#Man. I have even more respect for Rosaria now than I did before
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zia almost grinned as she relaxed her shoulders. she felt less on guard now than before. “unfortunately, i cannot offer to be your teacher in the art of knitting. the blind should not lead the blind.” she had chosen other pursuits throughout her life, even though she would happily admit that the idea of sitting by a fire, knitting with her daughter in her lap, seemed more appealing than ever before. although she could not determine whether she'd be bored or not. that was what she longed for. not necessarily a quiet life as she feared that she would grow bored, but some place that was hers, and where no one could send her away.
she thought of her father and his schemes, the struggle for power wherever he could find it. even in dark places where no one else wanted it. even if it cost him a daughter living across the sea. “my father is a smart man, he is usually good at balancing the cost and the gain. although, as you can see, sometimes he miscalculates.” he had bet on garland and the hightowers, and the price paid had turned out to be steep. zia was finally pulled from her philosophical pondering by the sound of his voice softening. she sent him a genuine smile as he looked back at her. “it would seem that we are. perhaps we should make a competition of it, and see who finds their place in the world first.” she chuckled humourlessly, they both knew it would never be that easy. even if they found a place, it would be a long time before they could consider it the right one. but there was something liberating about being able to joke about it with someone who understood how it felt.
she studied him while his gaze remained on her, she was reminded of the performances in braavos, those of stories of princes from faraway lands and the courtesans they somehow always fell for. zia wondered if that had been part of the appeal of braavos for him. “with the kindness your people have shown me, i'll play whatever tune you wish to hear.” her words had a double meaning. she rose from her seat to move her body as she stepped closer to him, standing beside him and looking out over the mountains. her left foot had fallen asleep as she had rested the other's weight on it. the thought of the future made her restless as well. “i am no seer, my prince, my only plan is to go where opportunities are.” some of it depended on how the situation with rosaria developed. zialla still had a hope that the reach would allow her daughter to keep her title as heir and grow up with her mother. but to have even a chance of that, she had to find someone who could accept her past, someone with a keep. ideally someone trusted by either king cedric or gael. “i would not mind a future in this kingdom though. i feel quite comfortable here.” she had found a lot of respect among the valemen, and she found that the closeness to home did ease her heart. she could be back in braavos within days if need be. zia turned her head to look at him, her dark eyes meeting the blue of his. she felt a little more alive now, the air of the mountains filling her lungs.
“what song would you like to request of me, your highness? so i can come prepared if you should call on me to play for you.”
rhys’s lips curled into a genuine smile at zialla’s jest, a soft laugh escaping him. “ah, a harpist with no knack for needlework,” he mused, his voice warm. iI suppose that makes you all the more intriguing, lady antaryon. music over mending. who would dare argue with such priorities?”
he straightened slightly, leaning more heavily on his cane as the cool evening breeze brushed against them, carrying the scents of mountain pines and distant fires. “though I must warn you,” he continued, “if we’re to take up knitting, i’ll require a tutor. my talents lie more in unravelling plots than in creating anything tangible.”
his tone remained playful, but there was a glimmer of something deeper behind his sharp eyes—a recognition of the balancing act she described. “your father,” he began, tapping the pommel of his cane thoughtfully, “sounds like a man who learned to thrive in the spaces others overlooked. a third son who found power in the shadows. there’s wisdom in that, though i imagine it comes with its own price.” there was always a price.
his gaze turned outward, to the jagged peaks of the vale stretching endlessly beneath the moonlight. “it’s a delicate thing, isn’t it? to be important enough to matter, yet not so much that you threaten the ones above you. a game of precision.” he glanced back at her, his voice softer now. “it seems we both find ourselves caught in a similar dance, my lady—seeking a place that feels like home, while navigating the spaces between others’ expectations.”
he let the words settle, then shifted the mood with a smirk. “and as for that harp of yours,” he teased, “perhaps you might play something for us one evening. a melody to distract us from the weight of these mountains—or at the very least, from the fire and needles of our supposed knitting sessions.”
the falcon prince straightened, now, his gaze never leaving hers. “so, lady antaryon, will you be a passing breeze in these halls, or might we expect you to leave a more permanent mark here, in the vale?” he tilted his head, a teasing smile curling his lips. “or are you simply weighing your options?" he wondered if those across the narrow sea were truly weighing those for her, instead.
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Man, it didn't hit me until earlier just how much war went on with Rosaria.
Like you have the Northern Territories, who kept giving them trouble for centuries until Elwin, as Archduke, finally managed to stamp out the conflict once and for all(even if it did involve underhanded, unsavory methods in addition to the war).
Then there's the Iron Kingdom, and the centuries of struggling against them for control of Drake's Breath -- which Rosaria kept losing and having to retreat from each time.
(And these are only the ones that I know of thus far. So if there's more lore from the game that talks about other conflicts with Rosaria and the other nations, I am happily all ears to hear about it!)
#Headcanons#Man. I have even more respect for Rosaria now than I did before#Which I mean I already respected the hell out of the nation but y'know#Also unrelated note but I'm so incredibly amused at how vastly different Rosaria's military is armored compared to Sanbreque's#Like yo wtf y'all got actual fucking suits of armor over there???#That's fine Rosaria'll still kick ass with their chainmail and shit. It's fine
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