#300 ​rise of an empire

[athenodora-sulpicia-writer]

Eventual Joy- Artemisia

Context: This is set after the movie but Artemisia doesn’t die, instead she gets frown into the sea and ends up back in Sparta but eventually finds out she’s pregnant.

A/N: I got this as a request from and friend and I love Artemisia so I wrote it. I hope you all like it, it’s my first time writing for the character so forgive any mistakes I’ve made.

Warning(s): threats of murder and slight swearing

She was a mother. Well that’s putting it a bit forward, so let’s go back a bit. Artemisia never died, thank the Gods she was spared and cast away into the sea unconscious to never be heard from again.

Though it seemed the Gods had favoured her and instead of drowning to an untimely death, Artemisia survived and by the luck of the Fates made it back to Sparta with nothing more then severe dehydration and a few minor cuts and bruises.

But her survival and loss in battle against the Greeks had only strengthened her fiery need for vengeance even more and now she would do anything to destroy each and every last one of them no matter the costs.

At least that’s what she had told herself in the beginning, risking her life and a thousand more to take her revenge barely seemed more precious than a grain of sand but then two weeks passed and then the sickness came, followed by the fatigue, food cravings and distaste for the smell of metal and fire.

It didn’t take very long for Artemisia to realise that her condition was indefinite and wouldn’t be going away in a few days like a normal stomach bug. Instead it was three and half months until the sickness would stop and nine for the aches and pains to reduce, but what would come after, would be for a lifetime.

Artemisia was pregnant.

At first she was in denial, regardless of how many physicians she saw and midwives she consulted the result never changed but she refused to believe it.

How could she be pregnant? It was that thick headed Themistocles, it was all his doing. Then the anger came and she’d almost destroyed her entire apartment rooms at the castle.

It took almost a week for the anger to come down to a manageable degree, where things weren’t getting broken as regularly and servants weren’t getting frightened to death about being attacked with flying objects when they entered her rooms.

The acceptance didn’t come until Artemisia was almost four months pregnant and past the point of being able to cover her growing belly with looser fitting garments and dresses.

She was down by the sea, the one place she truly felt at home in this cruel world. Watching the waves come and go and how the waters rippled with motion, was the only thing that was ever capable of settling her constant on edge feeling.

She was gazing down at the waters, her feet tucked beneath her, covered by her dress and her hand was grazing the surface of the water. She almost looked serene and ethereal, like a nymph from old tales. Very un-Artemisia like.

“What do we have here!” A man’s voice called out from a distance and at first the raventte gave no attention to the unwanted noise. She’d perfected the talent of ignoring arrogance, always in the form of men, when ever it came near her.

“So this is the mighty commander of the seas,” his voice was cocky and sarcastic and already Artemisia’s blood was boiling. “How the mighty have fallen!” His voice rang out again only this time it was closer.

She knew that voice and without turning her head she caught site of who the man was, Lysander, a member of the Spartan land army. He was almost as arrogant as they came.

“Look men, the oh so powerful Artemisia is sat like a child by the sea,” he called out to the two men, also soldiers, who were walking with him. “You know I hear she’s pregnant, with some Greek b*st*rd, what a disgrace.”

Artemisia’s anger was stronger than it had been for months and her hands curled at her sides in tight fists threatening to strike. Yet she knew better than to give these boys a reaction and so she kept her restraint.

“You know I could do you a favour,” Lysander whispers into her ear now bending down to her level. As he rose back to his feet though, he brought Artemisia with him by the arm.

Then he pulled his sword out from his side and Artemisia knew she had to prepare herself for a fight, a slight problem though was that she was currently unarmed.

Lysander then took his sword and as he began to speak he dragged it up towards Artemisia, “I could cut that child out of you and save you the disgrace of bearing a Greeks spawn.” His sword then lowered to meet her growing bump, that was only covered by the fabric of the dress she wore.

