#((infects u with zenith fever))

[encursed]

tower reversed

au starter for @sharpscion

��          THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WAY VERONICA walks that reads "urgent." It would be easy for someone like Scathach to tell; the way her heels snap against the halls of Castle Embla like whips, the way that her strides extend to the farthest reaches of her legs. She waits for no one. Her pace is sharp, impatient. Like a knife waiting to plunge into flesh.

          "...Scathach."

And so does the blade meet its target. Veronica halts just in front of him, arms crossed as she pulls her chin up to meet his gaze. She doesn't mean for her voice to sound as piercing as it does, but her words come out whetted regardless. It's a bad habit— the more she works, the more sullen her mood.

          And given the state of the Emblian Empire? It seems work is all she's been doing, lately.

          "Your contract has been dissolved. It has been for quite some time, as I'm sure you can tell." she speaks matter-of-factly, each syllable as distinct as her footsteps, "You are free to leave. I hear your family has been summoned to Askr. I can arrange for you to go there, should you so wish."

          A long silence punctuates her words. She is hesitant to say more; a far cry from her impatience earlier. Very suddenly, she begins to look small. Her shoulders slump forward. Her fingers lace together and, for a moment, she is the lonely girl she was a few years ago. She looks up at Scathach, expectant. As though she were waiting for him to interrupt her with a reply. Or perhaps wanting is the more accurate term. The words that will come next are not easy ones to speak. She hopes he can delay them.

          He does not. So, she speaks them. Quietly this time.

          "Don’t you understand? You’re free. Free to go, and free from me. I won’t blame you for it. You don’t even have to look back. I’ll allow it. Yet…” she sucks in a breath, “yet despite all that, you're still here. With me. Why?"