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elliemarchetti · 4 years ago

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Red Queen Pride and Prejudice AU (Part 2)

Part 1

Masterlist

Tag list (if you want to be tagged in all my work or only a specific fandom/fic dm me or write an ask): @lilyharvord

Words: 2164

That Miss Skonos and Miss Barrow should meet to talk about the party was perfectly obvious, but the attentive invitation Wren received from Miss Samos and Lady Haven was a real surprise: her gentle manner increased the two's goodwill towards her, and although her mother was considered unbearable and some of her friendships, including Gisa and Tramy, not even worthy of mention, the feeling of wanting to get to know better both her and Mare was openly expressed. Wren received this attention with great pleasure, but Mare still saw arrogance in their behavior towards everyone, barely mitigated in the presence of the homeowner, whose admiration for Wren, reciprocated, was more than evident, although the younger had noticed with pleasure that it wasn’t likely to become public knowledge, since Wren combined a great intensity of the feelings with a composed temperament and a uniform cordiality in the manner, which protected her from impertinent suspicions. Mare talked about it with a dear friend, Miss Farley, the daughter of a colonel discharged after a bad wound that had practically made him blind in one eye.

"Maybe in this case it can be positive", Diana replied, "to be able to hide it from other people, but sometimes to be so wary has its drawbacks. If a woman hides her own affection with the same skill to the one who is the object of it, she can lose the opportunity to conquer him, and it’ll be a very poor consolation to think that the world is equally unaware. We’re all free to start a slight preference, is more than natural, but very few of us have such feelings that they really fall in love without being encouraged. Nine times out of ten, a woman would do better to show more affection than she feels. It’s indisputable that Samos likes Wren, but he may never express more than that if she doesn't help him do so.”

“But she’s helping him!” exclaimed Mare.

"Remember he doesn't know her the way you do, therefore he may not understand it," the other wisely suggested. Although Diana wasn’t married, she always had good advice, whether it was sentimental, about family or neighborhood disputes, and the suggestions she was giving her, if it hadn’t been the romantic Wren she was talking about, would’ve been really good; although closer in age, Mare's two closest friends were very distant in terms of social class, and couldn’t be more different in character, which made the idea of organizing a cognitive meeting that wasn’t a social event of extended dimensions, a folly.

"Well," Diana said, "I wish Wren with all my heart to be successful, but if she married him tomorrow, I believe that she would be as likely to be happy as she would be studying his character for a year. Happiness in marriage is just a matter of luck: as much as two people can know each other thoroughly previously, or have similar characters, that won’t affect their happiness in the slightest, as they will always find something later that will divide them. Maybe it's better to know as little as possible the defects of the person with whom

you’ll spend the rest of your life, or we’re all destined to die alone.”

Both girls burst out laughing, and in the hilarity of the moment, it was far from Mare's mind to be in someone else's thoughts; General Calore had barely admitted at first that she was pretty, and at the ball he had looked at her without any admiration, as it had happened in their subsequent meetings, where he had done nothing but criticize her with his friends. But as soon as he convinced himself that her face barely had any nice features, he began to find that her intelligent dark eyes were able to render her expression beautiful, and although his critical eye spotted more than one symmetry flaw in her physique’s proportions, he was forced to acknowledge that she had a lean and pleasant body, and those discoveries had only been followed by others, equally embarrassing. Of all this, she was completely unaware; for her he was only a man who made himself unpleasant everywhere and didn't think she was beautiful enough to invite her to dance. Yet he began to want to know her better, and as a first step towards a direct conversation, he paid attention to her exchanges with others. This way of doing caught the girl's attention, and while they were at the Skonos’ house, where a large group had gathered, she spoke to her friend about it.

"Why was General Calore listening to my conversation with Colonel Farley?"

"It's a question that only he can answer," replied the other, "but if he does it again, let him know you're noticing his strange behavior."

Mare took her friend literally, and the girl soon found herself forced to distract her from teasing the poor young man, who seemed incredibly uncomfortable, inviting her to play and sing for the little gathering. Following her performance, it was her sister who took her place on the stool in front of the piano, and though the youngest of the Barrows had neither genius nor inspiration, vanity had provided her with determination and a pedantic and presumptuous way of doing things that made her get everything she wanted. Mare had been listened to with much more pleasure, although her voice didn't sound so good, but Gisa, at the

end of a long concert, was still pleased to obtain praise and gratitude from everyone, except for the General, who had remained in indignant silence for that way of passing the evening, which completely excluded conversation, and was too busy with his own thoughts to notice having the owner of the house next to him until he started talking.