But then something had happened, it was when Lysander’s sword began to but pressure on her stomach and she felt it, not the tip of the blade from the outside but the unmistakable kick of her child, her baby, who was begging it’s mother to protect them and keep them safe. As if they could hear the conversation that was happening outside of her womb.

That’s when the realisation struck Artemisia like a back hand to the face. She wasn’t responsible for just herself anymore, there was a life inside of her that depended on her and regardless of how much she hadn’t wanted it and how many times she’d shouted it out loud. This baby, her baby still wanted her and in this moment they wanted their mother to protect them.

That’s when the maternal instincts kicked in and without a weapon of her own Artemisia attacked Lysander.

It was a good thing that it wasn’t only swords she could fight with, she wasn’t known as the greatest warrior of her time for no reason. It took no more than seven seconds for Artemisia to disarm Lysander and hold his own blade to his throat.

“If any of you ever threaten my child again, not even the Gods will be able to find your bodies.” Artemisia’s voice was like death itself, cold, cruel and unforgiving and each of the men there knew she would make good on her threats.

She let them go with their lives but not without a slash to the arm each. Now she knew where her priorities lay, that this baby inside her was now her everything and she hated herself for all the cruel things she’d said, because this child was a part of her. A life that she created and a life she would now never let anything happen to.

Nine months went by very quickly after that day by the peer and soon enough Artemisia had given birth to two beautiful little girls.

Their names were Eleanor, the oldest, and Suthena that youngest and they were her pride and joy. She loved them both the moment she heard their healthy cries and when she first held them, she knew she never wanted to let them go.

[livingdeadgrl666]

god i love powerful women 🖤🦇

[tianmicons]

[editfandom]

Vanessa Ives - Penny Dreadful

[pedroam-bang]

300: Rise Of An Empire (2014)

[bowtothewitch]

“There is no death without life and no life without death. Something in each of us yearns for the other.” 📖 Captive in the Underworld, by Lianyu Tan.

[scarlettjohanssons-mistress]

Can you do a really possessive and dominant Artemisia x Fem Reader story please (with smut), where the reader is a Greek hostage who Artemisia had been charged with keeping a hold of but soon she quickly falls in love with the woman and becomes very possessive over her especially when Misia’s generals get a little to close to her.

Mine just mine

Warnings: Smut, kidnapping, Stockholm syndrome, implicit manipulation and therefore 14+ only

Word count: 1.6 K

Pairing: Artemisia x Fem!Reader

Prompt: Artemisia knows what to do with unplanned guests

Requests: OPEN

[Main masterlist] [Eva Green characters]

"General"

The voice of one of my crew members cut short the explanation coming from my lips as I tried to explain to others how we would have to return to Persia in order to equip ourselves with more weapons.

"What do you want?"

"Shirin saw a body floating on a piece of wood. We saved it."

"A body, a dead body?"

"We thought so, until she opened her eyes."

"Her?"

"Yes. Now she's threatening the crew with a knife?"

"Bring a knife?!"

"Yes."

"You should have told me that first, you animal."

Quickly, I left the small room we were in, climbing up some small stairs to be able to see the scene that was forming.

A girl covered with a white dress, dry hair and battered by the salt of the sea, and with red eyes, was moving from one side to the other, threatening my men with a knife.

"Where am I?" She shouted "who are you?"

The men, like good men, did not even deign to try to respond, they just wanted to get closer.

"Calm down."

The girl turned to look at me, listening to my request. I could notice how her grip on the knife loosened a little, to tighten her fist around it again.

"Who are you, where am I?"

"Welcome to the Persian ship, I am…"

"Artemisia… "whispered

"The same"

Before we could react, the girl ran in my direction, but before she could plunge the knife into me, I hit her head, making her fall unconscious on the floor, dropping the gun. Gently, I took the weapon and checked it. It was made of iron, and on the blade came engraved something. Ἰσοκράτης

This woman was none other than the daughter of Isocrates, the famous Athenian politician. This woman was the definition of a gold mine.

"What do we do with her, General?"

