arthurivns

[arthurivns]

@velarls​

❝you’re not supposed to be down here...❞ something sharp and shiny flitted across percy’s irises, gone as soon as it’d come, as his boots scraped against the last few stone steps. of course, he wasn’t supposed to be there either, but he’d never seen anybody else around before. truthfully, he hadn’t expected to be caught because no one knew the castle better than him. percy had made a point of finding all the secret passageways and exploring every room of the castle when he’d first come to camelot. he’d found some secret places in the nearest village, too. really, if there was a darkened nook around, he’d find it. one could never have too many spots to brood, after all. ❝are you?❞

poor fucker, he thought as he scanned the chiseled face before him through the few slivers of light that slipped through the holes in the stone walls, he must be lost. percy licked his lips. recognition hit his brain like a bolt of lightning. ❝you were at the council meeting. you’re one of the fae.❞ truthfully, he knew well who the man was. he’d taken note of him several meetings ago. but he wasn’t one to admit to such things and his brooding session had been put on hold by said man’s presence. percy crossed his arms over his chest. ❝i should see you back...❞ 

[arthurivns]

velarls​:

there was an intensity about the woman that left rhys curious. he wouldn’t lie - she was pretty too, which certainly explained part of the attraction but she’d been so quiet at the meeting, the few words she had spoken having been heard by the entire room, everyone stilling at her voice. there was an obvious power there and rhys had always been intrigued by power. not in the hungry way that’d left prythian so vulnerable, forcing them to seek an alliance with camelot in the first place, and not in the way that other certain high lords were, desperate enough to lock their girlfriends up in pretty cages and make alliances with monsters. but rather in the way that one powerful being recognized another, in the way the sun acknowledged the moon as day faded to night. much to his chagrin, he was staring, rhys refusing to let her words ruffle him, the dark haired man leaning against the doorframe. “ i was, but i’ll unfortunately admit that it’s been quite a bit since i was last reminded. ” pausing a moment, he pushed himself from the wooden frame. “ i couldn’t help but notice you said very little at the meeting, and yet, still managed to get everyone to listen. i was wondering if there were more thoughts you had, but were unwilling to share in front of everyone else. my own advisor seems too excited about the food being served tonight to be of any real use. ”

nimue was bewildered. she had observed the high lord, as she observed everyone else, and had found him to be much like arthur and his knights. he was presenting a very different man to her, now. the biggest contributor to her bewilderment was the realization that he had sought her out. no one sought her out, with the exception of lancelot, and of arthur when he had come to her to learn more about excalibur. he had not sought her counsel since. and why would he? she had no experience in running a kingdom, she was a foreigner to camelot, and she wasn’t even human. rhysand, like arthur, was a ruler. it didn’t make sense for him to see any value in her opinion on matters of state. it didn’t make sense. 

watchful, wary eyes scanned his frame. she saw nothing that would clear the fog he had created. ❝my voice isn’t often heard. that makes it more noticeable. there’s no trick, if that’s what you’re looking for.❞ nimue shrugged, the mundane gesture more fluid and elegant than it should’ve been, ❝if you’re looking for an advisor... i’m not one. i’m only on the council out of courtesy.❞ nimue’s brow began to raise slightly. ❝i hope you weren’t expecting me to have any kind of sway with arthur?❞ 

this was more than she usually spoke. it was more than she wanted to speak. but his unexpected and unannounced arrival at her door had sparked more curiosity than she could contain. the shift in his behaviour might have, possibly, also drawn her in. nimue knew better than to attempt to connect with anyone that roamed camelot’s halls. many were gossips. a political ally was, perhaps, worse. her hand lifted from her side and her fingers skimmed across the leather cuff on her wrist. she did not drop his gaze although she wanted to. ❝it’s also rude to come through someone’s door uninvited.❞ 

[arthurivns]

velarls​:

@arthurivns 

“ see, princess, that’s the thing with deals. ” jacks hummed, idly twirling his dagger around his fingers, sharp blade flashing in the candle light that filled the chamber. “ you get something and i get something i want in return. ” cruel smile found his lips, eyes cold and unfeeling still as he smiled at her. “ and the problem is…. i don’t want anything from you. ”