"What an enchanting pastime for young people!" the man exclaimed, looking at the couples, including his daughter and Mr. Samos, who had started dancing. "On the other hand there is nothing like dancing; I consider it as one of the main refinements of civil society. "

"Of course, sir; and it also has the added bonus of being in vogue among the least civilized societies in the world. Any savage can dance. "

The man just smiled, as if he had realized something that was obscure to Cal, an attitude that annoyed him immensely, but never as much as his attempt to make him dance with Miss Mare, who seemed to have no intention of giving him the honor, despite his good disposition. Her reluctance, however, hadn't hurt her in the eyes of the gentleman, who was thinking of her with a certain satisfaction when he was approached by Miss Samos.

"Can I guess the subject of your reverie?" she asked, turning her gaze to the room and covering her thin, pale lips with a glass.

"I would say not," he replied, sardonically.

"Let me try: you are considering how unbearable it would be to pass many evenings like this, in such company, and I absolutely agree with you. I was never bored that much! The nonsense, plus the noise; the nullity and the importance that all these people give themselves! What would I give to hear your comments on them! "

"Your hypothesis is totally wrong, I assure you. My mind was engaged in more pleasant things: I was meditating on the great pleasure that two beautiful eyes can give. "

Miss Samos immediately stared into his face, and asked him to tell her who was the lady who had the merit of inspiring such a reflection. Cal replied intrepidly, mentioning Mare's name, but had to quickly placate his friend's sarcasm and remind her that he hadn't forgotten their agreement, if only not to attract too much attention. Unfortunately, the General couldn’t suspect that he had been overheard by the young Gisa, who, returning home, reported everything to her sister just for the sake of hearing the malice that her mother would’ve expressed towards that man so cold that he hadn't even bothered to compliment her performance.

"From the way I hear you talk, you must be the silliest girl in the neighborhood," her father retorted. "I had suspected it several times, but now I'm convinced. "

Gisa was so disconcerted that she almost began to cry, and it was only her mother's intervention, and the subsequent quarrel between her and her husband, that allowed her to reach her room undisturbed. As for Mare, she listened, since her father's opinions were always well thought out, and certainly more reliable than those of her mother or even her brothers.

"From what you say, those two have been friends all their lives, and even their parents were friends before them, so it wouldn't surprise me if they secretly agreed to get married, if they were left without a partner for too long,” Mr. Barrow decreed, putting an end to the discussion, at least aloud, as his words reverberated for days in his daughter's mind, until the importance of the news was outclassed by a letter that came directly from the Hall of the Sun: Wren had gone on horseback to a lunch with Miss Samos and Lady Haven, but she had been surprised by a thunderstorm and now remained a guest of the Samos until her indisposition, which consisted of a severe sore throat and a pounding headache that had barely allowed her to write that note, had passed. Seriously worried about the matter, and despite her father arguing that she was going to be fine, Mare had decided to visit her, even though, with the ground made extremely muddy by the rain, making the carriage completely unusable, and given her ineptness as a horseman, she was forced to go by foot.

"How can you be so foolish?"asked her mother, rhetorically, " You won’t be presentable once you get there!”

"I'll definitely be presentable to see Wren, which is all I want," she replied, and Gisa's objections were to no avail since she was even supported by Shade and Tramy, who were willing to visit the Farleys, who lived right off the street. It was just dawn when the trio left the house and took the road to the Hall of the Sun, but as soon as she separated from her younger brothers, Mare continued along the shortcuts she remembered from when she was a child, walking briskly through field after field, climbing over fences and leaping puddles with agile impatience, eventually founding herself in sight of the house with sore ankles,