"You and you, chain her up and lock her up tight in the cellar. Don't give her a chance to escape" quickly 2 men took the body and started down the stairs. "And you and you, you are going to take one of the boats and row to Athens, go to Isocrates and tell him the sad story of how his daughter ended up on an enemy ship" I mocked, making my sailors laugh. "Maybe that way we'll get more than Themistocles' head."

All the sailors let out a deep laugh, knowing that something big was on the other side of the horizon.

———————————————————————————

The next time I went down to the cellars, the woman, who I now knew had the name Y/N, was awake, and was even trying to untie the knots in her wrists.

"Try as you might, you can't escape."

My voice seemed to startle her, causing her to stop nibbling on the rope.

"Are you finally going to let me out?" her voice was hoarse. As if he hadn't had any water. My eyes glanced at the floor, realizing I hadn't touched either her food or the glass of water.

"You need to eat, you need to hydrate."

"I asked you a question!" she raised her voice, which made me raise my eyebrows, but that didn't make her back down "Are you finally going to let me go?" she asked again.

"No" I sat down across from her, took the plate she had been given, realizing that she had only been given a measly apple and a glass of water, so with my eyes I began to look for some food. "Not until your dear daddy sends us what we want."

Y/N let out a small but loud laugh, which made me take my eyes off the cereal sacks and land on Y/N's brown eyes.

"Then I'll have to die here."

"What do you mean?"

"My father banished me from Athens. So, no matter whether tomorrow you cut me to pieces or leave me alive, my father will want nothing more to do with me."

I stood silently, watching my master plan fall apart piece by piece.

I let out a big sigh and stood up, throwing the apple away.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll bring you better food."

———————————————————————————

Eventually, I had to realize that Y/N was right.

My men returned with empty hands and verbal refusal from the great politician.

"So, what shall we do?"

I didn't even have the brains to answer them. Even I didn't know what we were going to do with the girl.

It was one more mouth to feed, one more weight for this vessel.

But, she was the most sensual woman my eyes had ever seen.

I couldn't just throw it away.

"Does anyone know if she's awake?"

"Omar went to give her her ration recently and she was awake."

Without waiting any longer, I got up and walked to the cellar door, opening it and finding the woman, who was now held only by a rope around her ankle.

"You were right, your father ignored us."

"I told you so" she commented with a mouth full of rice. She was completely hunched over as her plate was on the floor.

Quickly, I took the spoon out of her hand and grabbed the bowl. I took a spoonful of the food and brought it to her mouth.

"I have to apologize to you" she gave me a confused look, but opened her mouth, letting me feed her, but raised her eyebrows, asking me for an explanation. "For keeping you in a place like this. You deserve better."

"That means you're not going to let me go, right?" she spoke again with her mouth full. She was hungry.

"Do you have someplace where you are completely welcome?" Y/N was quiet and simply waited for me to give her another spoonful. So, I took it and popped it into her mouth. "Here I will give you the life worthy of someone like you."

———————————————————————————

Things escalated very quickly, too quickly for me to relate in detail what actually happened.

Y/N loved it, so much so, that, she went from sleeping on top of a bean bag, to sleeping in my bed, every night, of course, after I stuck my fingers up to her vagina.

But, at first, Y/N at first, she didn't want me to go near her because she said he would never let herself be caught in the enemy's clutches.

"Please… don't stop!"

I pulled my mouth away from her pussy as I watched her eyebrows furrow, little beads of sweat on her forehead, her eyes closed tightly and an open mouth that never failed to be as sensual as she was herself.

"Do you want more, sweet girl?"

"Yes, please."

With force, I smacked one of her buttocks, causing Y/N to give a little jump as a high-pitched squeal came from those plump lips.

"You know how to order correctly."

"My lady, please let me cum."

"Cum for me, pet."

I buried my head between her legs again and began to suck on her bulge, while my index, middle and ring finger in her vagina, almost wanting to touch her insides, causing her now, to let out a loud moan, almost like a scream.

"General?"

Omar's head peeked into my room, causing me to peel my face away from Y/N's pussy and with my right hand I covered the woman's naked body with the blanket.