❝how could you possibly know that?❞ though her voice strained, and the sharpness of his gaze was turning the blood in her veins to ice, elaine would not back down so easily. she would not simply swallow his contempt for her, for her oh-so visible emotions, as she had so many times before with so many men before him. her pain was too great, this time. ❝you don’t know me. you don’t know me at all. you couldn’t know what i have to offer.❞ 

she lifted her chin although her eyes stung and her hands felt as frail and fluttery as a butterfly’s wings. ❝i’m not asking for much. i must be asking for less than most people.❞ how many could have come to him for something as objectively minimal as wanting to forget? elaine licked her lips, fisted her skirts, and stepped forward. ���you mistake me for a fool... i am in the sense that i give my heart away too easily but i am not when it comes to understanding desire. for every deal you’ve made, i’ve had twice as many hearts poured out to me, poured out in tears, in whispers, in sighs, in laughs.❞ 

her own heart beat faster than a hummingbird’s wings. ❝there isn’t a person in the world that wants for nothing. there isn’t a person in the world that has nothing to offer.❞ her voice drifted into an almost-whisper but it was as unrelenting as steel in its conviction. outstretched fingers ghosted over his blade and slipped around his wrist, soft as flower petals. elaine held his gaze even as the breath began to leave her lungs. ❝i won’t ask what you want like the rest.❞ now, she whispered, ❝what do you long for?❞

[arthurivns]

velarls​:

@arthurivns 

almost exasperated sigh left her lips as she saw him there again. lancelot just didn’t quit, did he? really she wasn’t sure why he hadn’t taken the hint yet; gwyn certainly hadn’t encouraged him - in fact, more the opposite, having made it perfectly clear she wasn’t interested. lancelot had a reputation around court for sleeping around, loving then leaving just as quickly. really, if gwyn wasn’t still a virgin, incident at sangravah be damned, she still wouldn’t hae been interested, no desire to get caught up in the mess that was lance, no matter how pretty his curls were. “ didn’t take you to be such a quick reader, ” she murmured, raising an eyebrow. could bryaxis eat the knight already? “ thought you were illiterate actually. ”

lancelot hummed thoughtfully. ❝and i thought you were less judgemental.❞ he leaned back against the table, his shoulder brushing against hers, as his lips began to curl upwards like the thin trails of smoke that rose from a fire that had just been lit. ❝since you’re religious and all.❞ the book he had borrowed appeared, dancing across nimble fingers until it came to rest on callused fingertips, and his smile widened to reveal a flash of pearly white teeth. ❝looks like we were both wrong.❞ 

was he illiterate? no. by some miracle, he was not. just as by another miracle, he was not completely socially inept upon entering human society after an entire youth passed in the forest. he had nymphs and dryads for company, true, but their customs were not always the same as humans’. lancelot was quite the opposite of socially inept and everyone knew it. he took it as a gift from god, not to be squandered. gwyneth took it— him— as a nuisance. it was somewhat refreshing given that almost every resident or guest of camelot fell at his feet when he simply exhaled. perhaps her resistance to him, the resulting intrigue, was why he’d been unable to just move on as he usually did. he wasn’t sure what he was trying to achieve but he had to achieve something. 

❝anyway,❞ lancelot set the book down, his hand brushing against hers, until his smile turned into a crooked, charming crescent moon, ❝i think that you, in your inescapable radiance, will still help me with my quest.❞ he cocked his head to the side, curls falling across his forehead, ❝what should i read next?❞

[arthurivns]

@velarls​

nimue did not turn as she felt someone enter the doorway of the guest room she had taken up for the duration of the council meeting. she was still undecided as to whether or not she would be attending the midsummer festival but she doubted anyone would mark her absence. lancelot would be floating from tent to tent, lifted from the ground by the haze of adoration from all the women that allowed him into their beds, and the rest of the women in the council had taken up a share of the responsibility in making sure the festivities went off without a hitch. as always, nimue was transient. not quite a citizen of camelot but not quite just a powerful nymph of broceliande anymore. ❝may i help you?❞ her voice was as even and quiet as always, rippling out from her, but she had to force her body to relax as her hair settled around her shoulders. ❝were you not taught that it’s rude to stare?❞

[arthurivns]

tag drop.

⌠ the most valuable jewel is the mind ∫∫ guinevere of broceliande ⌡ ⌠ if only wit were as revered as the sword ∫∫ percival of listenoise ⌡ ⌠ worthiness cannot be set in stone ∫∫ arthur of camelot ⌡ ⌠ charm is a cloak that covers loneliness ∫∫ lancelot of the lake ⌡ ⌠ kindness is evidence of the human soul ∫∫ gawain of lothian ⌡ ⌠ the fabric of the universe can be tailored ∫∫ merlin of argyll ⌡ ⌠ power is an illusion unless it is taken ∫∫ morgana of tintagel ⌡ ⌠ time is the current that cannot be crossed ∫∫ nimue of the lake ⌡ ⌠ an open heart is the most painful wound ∫∫ elaine of astolat ⌡