muddy socks and a face that shone, warmed by the exercise. She was ushered into the breakfast room, where all the residents, except for Wren and Mr. Lucas, were gathered and where her appearance caused a huge surprise; that she had walked three miles so early in the morning, in all that mud, and alone, was almost unbelievable to the two young ladies, and Mare realized they despised her for it, yet they welcomed her with great courtesy, as opposed to General Calore, who spoke very little, and the owner of the house, who didn’t said a word, probably upset by her unannounced arrival, or feeling as if she was questioning whether her friend was being properly cared for. The answers she received regarding that specific issue weren’t particularly encouraging: Miss Skonos had slept badly due to the high fever and she wasn’t feeling strong enough to leave her room. Mare was pleased to be immediately led to her, and Wren, who had refrained from expressing in her note how much she desired such a visit only for fear of creating alarm and disturbing, was very happy to see her come in, although she couldn’t have much conversation, and once Miss Samos had left them alone, the two merely had breakfast in silence. Once they finished eating, they were joined by their hosts, and Mare began to like them more when she saw how much love and care they showed for Wren. The pharmacist arrived, and after examining the patient he said, unsurprisingly, that she had caught a severe cold, and that there wasn't much to worry about; he advised her to go back to bed, and promised to get her some medicine. The advice was promptly followed, as the fever had risen and the headache had worsened. Mare didn’t leave the room even for a moment and the other ladies weren’t away for long either, but since the gentlemen were out, in fact they had nothing else to do. When the clock struck three times, Mare realized she had to go, and she said it very reluctantly. Miss Samos offered her the carriage but Wren seemed so anxious about parting with her that Miss Samos was forced to turn the carriage offer into an invitation to stay for the time being at the Hall of the Sun. Mare accepted gratefully, and a servant was sent to warn the family and to bring back a supply of clothes.

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ruler-of-cute · 4 years ago

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After a lot of debate, I made a new Tumblr.

My old one was being followed by a lot of porn bots, and I got messages a lot with unsavory content from bots. :< So here I am~~

I might pop over to my old blog from time to time, but I’m working on setting things up now.

I used to be in the Satan and Me fandom...anyone else still out there lol? It feels kind of dead at times. xD I need more friends. >w< b I promise that I don’t bite, and I enjoy talking about stuffs a lot! xD

I also enjoy Ikemen Sengoku & various other Ikemen games (though I haven’t played in ages~), anime (like Sailor Moon and Yu Yu Hakusho, Hellsing, and plenty more~), manga, Magic the Gathering (I play Commander, running either my RWB Vampire Tribal or my monowhite Angels deck), and am dipping my toes into the Warhammer 40K line with Vermintide 2 and Total War: Warhammer 2. :3

Oh! Fun fact, I voiced Gisa for a fanmade reading of one of the Magic stories! You can find the story here, and the audio version of it here. I’m actually hoping to get back into doing stuff like that, it was a lot of fun! :) I had to stop doing it because of personal life stuff, but now I’m in a safe space where I can be creative again. (And yes, I’m credited as Jacqueline Edwards, but Artemis is my preferred name, please don’t call me Jacqueline.)

Anyway~ This intro post is getting kind of long, and I only wrote it so I could have an example post for my blog editor. xD

Toodlepip~

Many hugs,

Artemis

#intro post #hello world #personal scribbles #satan and me #sailor moon #yu yu hakusho #ikemen sengoku #ikemen vampire #anime #manga #magic the gathering #video games

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lilyharvord · 5 years ago

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Song of the Phoenix Part 6

Hey. Hey everyone, good to see people are still alive in the fandom! Anyway, um, I’ve been super busy with school, and today just decided that it wasn��t worth it to be so bogged down in grades and life that I forget to do the things that I enjoy. So here is part 6. I wrote it today and edited it today so there might be some mistakes. Anyway, hope you all enjoy. Find the other parts here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

tag list! @evangelineartemiasamos, @spookymareshmallow, @redqueenetwork, @war-storm, @inopinion (honestly again, I’ve been out of it for so long now that I can’t even remembers who’s here and who isn’t anymore.

(/Coriane/)

“The raiders are going after the western farms again.”

I glance up from the little bowl of oatmeal I was eating. Trying not to make it seem like I’m eavesdropping on the conversation happening in front of me. Mare had chosen to stay behind today in favor of training. Her friend, Farley, if I recalled, had arrived around nine with her daughter. Today was not a babysitting day though, today was a gossip day.

“I heard they were going after the dams. If there is no power, we’re useless.” Mare replies with a frown. We hadn’t spoken for two weeks, not since the nightmare, and not since I had seen her and Cal interacting in the kitchen. I’d had numerous nightmares since then, but she had not come to wake me up again, and she apparently hadn’t talked to Cal about it. But then again, he was gone more times than he was around. If I did see him, he was asleep on the Barrow’s couch at midnight, too tired to walk back to his apartment two district quarters away.

I’d seen it numerous times, and had numerous dinners with him there. It was nice, but it was small. He seemed to fill it, his personality too large for a single bedroom. It was so barren too, but he said that was only temporary, Gisa had already promised to help him decorate. In fact, the last time I had been over there, a singe painting had been in the small entry hall, leaning against the wall. I hadn’t been able to see much of it, just a quick glance before I’d followed Cal into the kitchen. It had looked like an ocean, with a storm rolling in, and a single strike of purple lightning touching the horizon.