"What do you want, asshole?"

"We have Misia ships in our sights."

"Just get out."

The man slammed the door shut. I carefully got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" asked Y/N as a claim.

"Outside. I need you to shut up."

"But Artemi…"

"I told you to shut up!"

She did not speak again and allowed me to leave without further ado.

———————————————————————————

"We know you have it, Artemisia."

I stopped pacing the room only to focus my gaze on the man tied in the chair.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Don't get smart with me, Artemisia, we know you're holding Y/N hostage."

"I regret to inform you, General Themistocles, but no one is being held hostage here" the men behind his back began to laugh lightly "Lady Y/N is here of her own free will."

"Why would a woman as worthy as Y/N be with someone like you?"

"Because I fuck her like no one ever can. If you had arrived a few minutes ago, you might have been delighted with her moans."

"You are a danger. You don't deserve anything from her."

"And you do?" quickly, I pulled out my pocketknife and put it to his neck.

"She deserves better."

"She's mine!"

"She doesn't even want to be here with you!"

"No?" I turned away from Themistocles and signaled Omar. Minutes later he arrived with a Y/N on shaky legs and wrapped in the blanket.

"Y/N!"

"Themistocles?"

"Oh, honey" I gave her a smile "Come on, come here."

She as obedient as ever, came to my side, letting me slip my arm around her hip.

"Is Y/N well, has this woman done anything to you?" asked the Athenian.

"Come on, pet, tell this man that you want to stay with me."

I got up to walk to his side and duck my head so that it was in the curve of her shoulder and neck, leaving little kisses on her soft skin. I even went so far as to feel goose bumps.

"Tell him, my love" I whispered close to her ear "tell him you're mine."

"Forgive me General Themistocles, but, I want to stay with my General Artemisia. She is the one to whom I belong."

I gave her a last kiss on her neck to give a cynical and victorious smile to the Greek warrior.

Note:

After many setbacks, writer's block, heat, pride day (by the way, happy LGBT+ pride day and month, I love you) HERE IT IS. I hope I can write the others that remain in two days like this.

PS: Have you seen that my new personality is Barbie?! I am very excited about the movie.

I hope you enjoy it

I appreciate the reblogs, the likes and the comments

taglist: @littlebitchsposts // @xxsekhmet

message me or send an ask to be added to my taglist!

[antimattersol]

[athenodora-sulpicia-writer]

Artemisia x FemReader

A Princess and a Commander

A/N: I haven’t written for Artemisia in a while and I missed writing for her, so when I saw a story that gave me the perfect inspiration I knew I had to give it a go.

Warnings: None

Persia was one of the greatest empires of its time and none could match it strength in battle nor its wealth in knowledge. As such like a great and successful things, there was always someone or something wishing to topple them.

Persia was ruled by the great King Darius he was your father and you were the Princess and Persia's greatest treasure.

There had been threats recently in the capital against your family, this wasn't an uncommon assurance though it seemed the threats were becoming more frequent and closer to home and suddenly the entire palace was on high alert.

You were currently sitting in court to your father's left, whilst your brother Xerxes was sitting to his left. Matters were being discussed and disputes were being settled but you struggled to keep your attention focused entirely on the matters at hand.

your mind drifted from the throne room you were sitting to the ports and watersides that surrounded your home, to you there was nothing more beautiful than the sea and if you could anywhere at that moment, it certainly wouldn't be sitting in a room discussing politics whilst sitting looking beautiful. Instead it would be sitting by the water's edge admiring the soft sounds of the water as it rippled and flowed.

"Y/n," a voice called out though it was faint and almost inaudible when it reached your ears, your mind still wandering by the sea. "Y/n!" The voice was much louder this time and it jolted you quickly out of your thoughts.

"Yes," You called out, head turning from one side to another unsure as to who spoke your name and trying to locate the disturber. It was clear though, when you meant the slightly annoyed face of your father, that it was he who was calling for you.

