#˖ ࣪ ˖ 𝒂𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒓 » tamlin.

[maimedaffair]

gaze narrows as tamlin considers her words --------- high ladies ; dusk courts. he doesn't figure that's all talk -- not with the aura she exuded. he's always wondered what exactly happened to the court of twilight -- its history was lost on him. not a present threat , not a present thought. the spring lord's mind is momentarily distracted by the mention of feyre , tangled thoughts twisting like sharp vines through his veins. he has to shake his head &* dare to glance away , blinking a few times to clear up his mind. ( he cannot think of her. not without the overwhelming feeling of self hatred coursing through him. )

actual concern for his court has been swallowed up by bitterness ------ rhys comes here &* taunts him , but tamlin is not foolish enough to think that comes from actual concern. he simply doesn't want to deal with another court seizing power. rhys has his eye on this place , no matter how far from the night court. or perhaps rhys will give it to elain ------ seeing as the archeron sisters seemed to be set to rule over prythian now with no training in the matter.

❛   the spring court is without a lord. or rather . . . without a lord who cares to rebuild. ❜ a glance back toward the lady , his claws digging into soft ground. ❛   prythian has survived without the dusk court ; it will be fine without spring. ❜

A HUMMED TUNE --- A LONG FORGOTTEN MELODY . ❝ and here i thought my bath would have me smell of lilacs and honeysuckle . ❞ an impish chuckle left painted lips . it was a joke , though she figured he wouldn't be amused . eye slid to meet his ; sunset and forest locking . ❝ last i checked high lords --- or ladies --- do not follow the orders of others . ❞ a little hint . a nudge .

❝ oh besides -- ❞ the subject is changed quickly enough . back to business . he wanted answers . ❝ the lord of dreams and nightmares has a well enough shadow singer , even if he requires training for proper use of the shadows . ❞ one shadow peeked out from the darkness of her hood . another hint before she continued on . ❝ my being here was my own choice . i did not agree with the choices of the high lord or lady of the night court . feyre had been so blinded by rage of what had been done to her here following the events of this so called amarantha that she didn't see the big picture of what threatened to happen . ❞

hands extended to him , palms up in a sort of truce . though she had continued to move closer she now stopped several strides away . ❝ once the courts were balanced ; four seasons and four solar . that no longer is the case and from what i can see now spring . . .  ❞ she shakes her head , ❝ spring should not fall . not like how dusk had . ❞

[maimedaffair]

“ no one will die in your name but you. ” / @stareternyl

❛   no one has to die at all , feyre. ❜ his gaze is piercing &* pained as he watches her. he does not lower his guard , but he does not show her an ounce of fear , either. ❛   there's no reason to make this choice. ❜ the woman before him is not the one he has known these last few months ------- then again , she's no longer a woman at all. she is fae. but where is the girl who died for him ? for all of them ? what turned her heart cold ?

[maimedaffair]

[ con'd. ] from @blazedfox

❛   have i ever lied to you , lucien ? ❜ a playful little smirk tugs on the high lords lips as they rest just there against the rim of his glass. if there's one thing he adores most in his emissary , it's his candor. ❛   i mean it. it's a . . . recurring theme. even before you came to live here. you usually appear when i feel lost. something about you grounds me. ❜

[maimedaffair]

❛   i think i'd have liked to have been a minstal. travel all over in a band. in an ideal world , anyway. ❜ perhaps it was once an embarrassing thing to admit to , but he's far past shame at this point in his life. he's made far worse mistakes. he's never had as much fun in life outside of when he can get lost in the music.

❛   your flowers . . . it confused me more than anything. truthfully , it made me irrationally angry at first. but what doesn't make me angry , right ? ❜ tamlin tsks gently as he looks down to his hands. learning that feyre had suffered so much while her family did nothing to help ? he hadn't wanted to continue helping them at all. but it was important to her , so it was important to him. ❛   couldn't you have done both ? just . . . SOMETHING TO HELP HER ? ❜

" what kind of life would you have chosen, had you had the chance? " feyre had briefly mentioned the inner workings of the court powers, how the magic was passed down from father to son, or the fae with the most potential to lead their court to prosper. it hadn't made much sense to her then, though sometimes she wonders if it was because of the near catatonic state she had been in after the cauldron had taken her in, her body and soul changed forever. elain was coming out of it, slowly and in her own time, but doing a little bit better each day.

elain cocks her head to the side, curiosity etched into her expression. " does it bother you? " she asks, tilting her chin towards the flowers in question. " the fact that when my family lost everything, all i turned to was something simple and pretty like flowers, rather than trying to help feed us? "

her younger sister never said anything of the sort, never seemed to hold any resentment or anger towards the fact that elain leaned heavily into her little flower garden rather than plant something that could have been food, but . . . elain's always had the thought in the back of her mind. many nights when her stomach cramped with hunger and she could feel nesta's tension next to her, she wondered why didn't she try to do something to put food on their table and something in their bellies?

but whenever feyre had extra coin, something that could be used for herself to splurge on herself instead of her sisters, she always chose to put them first. perhaps knowing that they needed something to keep them going in their bleakest hours, even without being asked.

