubted if her mother even noticed she was missing.

From Lynesse, she had gotten the color of her eyes, her markings, her hooves, and the soft yellow of her wings. But it was from her father that she got her wind feathers and her brown hair like melted chocolate. From the moment she'd been able to, she'd bound her hair up like his. It was not graceful, her mother Lynesse said. It was not becoming of a lady.

That was always when the fight began, when she reminded her mother that she was not a lady--she was a concubine. It was only her father that could stop the argument from escalating, separating them. "It's only natural, two such beautiful ladies should fight. There is too much beauty for one room."

But this time when she went to Lys, she found out she would not be going there again for a long time. It was for love her father said. In Highgarden, she could find a good, faithful stallion not someone like him. Despite her pleading, he insisted. Tregor wanted to give his daughter the world.

So he had fashioned for her talberds, made her her own house. Silks the colours of her eyes, of Amazonites and thicker darker material just the colour of his hair. So she would not forget him, as though she ever could.

House Ormollen.

Davina's throat felt parched as she weaved her way through the roses to find Margaery. She wanted to find her cousin, her best friend and confidante. She wanted to weep and smile with her. The dust from her travels covered her finery and filled her throat, but when she saw Margaery. None of that mattered.

She ran to her cousin with a cry. "MARGAERY!"  

[xo maho]

Margaery's cheeks hurry so much from trying to smile that she had to put her bucket down. "Davina!" She called back to her cousin, leaving her cheek briefly into the other filly's. "how was Lys? Oh, but first have some water. It must have been so long a journey! How are your parents? How long are you going to be with us?" Her mind was rioting with questions -but then she spotted Davina's tabards. "wait, you can answer all those later. You're wearing colors! What happened?" It must have been something exciting. Davina had never worn colors that she could remember, so something had changed.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Davina leaned against her cousin, the burn of tears threatening to fall for a moment. She took a long drink of the water her cousin gave her before she answered. "My father gave me colors, told me he'd make me my own house." She smiled, the tears leaking down her face. "You know how he is. But he says it exists, so House Ormollen does. There's so many houses, most wouldn't know anyways. The blue for my mother's eyes, the brown for his hair. So that I won't for-forget him."

She bit her lip, choking back the tears that threatened her. "I'm not to go back, I'm to stay here with you. Make a good life, unlike my mother." The words were bitter in mouth. "As if, I could forget my father, as though it wouldn't hurt to be gone from him. But he says it's better this way."

Better, but it hurt so bad. "Oh, Margaery."  

[xo maho]

Margaery stared at her little cousin, speechless. "You're... you're not to go home again?" she murmured, instantly closing the space between them and nuzzling Davina's neck. Tears welled in her own eyes. "But he will come visit you, won't he? He has business here. He has to." She smiled weakly and backed away to look Davina in the eye. "But you will have a good life here, and you're a lady now, with a House and colors!" Her smile turned to a grin. "I'll bet you young lords from all over will be clamoring to meet you. Did your father decide on a sigil, too? We can pick one, if not. One that's... appropriate, for a lady of your standing." Margaery's eyes sparkled mischievously. There were so many sigils they could pick! And they might actually have a say in what it was, instead of being born into a house and having no choice.  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

There was solace here with Margaery. She would miss her father dearly, her mother not so much. But she would stay here in Highgarden with Margaery and that meant something. She was the only one in the Seven Kingdoms that she loved as much as her father.

She dried her eyes and blushed at the compliment. The prospect of having her own house was exciting and terrifying. Davina gave a sniff before she smiled. "He says he paid enough for me to design it however I want, he was only adamant about the colors." He's bought the world for me, but it is a world without him--an empty. But he had given it with such love in his eyes, she had to honor the gift.

"No," her voice was soft as she nudged Margaery's cheek. "He won't come here again. He doesn't want to ruin my chances."  

[xo maho]

Ruin her chances? Margaery's brows furrowed for just a blip of a second, and then her smile fell back into place. "Well, if he will not come here, he will be as proud as ever of you from afar. And he will love you just as well. Now, for your design~!" She singsonged the last word, smiling widely at Davina. "Do you have anything in particular you want it to convey? Whatever you decide on for your words, we can choose a sigil that works with them."  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

She saw the look that Margaery gave before the mask came back in place. "No masks for me, sweet cousin. This was bought with gold and tears. I should remember that. I am from Lys." She paused, her eyes looking around the garden at the sweet roses growing and giving off their heady scent like the perfume the herd she came from wore in their hair.

"In Lys, they make a poison, you know. My father always reminded me of that. Sweet, he would say as though drinking the best water you'd ever had. He said if anyone should harm me, they'd wish for the tears of Lys. Try as I might, that's all I can think of anything but that. My words will be a reminder of what my father has bought me and at what cost. It will also be a warning. Tears are a mare's weapon, stallions think that. Sweet as Sorrow, I think. And something to honor you by, you're my family now. All I will have for a long time. Please, will you allow it?"  

[xo maho]

"Well then," said Margaery, pursing her lips. "Since you have so well caught me, I must admit to not knowing why your father coming back here would ruin your chances. If he is a merchant prince, the people here will think you a princess. Surely that is an advantageous situation?" The little mare rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "But it makes no matter." Her smile came back to her face, more genuine this time. "You may be Lyseni by blood, but you are a Tyrell the same as any here." Margaery followed her cousin's gaze to the roses. And an idea sparked.

"You are a Tyrell rose, sweet and soft with a thousand thorns to defend you, along with the weapons of your people." Taking a deep breath of the fragrant air, Margaery proposed her idea. "What do you think of a golden rose within a teardrop?"  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

"He will not come because of my mother." Davina bit her lip a moment, "Technically, she is still wed by the sight of the Seven. Which would mean that here I am a b*****d. He will not allow me to be called that, not here or there. So he says he will stay away." Because he loved her, because he would not have her harmed by the mistakes of he or her mother had made--mistakes according to this society.

"There are those here who would know my mother for who she was if I mention her. They are not a quiet people," she smiled a little sadly.

When Margaery proposed her idea of a golden rose inside of a teardrop, Davina's heart soared. "I love it, dear cousin. Simple to look at, but woe to those who try to pluck us from our lives." She laughed deeply. "What would I do without you?"  

[xo maho]

Margaery could not hide the way her nose wrinkled at the mention of her aunt and the "shame" the mare had brought to her family. "If only we knew the customs of the Dornish herds. They'd welcome the whole lot of you..." Her mind strayed to thoughts of the legendary herds, where foals played in warm pools among fruit trees, a hot oasis of paradise where all were welcome to their own affairs and no one batted an eye at even the strangest relationships. "What would you do without me?" she asked incredulously, laughing. "Dear Davina, you are a Tyrell rose. You would grow strong, even among adversity and amidst cold winter." She did not say that she imagined that it felt like winter was already upon her poor cousin, to have her family separated as it was. "But it is no matter, what you would do without me, for I am here, by your side." She nudged her cousin in the shoulder, smiling again. "Now, what would you like to do first here?"  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

The though of the Dornish herds and their legendary water gardens made her smile wistfully. They were a very nonjudgemental herd, something that she thought she would rather than all these customs. But Margaery was here and her place was with Margaery.

"Maybe one day we'll go there. We'll see the Water Gardens and eat fruit until we feel we might burst." Maybe one day they'd take that journey together.

Her heart soared at her dear cousin's words. She was one of them, always. "Can you show me what has grown and changed since last I was here? It seems an age, the same but also all new. Or maybe it's just now looking at it like it's home."