"Y/n, Why weren't you listening?" he asked you, his voice was stern and almost disappointed, though he could never truly bring himself to actually sound angry at you. Now you felt guilty for not paying attention and you worried that you may have missed something important, due to his tone.

"I'm sorry father," You began to answer, upset with yourself for ignoring him even though it was unintentional, "I'm not quite sure what happened, could you repeat yourself please?" You asked him kindly, giving a vague explanation as to why you hadn't answered.

"I was explaining that I've called a guest to stay at the palace for the indefinite future, they'll be assigned to yourself to keep you safe these next coming weeks." Your father kept eye contact with you as he spoke, leaning on the left of his throne to be closer to you.

"Why on earth do I need a bodyguard," You asked him, though it seemed you hadn't though your words through before you'd said them, as they came across harshly due to raised voice and unruly tone. You were no longer sat but instead standing as you looked down at your father annoyed. Why did you need a bodyguard, there were plenty of soldiers around the palace and you could take care of yourself, you weren't a child anymore.

"Y/n keep your voice down, I don't want any back talk. This is for your own safety, you know the threats that have been made, it's to keep you safe." Even now, after you'd raised your voice at him and stood taller them him, your father wasn't angry, if anything he was more concerned than anything, is eyes conveying enough sincerity to confirm the worry but even that couldn't defuse your anger.

"I bet Xerxes isn't getting a bodyguard," You argued, pointing at your brother that sat your father's left. He'd kept himself out of the conversation thus fair but now you'd quite literally dragged him into it and he seemed less than pleased with that.

"Of course he's not, your brother can protect of himself against a threat but Y/n you haven't had much training and can barely keep your attention on the matter in the room longer than five minutes," Your father began to say to you, deciding to reason with facts than scolding. "How do you expect to me leave defenceless when your life could be at risk and you wouldn't even notice.”

You knew he was only looking out for you, he was your father of course he was and it wasn't like he was making up these facts either. Each one had been true, though the attention span one was slightly dramatised, you could pay attention to things, if anything you had some of the best hearing you knew of it. You only didn't pay attention during court and other formal gatherings because it was always the same old story being repeated for the hundredth time and it got boring very quickly.

You could tell by the look in your father's eyes that there was no arguing your way out for this and as such you wouldn't waste your breath, so instead you hung your head low and asked "When will this man be arriving?”

"They, will be arriving two days from now, until then you'll have to palace guards accompanying you during the day." Your father spoke matter of factly and now you already hated this man that would be showing up and stealing away your freedom for the foreseeable future.

"Alright father," You responded disappointed with what you had been told and quickly you left the throne room, deciding to retire to your chambers for the rest of the evening but even then you heard two of the guards from room, following closely behind you and you already detested this arrangement.

The next morning followed a very uneventful evening, you hadn't dared leave your rooms because you didn't want to be followed by two men, so instead you lock your rooms doors and curled up by the window with a book, not retiring for the night until the sky was the darkest shade of navy and the stars were brighter than before.

You'd taken your sweet time getting ready that morning, if you were going to followed by to guards, then you were going to annoy the life out of them until they were begging your father to relieve them of the duties to protect you.

Then once this 'Bodyguard' arrived you'd do the exact same thing to him and even more and you just knew he'd be running to the other end of Persia driven into madness by his Princess and then your father would have no choice but to give up and return your freedom back to you.

You'd taken an extra twenty minutes longer then usual, though you'd actually spent some of that time reading and dancing about your room, since you already knew that you really couldn't take longer then half an hour to get ready, so you tried filling out the time by doing other activities.

You knew you'd already annoyed the two guards who were to follow you for the next two days, there annoyed grunts and heavy footing was giving their annoyance towards you away. Though they'd never dare saying anything directly to you as you were their Princess and therefore you held the power with the situation.

Breakfast was much different to usual, accept from the fact that you made more of a point to talk to your brother rather than your father, as you were still greatly annoyed by his decision to strip you of your freedom. People could call you childish for doing such a thing and in all honesty you knew it was but quite frankly you didn't care and quite frankly why would you call an adults actions childish because unlike a child, an adult would always have a reason to back up their decisions.