" i'm sure the town's gossip was full of it, whenever they spared enough time to think about us out on the edge of the woods. and perhaps if i had been a better sister, i would have. but the flowers ... " elain trails her fingers over the soft petals, considering. " growing up, the only thing i truly had going for me was being pretty. my mother reminded me that it would make marrying easy, and the things that were expected of me were little more than fragile flowers. so maybe it is flimsy and senseless, but like you said. it was mine. "

[maimedaffair]

❛   if anyone can understand that , it's me. ❜ the high lord hums as he looks down to his hands as they clench &* unclench , claws hidden just out of sight. ❛   i was raised for a much different life than i was placed in to . . . never felt like i fit into this one very much. ❜ he wants to blame all of that for his anger issues --------- when raised to be a soldier , you are not taught to be calm &* charming like lucien. but perhaps his anger would have been a piece of him no matter what.

a sigh pushes past his lips before his gaze cuts towards the flowers elain tends. ❛ i thought it odd that feyre mentioned you liked flowers above everything else. not vegetables or grains you might could use for food. just . . . flowers. senseless &* pretty , but . . . yours.   ❜

elain pauses for the briefest second when her sister's name passes over his lips, waiting to hear if there's an accusation lingering beneath the words. she can't pretend to have understood feyre's experience, becoming the one who held the family together in so many ways, and then falling into the one place they were always told to fear, only to perhaps find herself in the land of no return. she's well aware that there's times when they, as older sisters, failed their youngest sibling, but now hopefully it's the amends they aim to make that matter.

❛ nesta wasn't really much for decorating, ❜ the young fae finally replies with a small hint of a smile, remembering the way that their house and hovel looked, even when feyre tried to make it most hospitable. ❛ it's not that she didn't like those sort of things, but nesta is the oldest of us. she grew up in a different world than even i did, with different expectations, and even a fully different way of living. any piece of it, all of it, was laid out for her. ❜

❛ sometimes i actually think she still hasn't had a chance to figure what she even likes. that's what tends to happen when everything has been laid out for you since birth. ❜

[maimedaffair]

his chin raises up in a show of mild warning as she approaches. he stays still ; he does not retreat or attack. the last thing he needs is to start a fight with someone from a different dimension. would be just his luck , though.

❛   that does not answer what i needed to know. there is nothing for you here. why are you here ? ❜ he's not very well versed on the histories of their people --- preferred battle strategy over hours in the study. there's not a glint of recognition in those emerald eyes of his as they flick over the female. ❛ you smell like the north. another spy of the night lord ?   has he gotten tired of visiting me himself ? ❜

SHADOWS WERE HER SERVANTS . there was no hiding from them . they whispered to her of his form . she does not let on , however , and instead continues to wait upon the steps of the front entrance . she only turns when he speaks , first over her shoulder before bare feet allow her to fully face him .

indeed , she looked not of this world , tall and slender with skin of a dusty grey-blue . crimson hues swam in an ocean of yellow , hair aglow like a setting sun . her clothes looked that from a people of ancient times --- attire no longer being made for so much time has passed .

head tilts in curiosity towards him and his beastly form . it did not frighten her . her own beast form could looks as ghastly . she smiles towards him however , the smallest bow of head in respect towards him . she was within his court after all .

❝ oh that is where you are wrong , o lord of spring and thorns . ❞ a step is taken down to the path that lay between them . it was a bold move to make her way towards him , ❝ i am known as midna . simply midna these days . my story has been forgotten to history and fallen to myth . ❞

[maimedaffair]

the fallen lord is not home when the lady crosses in to the spring court. it is far more often that tamlin can be found in the woods , spending his time cleaning up the vermin of more dangerous creatures that threaten the mortal lands should they be so bold. he's come to prefer his beast form more than his fae one. gives him a sense of power that he has lost in every other realm. no status , no mate , no friends.

the woods are kinder on his grief , even if he often comes out of these fights bloodier than before.

he assumes she is another threat when he catches wind of her approach. it causes him to prowl , far enough back that she would not sense him , but ever watchful. he's still unsure of her intent , even as she knocks at his door --------- civilized , for someone who does not smell of this world. that act alone is why he steps out of the tree line , gaze wary &* claws dug in to soil as he makes himself known.

❛   who are you ? there is nothing for you here. ❜

@maimedaffair : tamlin

THEY HAD SPOKEN OF HIM OFTEN ; the high lord of spring with his downfall and ill treatment of the now high lady of night . much had happened whilst she'd been trapped within the mirror of twilight deep within the prison . even quarrels such as these . the monarch of dusk never spoke up on the matter but it had often had her pondering . they had objected with her announcement but the lord of night stood aside in her decision . it was her choice after all .

it was that choice that her traveling amongst the shadows to the large doors to the estate . crimson hues scanned the land . . . it was overgrown . it had her frowning as hand rose to that knuckles could rap upon the entrance . she would not barge in .