We didn’t speak about my nightmares anymore though, and we seemed to dance around the subject of the past, or anything to do with my actual existence here. Mostly, he told me about what he was doing with the recruits, and I told him about my explorations into the Ascendant. Those were safe topics. I could tell he wanted to go beyond them, but I wasn’t ready. He respected that too, and so he waited. It felt like I was standing on one side of a canyon, looking at him on the other, with a rickety bridge between us.

“Power or food, we certainly leave ourselves open to them.” Farley says with a huff, and turns her eyes briefly to her daughter who is out in the backyard chasing a small ball that she bounces against the stone wall.

“Clara is growing fast.” Mare observes to change the subject, and Farley’s smile could light the world as she nods in reply.

I turn my attention to the little girl completely and watch her throw the ball with all her might at the wall. It bounces over her head and she turns quickly only to flash out of existence. I stand in surprise, a strangled cry escaping me. She appears a second later though, halfway across the garden, having caught the ball before it could bounce again.

Farley glances at me in confusion, and Mare grimaces, almost like she’s just realized I was sitting there. I look between the two spots that Clara had disappeared and then reappeared in, my mouth opening and closing in surprise as I try to make words to explain my reaction. My only thought was that someone had taken her, that some swift had snuck into the garden and grabbed her.

“She’s like me,” Mare says carefully, the first words she’s said to me in weeks. I lower my eyes to her, and slowly let my hand fall away from my throat that I had grabbed at in surprise. I blink at her stupidly for a moment, until she raises her brow slowly.

“Right,” I breathe with a hesitant smile, “of course, my… my mistake.” I sit down slowly, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. A red with silver abilities, new bloods as I’ve heard them called a few times. Ardents, as Julian refers to them.

“Has she… always been able to… to do that?” I try to cover my awkwardness with useless conversation, waving my hand in weak gesture in Clara’s direction. Mare and Farley share a quick glance before Farley shrugs and says, “Only for about a year. Bedtime and bath time have become absolutely miserable since she’s learned to do it on command.”

I laugh softly when she smiles at her own joke, even Mare cracks a smile. The discomfort dispels for a moment. Sighing under my breath in relief, I turn to Mare and ask a little more boldly, “Were you that old when you could start making the lightning?”

“Forgotten gods no,” Mare says with a shake of her head before rising from the table to grab more coffee.

“Mare decided to be dramatic and fall into a force field. She wanted her entrance to be as dramatic as her.” Farley teases, her eyes glinting mischievously. Mare smirks over her shoulder and says, “You caught me. I planned the whole thing.”

She pours herself more coffee and pauses at the window to watch Clara throw the ball again, chasing after it at a sprint this time. I shift in my chair, and can’t help but feel like the two of them are having a private conversation that I would never be able to take part in.

“And how did you manage to fall into a force field?” I ask with a pathetic smile, trying to keep the laughter in my voice. I push my oatmeal away, forgetting it for a moment. Mare turns, as if she had forgotten the two of us were there, and in her eyes I can catch the fading remnants of some memory, or perhaps a future she was imagining. It’s probably a future. Mare is young, certainly older than I was when I had first been married. In fact, she’s older than the time when I was first pregnant.

She wore a ring around her neck, I had seen it before when she had bent over to pick something up. It had fallen out from inside her shirt, the red stone catching the light and shining. She had stood up and tucked it back in gingerly though, gently, as if she were afraid to damage it, or touch it. I wondered if she had been engaged and they had left, or perhaps never come back. I was too afraid of hearing the latter to ask. She was so hardened by everything though; I wouldn’t be surprised if losing a lover as well as a brother had done that to her.

She shrugs, and smiles in response to my question still. I would know a forced smile when I saw it though. I had forced many of them in my time. Returning to the table she says, “I got a job in the palace,” her eyes trace a spot on the table as if she is returning to that time, “and I fell into the arena during Queenstrial. Evangeline Samos thought it would be a good idea to move the entire thing. To this day she still calls me elephant feet because I couldn’t get my footing to keep from falling out of one of the boxes.”

My stomach drops, remembering that arena, knowing how high some of the boxes are above the ground. The force field is to keep people safe, I can’t imagine what a red girl falling towards it had thought. Had she thought of her brothers? Maybe her sister and her parents? Had she thought about the people she would never get to meet? The person she would never get to fall in love with someday? Or did she find relief in that death? It would have been quick.

“It must have been terrifying.”