After breakfast had concluded you'd left with a simple glance and goodbye towards your father, you could certainly hold a grudge. You didn't have any royal responsibilities to attend to today so as you walked down one of the many corridors of the palace, your mind thought through all the things you could do.

After walking out of the dining hall all your ears could hear was the heavy foot falls of the palace guards following you but when you rounded a corner and began walking down a new corridor it went quiet.

You didn't care enough to stop and check why the noises had stopped, and quite frankly looking down at the floor and being in your own little world, was far more satisfying.

The only problem was that you because your focus was on the ground and not in front of you, you hadn't been watching where you were going and not long after the corridor had gone quiet, you knocked into something hard and had to stop yourself from falling to the floor.

Your quickly regained your balance and began to look up as you steadied yourself, you were now angry that someone had knocked into you but in reality you were really only angry with yourself for yet again paying attention to your surroundings.

"Hey! watch were your going," you exclaimed in a loud and very un-Princess like voice, your tone slightly angered as you looked upon the person who you'd knocked into.

You expected to be looking upon a servant at the very most some advisor of your father's waiting for an audience but you certainly weren't expecting to see a woman, dress half like a lady and half like a soldier and suddenly you had to stop yourself from gaping.

You'd never seen a woman like her, she had black hair and blue, though her eyes were a little hard to make out due to the black eye makeup she was wearing. None of the ladies a court ever wore anything but a gown and though you were always more partially in dress, you did enjoy something a little less feminine when down by the sea.

"I beg your pardon," This wasn't voice was heavier than your own, her tone wasn't angry like yours but almost surprised and amused at once, as if she'd never had someone talk to her like that and she found it amusing.

Not one to admit you were wrong in front of a stranger you continued with your annoyance, "You walked into me, the very least you can do is apologise." You argued against this woman's amused tone but it seemed your statement had only amused her more and endeared her on.

"Alright I'll play along," She whispered it seemed the comment was more to herself then you and then you could see how her demeanour changed "I'm so very sorry my lady," She began to speak and immediately you could hear her words dripping with sarcasm. "Whilst you have me apologising would you also like me to brush hair and tie your shoes.”

It didn't matter that your anger towards the woman before was fake and instead anger towards yourself, now you were truly angry with her, not only was her amused smirk and sarcasm deeply irritating but her words were down right insulting, either she didn't know who you were or she very clearly didn't care.

"How dare you," Your voice was elevated as you raised your head and began to walk past the crude woman, knocking her shoulder on your way past. "Arrogant arse," You mumbled under your breath not caring whether this disrespectful woman had heard you or not but unbeknownst to you she had.

Once you'd neared the end of the corridor you heard your guards running down to catch up to you, though you did wonder why they stopped in the first place, strange.

You'd decided to spend the rest of your day in the gardens, having your lunch being brought out instead of eating inside and then you'd tended to some of the plants had read some more of your book, before finishing the day of with some scripture writing.

Dinner was similar to breakfast, in the way that it was uneventful though you'd decided that you couldn't ignore your father for the rest of your life. So after being nudged and encouraged along by your brother, you finally cave and spent the last bit of dinner having a conversation with your father, that thankfully had nothing to do with your safety or guarding arrangements.

[swaqcenix]

࿐ྂ Other Characters | Masterlist ࿐ྂ

༻ Fluff: ✿, Smut: ♤, Angst: ❆, Dark: ♚ ༺

Disclaimer: If there's a line through the work it's because it's in the works and will be published soon! <3

≿━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

༻ Alma Peregrine: ༺

Series:

⇾ My Impossible Oiseau ♚ ✿ ❆

One Shots:

⇾ Breaking that Barrier ✿

≿━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

༻ Artemisia: ༺

Prompts:

⇾ A-Z dating Artemisia ♤ ✿

≿━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

༻ Angelique Bouchard: ༺

Prompts:

⇾ What it's like dating Angelique Bouchard ♤ ✿

≿━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

༻ Peggy Carter: ༺

One shots:

⇾ Til' the End of Time ♚, ♤

≿━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

[multimilfs]

Artemisia x Fem!Reader: Unspoken

Summary: Artemisia + 42 — “How have you survived this long by yourself?”

AO3

Prompts found here!

A/N: I love Artemisia but writing for her after such a long time was definitely a bit of a challenge. That being said, I hope I was able to capture her character well enough!

Full Ficmas List

Tag List: @ghostsunderstoodmysoul @multifandomfix @escapetodreamworld @evil-feather @elenaguarnieri @imtrashinflames @nonbinary-cryptid-baby

Warning(s): Blood, Minor Violence

“Miss, miss, what about this? A beautiful dress for a beautiful woman.” 

A richly colored dress is shoved in your face and you reel back, only the hand on your back keeping you upright. The vendors are nothing if not eager this year. 

You walk past without acknowledging him and he moves on to the next woman who seems naive enough to suit his tastes. The goods are of fine quality, but the prices are enough to make even you balk. Perhaps your Father wasn’t so remiss in sending you with a companion. 

“Do you intend on making a purchase, Princess?” Artemisia asks slowly, “Or will we circle the market again?” 

You thought being so close to the water would bring her comfort, but she’s been antsy all morning. The market on the east dock is hardly the worst place she’s accompanied you to and her behavior gives you pause. 

“Impatient, Commander?” 

“Those willing to do you harm can do so easier if you follow a predictable path.” 

“That’s what you’re for.” You offer a pointed look. 

Normally, you wouldn’t take so long at the market, but you’re looking for a gift; for your very own companion, coincidentally enough. She would be leaving again in a few moons and you wanted to send something with her. 

Jewelry was off the table; she had no use for it and it would only serve as a hazard when she fought. You’d briefly considered a new sword, but knew she was too fond of her current weapons. Going down the weapons route, you decided a small, concealable dagger would serve her well. The problem was finding the right one. 

Every weapon you’d seen this far was too ornate. The hilts were made of heavy material or inlaid with a dozen gems that’d impede the point of being concealed. You need something functional that you can adjust just enough to make personal while still serving her well. 

“Be that as it may, we shouldn’t tempt them just because I’m capable of defending you.” 

“Why not?” You grin, admiring a stall of delicate chains in gold and silver, “I thought you liked spilling blood.” 

Artemisia says nothing. 

You chuckle and shake your head. 

Your eyes catch a stall with a large man hammering metal in the center of countless weapons. It lays tucked behind everything that glitters, simple and cold in its nature. This is your third time around the market and only now do you notice it; it’s the only stall not shouting to draw attention. 

Drifting towards it, the stall runner perks up. His eyes trace over you with interest. You can feel Artemisia follow close behind. She’s hardly ever far. 

“Ah, a woman of taste. Come, come, let’s see—“ He peruses his selection and holds one out to you, blade first, “Try this one.” 

Raising a brow, you reach out, only to find your wrist gripped. Artemisia glares at the man while hissing in your ear, “How have you survived this long by yourself?” 

You’re shoved roughly behind Artemisia’s form. She rips the blade from the vendor’s hands, not blinking at the blood it draws from her palm, and holds it out to you. Her eyes pierce the vendor and he seems to tremble where he stands. 

Taking the dagger from her hands carefully, you turn it over, inspecting it. It’s beautifully crafted, with a simple hilt and sharp, but ultimately doesn’t stand out to you. There’s an inscription along the blade that you try to read. You fail, coming to realize it isn’t a language you know. 

“Use it.” 

You look up, trying to place the voice. Artemisia is still glaring at the vendor, while he looks at you, but neither of their lips are moving. Turning, you find no one behind you either. 

“Did someone say something?” You ask softly. 

Artemisia turns, frowning. She shakes her head. The vendor doesn’t acknowledge your question, only stares, like there’s an answer he can’t understand without you. It makes your skin crawl. 