“Honestly, my last thought was whether or not I would die without my eyebrows.” Mare says with a roll of her eyes, as if what she had faced was no more than a joke to tell over dinner. Farley outright laughs at that though, and Mare cracks another smile. I can’t find the amusement in the story though.

Before I can ask how she got that job in the palace, a distant siren calls. Mare’s head snaps up, like a mother attuned to her child’s cry. Farley does the same, her shoulders straightening and tensing. She abandons her mug and goes for the back door, already shouting for Clara.

“What is it?” I ask, my voice shaking slightly as Mare leaps from the table and goes to grab her jacket hanging on one of the pegs in the kitchen. I stand as well when she doesn’t answer me and ask louder, “What is happening?”

She finally turns back to me just as Clara comes running into the house calling for Farley fearfully. Her mother bends down and scoops her into her arms, whispering soothing phrases to her.

“Raider attack,” Mare says with narrowed eyes, “On the outskirts of the city.”

She starts for the door then, at the same time that Mare’s mother comes tearing down the stairs. She had been folding laundry upstairs, but her face is sheet white as she takes Clara from Farley.

Mare grabs her boots by the door with Farley who is trying to calm Clara from her position a few steps away.

I watch her for a second and then ask, “And you have to go?”

“All able bodied, trained members of Montfort military are required to go. I’m a citizen now, I have to go.” Mare says coolly. When she looks up at me, she is an entirely different woman from the one I had come to know over the past few weeks. It’s like a wall has come up behind her eyes, and she seems lager, taller, colder. I shiver at the transformation, and Mare’s mother whispers from behind me, “Be careful.”

Mare nods, and then stands. She has one hand on the door when I act. Stepping forward I say, “I’ll go with you.”

My words make Mare and Farley both freeze. They share a look before Mare turns to me and without a hint of mercy replies, “You haven’t trained, and I don’t know how useful your ability will be. Julian doesn’t even go.”

I straighten my shoulders and try to stand my ground, but my voice wavers just slightly as I say, “Sara Skonos was my friend, I know basic field medical training. I can help. Take me with you.”

She expels what sounds like an annoyed sigh through her nose, and I don’t blame her. I might be another liability, and if something happens to me, she will probably have to answer to Cal. Still it hurts something inside of me. I wish I was more useful, but I haven’t sung in… well if I was being technically twenty years. I wonder if I could even make the sounds come out.

As if sensing my shaken faith, Farley glances at her and then at me and says carefully, “If she wants to go, you can’t stop her. She’ll probably just follow us.”

I could almost kiss Farley for the faith she has in my tenacity. I certainly would not have followed them, I would have probably crept upstairs to hide with Mare’s mother and Clara. The fact that she thinks I would follow though emboldens me.

“I won’t slow you down, and I’ll stay out of the way unless I’m needed.” I say, the waver gone from my voice. Mare glances me over before closing her eyes and expelling another sigh. She nods and then opens the door. Outside in the street, I see people moving in different directions. A majority of them move slowly, maneuvering to the left, toward the residential districts. A few of them though move at a dead sprint in the opposite direction. My stomach coils in on itself. As I follow mare and Farley out into the controlled chaos. But underneath that fear that is starting to rise up like bile in my throat, is excitement and relief at the fact that I am finally going to be useful for something.

(//////)

It’s chaos when we get to our location. While the streets had been mostly under control, at the top of the mountain that we had to take a truck up to, there are so many people running around and shouting orders, that I almost want to go back down. I feel even more out of place here, but Mare and Farley cut an imposing sight and everyone quickly moves out of their way.

They make their way to edge of the cliff and I trail after them like a shadow, my worry oozing out of my pores. The ground shakes below us and I struggle to keep my footing.

“How in the hell did they get a hold of detonations?” Mare spits, and Farley shakes her head before saying, “There’s a reason Rori has more security on the trains these days.”

Mare spits a curse and then steps up to the edge of the mountain, but stays just far enough back that the trees cover her. A small group is huddled around a man throwing out orders left and right, and next to him, a young man with bright white hair listens intently.

“Go find Davidson, I’ll take her with me and electricons,” Mare says, and then starts in the direction of the white haired man. Farley peels away and I hurry to catch up to Mare who is making a path by elbowing her way through the crowd.

The white haired man spots us a moment before we break the line of people and his lips quirk up when he spots Mare. Another detonation goes off and shakes the ground but Mare doesn’t wobble, and neither does he, making me feel like a new born deer next to them.

“We’ll need to find you stilts to walk on Mare.” He doesn’t even wait for her to completely reach him before he turns and makes his way for a truck where two other with colorful hair are waiting.

“Shove that where it belongs Tyton. What are our orders?”

Tyton, I memorize the name for later, in case I have to scream it. He’s someone who is obviously in charge, from the way he carries himself, and from the way Mare seems to drop a little bit of her authoritative act around him.

“Defend the ridge. They snuck up it, must have camped out there last night.” He delivers the information in bits, and then glances at me with a questioning brow. Mare glances at me and says, “Cal’s mother, she’s going to be with me.”

He nods, but doesn’t question her. I sigh in relief, and try not show how his lack of questioning eases my shaken state.

We arrive at the truck, and a girl with bright blue hair leans out of the driver’s window to say, “You should have driven up with us Mare, it would have taken you half the time to get here.”

“The last time I drove with you Ella, I saw my life ending multiple times.” Mare replies, but she still smirks. She’s comfortable here, and the ease she has with these people tells me she’s been with them for a long time. These must be the electricons. None of them are silvers, I catalogue that away for later.

“Cal’s already down there with the others, our job it to make his life easier. Not that you’ve ever been very good at that Mare.” Ella says with a smirk and opens the door. Mare glares at her and then gestures for me to get up into the cabin of the truck. “You’ll take Coriane. I’ll ride on the back with Tyton and Rafe.”

“Wait, Cal’s down-“ I break off as another detonation shakes the ground, this one far closer than before. People shout something near the ridge and my eyes widen in horror as I glance back at Mare. Ella glances between the two of us for a moment and speaks before Mare can cut her off, “Of course he is. He’s one of the best soldiers. They’ll send him into the thickest of the fight.”

My stomach plummets, and for a moment, I remember a hazy dream. A dream of Cal turning his back on me and walking into the smoke leading soldiers and never returning. I can feel the blood drain from my face at the thought.

“Cal is perfectly capable of taking care of himself.” Mare says, her words cold and biting. She doesn’t have time for me to grow roots through my feet. She points up into the cabin of the truck and continues, her words jarring me out of my trance, “either you move and promise to keep moving, or you stay here where I don’t have to drag your ass out of every dangerous situation.”

I should have stayed behind, what the hell had I been thinking? I shouldn’t have come. What possessed me to think I could do this? I go to shake my head, but the quiet voice in me, the one that had screamed at Elara the night I died, the one that had clawed at my chest from the inside when I thought I was being silenced reared its head again though. Go, it hisses.

Swallowing around my tight throat, I walk around the truck in a haze and climb into the passenger side. Ella watches me carefully, far more kindly than Mare.

The door to the driver side slams and Ella whispers softly, “It’s been a while since she’s been in one of these skirmishes, that where all this is coming from. She’s just as worried and scared as the rest of us.” She glances in the side mirror, and gives a thumbs up out the window before starting the engine. When I don’t reply, she glances at me again. Sensing that her words probably didn’t mean anything to me, she adds quietly, “And she’s just as worried about Cal. She just doesn’t show it.”

(//////)

The ridge that the electricons are to defend is about a mile from the other one, and is higher up. I climb out with Ella, my earlier panic forgotten as I inhale the thin air and take in the sight before me. In the crisp noon day, the sky stretches blue forever, and the mountains seem to go just as far. While the electricons make their way to the edge, I stand and stare at the endless miles of rock and sky. It’s beautiful. We don’t have anything like this in Norta. A part of me wishes I had been bolder as a queen and traveled more, instead of staying holed up in the palace and my rooms, hiding from the world, and the court.

In my distraction I miss the formation of the first cloud. My attention is drawn to it when I spot the darkness out of the corner of my eye. I hesitantly make my way to the edge of the cliff, watching Mare and she scrunches up her face and reaches a hand up toward the sky. On her right Tyton does the same thing, although his expression is completely neutral.

Ella stands behind them, watching them with her partner, a green haired, wire thin young man. He glances at me, and gives me a goofy grin before saying, “You may want to stay a step back for the first round. Mare hasn’t been training so her aim will be off.”

“You’re lucky your electric proof Rafe.” Mare grunts, and I watch a bead of sweat roll down her neck as her hand quivers just slightly. The cloud grows though, and the air around us changes. My ears want to pop with the change in pressure, and I grimace in pain. A strong wind whips around us, making the trees around us sway wildly in all directions. A drop of icy water lands on the tip of my nose, and I glance up at the massive dark cloud above our heads. Another drop lands on my forehead and I watch a faint white flash in the cloud take shape before disappearing. A weak flash of purple follows a second later.