“Kill him.” 

Neither of their lips move. But you hear the voice all the same. 

You want to drop the dagger from your hands, but you can’t. Your fingers are wrapped around it and unmoving. It’s like your body is reacting independently of your mind, refusing to respond to basic commands, the desire and bloodlust so strong it feels like it’s all you have. 

The vendor's eyes light up. 

Every warning in your mind is going off. Something is very, very wrong here. But you step forward and turn the dagger blade out. You want to scream, but can’t open your mouth. All you can do is watch yourself pull back with the intent of burying it in his chest. 

Artemisia grabs your wrist before it sinks into his skin. He hisses and spits a curse at her, but she only rips the blade out of your hands, throwing it down at his feet. 

“Come on, Princess.” She says. 

When you don’t budge, eyes glued on the dagger, she takes matters into her own hands. You’re hefted over her shoulder. The action breaks you from your trance, shock overwhelming you. 

“Commander, put me down.” You demand. When she continues to weave through the crowds as if she doesn’t hear you, you growl, “Commander!” 

The Commander puts you back on your feet and shoves you backwards into an alley. Grabbing a couple of scarves off of the last stall she can see, she wraps one around your head. She uses the other to wrap over her own hair. You stare wordlessly up at her. 

You’re pushed into the shadows and she leans against a wall. Her eyes are focused on the main path. 

“Where did you go?” Artemisia murmurs, “When you held that weapon?” 

“I don’t know…” You admit. 

Her gaze turns on you. It’s dark and sharp, “You were going to kill him.” 

“I was. I wanted to, but it wasn’t… me.” 

She nods as if she knew all of this already. You can see her mind working a mile a minute, all while keeping a hard eye trained on the path. Dozens of people pass by before she looks away. 

“Why did you stop me?” You whisper. 

“You didn’t want to kill him.” She says simply. 

“But how could you know that?” 

“I know you, Princess.” 

Artemisia says it like it’s the most natural thing to admit. You’ve never met a soul the Commander bothered to know. It warms you from the inside and makes a smile bloom on your face. 

You lean up and place a kiss on her cheek. She stares at you and though she doesn’t say anything, you can feel the confusion radiating from her. The simple truth is that like Artemisia has never bothered to know anyone, you’ve never had anyone bother to know you. You’re a stepping stone to your brother or father in the eyes of the court or people; but not to the Commander, it seems. 

How odd. 

How lovely. 

“Kiss her,” Comes that voice again and you freeze, “Claim her.” 

When you look into Artemisia’s eyes, something clicks. You smile and grip the edge of her garment to pull her closer. The unyielding armor beneath her dress grounds you, stabilizing your mind while your heart races. 

“Artemisia.” You whisper. 

“Princess?” Artemisia asks automatically. 

“Will you kiss me?” You ask, “Will you claim me?” 

There’s a spark of recognition in her dark eyes. Her hands come up to rest on the wall behind you, arms bracketing your head as she does just that; claiming your lips and body and heart without having to say a single word. 

[raurquiz]

#happybirthday @IAMLenaHeadey #lenaheadey #actress #300RiseofanEmpire #gamesofthrones #prideandprejudiceandzombies #themortalinstruments #TheJungleBook #Terminator #TheSarahConnorChronicles #Dredd #ThePurge #Trollhunters #TheFlood #GunpowderMilkshake #9Bullets #WhiteHousePlumbers

[tianmicons]

[emmy-germany]

My mood right now, but unfortunately my drink doesn’t contain any alcohol. But I‘ll have my fun anyway 😜🤪

Cheers 🥂 anyone.

May the new year bring your life lots of pleasant memories and surprises. Just remember to always keep your head up, don’t let them bring you down. You are stronger than they think. Do what makes you happy. You live for your goals, your dreams, your own happiness. 🫵🏻💪🏻🍀🥂🍾

If I’m lucky, my road leads to Melbourne, so, good luck to everyone out there 😘

[delcarmat]

goth ladies caricatures!

[m4movies]

Eva Green