“Is that all you have in you Mare?” Ella teases, and steps up, cracking her knuckles. “If we wanted that, we would have brought one of the recruits out.”

Mare twists her lips in annoyance, and a bright flash of purple is immediately followed by a crack of thunder so loud it rattles my bones. Ella laughs at that and then says, “There she is, the little lightning girl returns to us.”

Above my head another flash of lightning, bright blue races across the sky and the cloud swallows up the blue sky, growing and becoming darker with each passing second.

Trying to stay out of their way, I get as close to the edge of the cliff as I dare before looking over the edge at what is below. I can see the skirmish below us. Soldiers in rag tag uniforms screaming and fighting, and around them a much more organized ground funneling them into smaller groups.

“I spy with my little eye,” Ella says in a sing song voice, “A truck that is carrying raiders.”

A flash of blue so bright it burns my eyes flashes in front of me and a second later an explosion sounds. Rubbing at my eyes as they water, I squint and spot a truck on its side, the engine on fire, with people scattered around it in a circle. None of them get up.

Shivering at the sight, I turn my attention back to Mare who eyes the chaos down below, and I wonder if she is looking for black hair just like I am. But her lips are draw in a tight line and a streak of purple lightning strikes the space where a group of raiders are. They scatter like debris, screaming to avoid the bolt. She doesn’t smile like Ella does, and I can see how her brows crease just slightly. I wonder if it’s because of what she’s doing, or if she’s upset that she missed.

Half an hour later, the battle still rages, but the electricons stop joking after ten minutes. Things get more serious the longer the battle continues. Mare tires before the others, but I can see in the set of her jaw that she refuses to bow out and leave them a man down. She’ll push herself to exhaustion before she does that.

“They shouldn’t have this many men,” Mare reasons, her breathing labored as she throws another bolt down trying to defend our receding line. I had watched the group below us that had started retreating a few minutes ago. Tyton shakes his head and says, “There numbers have been growing for months. And they’re getting more and more organized. Something’s changed.”

A rustling in the bushes gets my attention. Frowning, I turn in that direction and squint. In the dark from the storm clouds and the down pour that the electricons created it’s hard to see completely.

The glint of something metal catches my attention, and I back up a step before opening my mouth to get their attention. The crack of a gun going off beats me though. Tyton howls in pain, and drops like a sack of flour. Ella cries out in horror, and chaos explodes on top of the ridge as people leap out of the shadows, guns and knives blazing.

Rafe, Mare, and Ella turn their attention from the battle below to the one that has just started up here.

We’d been caught completely unawares. Something tells me this has never happened before, because the electricons fight on their back foot, simply falling in to protect Tyton who is lying on the ground clutching his side and bleeding red in a pool.

I back away in panic, unsure of where to go or what to do. Arms wrap around me from behind and I scream as I squirm and try to wiggle away from them. I’ve never been strong though, or trained in combat, so I mostly look like an awkward child trying to escape.

The man holding me laughs, and hisses in my ear, “What’s this? You’re not one of those freaks. What are you doing up here?”

With a scream I drive my elbow into his side, trying to aim for his kidney. My blow lands and he grunts, loosening his grip enough that I can stamp my heel on his foot. He yelps in pain and I break free, sprinting for the truck. I don’t know how much good it will do me though.

I reach the door, and turn to see him sprinting for me. He wears a mask, but I can see his fury in his eyes.

Grabbing at the door, and pulling uselessly at it, I lose my footing in the mud and fall. I gasp in horror and flip around onto my back to watch him draw a knife. Holding up my hand and throwing everything I have into the one word I scream, “Stop!”

He freezes, and his face goes slack as he drops the knife. I could almost cry in relief, and sure enough tears run down my cheeks. Someone screams though and I look over to watch Ella slip in the mud on the edge of the cliff. She disappears over the edge and Rafe shouts her name in response. I break my eye contact with the man, and he wakes from the stupor I sang him into.

“Bitch,” he snarls as he bends down to grab the knife from the mud. I leap for it first, and kick it away though. He laugh at that, and grabs at my ankle instead. I kick with my other foot, but he grabs it and starts to drag me toward the others. The mud slides underneath my shirt and coats my back as he does so. I scream and thrash as much as I can, but it’s useless. He’s so much stronger, and holds on with a laugh.

Another gun shot sounds, and I watch Rafe go down clutching his shoulder. He rolls into a small ditch near the side to try and avoid any other shots. Mare stands along then before the group, hissing and spitting like a cat. A flash of purple lightning flashes across the sky behind her and she looks like death on swift wings as she begins throwing bolt after bolt at the soldiers that advance on her.

Her legs shake though, and the blows become weaker and slower. The man grabs me and drags me to my feet just as the soldiers throw a dark, heavy net over Mare. She screams at that and tries to throw it off of her, but they yank at it, taking her completely off her feet. She screams and thrashes on the ground, until suddenly her screams become sobs and she simply quivers inside of the net. The lightning stops, and then it is just raining.

The soldiers edge toward her and one of them whispers, “You think it worked?”

“It’s silent stone, of course it worked. It stopped her dead didn’t it?”

Another pipes up near me, “What should we do, should we kill her? The others are probably dead.”

“We should bring her.” The man holding me spits, and the others turn to him. He presses the blade of the knife to my throat and hisses, “This one too.”

I grab at his arm and choke, “Please, I’m useless, I’m….”

“You’re a silver,” he spits at me and then presses the blade closer to my neck so that I cry out in pain, “you’re going to come with us.”

The group all look to each other before nodding and pointing to the truck. A couple of them grab the net with Mare in it and start to drag her with them. The man holding me drags me too. I push off the ground and try to kick forward, screaming at the top of my lungs, hoping against everything that someone might hear me.

He throws me into the back of the truck though, and they toss Mare into the back with me. She’s completely tangled in the net, and whimpering softly. Gone is the woman that had ordered me to move, to put my fear away for the time being. In her place is something horribly small. One of the men gets in the back with us and pulls his mask down. He’s not a man though. He couldn’t be older than fifteen, merely a boy pretending to be a man. His eyes take me in as I huddle in the corner close to Mare. A wave of silence washes over me when I touch the net, and I yank my hand back like it burned me. The feeling doesn’t completely fade, but I doubt I would be able to do anything with my ability if I tried. The explosion of it had left me exhausted.

His lips curl up in a smile as he says, “That’s right, take a seat and stay right there.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but keep my mouth shut. His cheeks flush white when he sees my reaction, and he looks away in embarrassment. The truck starts, and I watch as we slowly pull away from the ridge. As we turn the corner though, I see Tyton push himself up to his elbows, his eyes taking us in as we are stolen away.

#song of the pheonix #my writing #my fanfics #SotP #coriane jacos #I love her #she's trying her best #farley #mare barrow #red queen #glass sword #kings cage #war storm #broken throne #please read #I know I'm not as active as I used to be #but I'm trying

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inopinion · 6 years ago

Note

Writing prompt: "would you give everything up, if it would save him?" "No."

Another prompt given to me pre-War Storm. Forgive the late delivery.

See Part 1 here…

@lilyharvord, @mareshmallow, @redqueenfandom, @anyone-anything-canbetrayanyone, @tiberias-vii, @runexandra, @mom2reesie, @scarletguardsource, @adraxsteia, @redqueenfandom, @wrenskonos, @Maria-habs, @cordelnight, @naercxy, @morebooks-pls, @lamemathpuns, @booksmusicmoviesandmore, @thespacebetweenthestars, @book-fandoms-rule-the-world, @juggyandbetty, @redqueen214, @giihmonzane13…

Remember, War Storm Spoilers are involved…

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Paranoia isn’t an unfamiliar partner after what I’d been through, but I am certain it’s not just my damaged psyche nor the influence of the alcohol. People are watching us. Strangers that I don’t know crane their necks and track us off the dance floor. Each step becomes a stomp that defies their judgement–real or imaginary.

So close to him, I can’t imagine allowing enough space to do anything but test the strength of the thread holding his buttons. Cal is like no other lover I’ve ever had because there is.. was.. I guess is actual love between us. Has been, will be, forever. Some part of me belongs to him even if that part got left behind on a battlefield. Perhaps he carries it with him like I carry his earring. I’m eager to see if I can find it, the search will be fun enough of a reward.

Except, Farley looks at me like she looks at Clara when she’s headed for a collision with gravity. But I know she’ll let me fall and scrape my knees and cry just the same. Only Clara gets a cuddle and set back on her feet. Farley won’t patch the holes I tear into myself. We’ve been through too much together for me not to respect what that look means: slow down.

Just outside the door I stall. He slows to match. I swing my head around. He takes note of our surroundings. We stop entirely.

Cal is agitated, glaring at a gaping serving girl. He exudes enough warmth that I don’t think I’d need a coat even though it’s snowing. He tugs me, resigned to the gossips. But It doesn’t feel right leaving with him, not like it did before I saw Farley’s face.

“Door’s there. Or I guess we could find some place here to talk.” He waves around us. I swallow. There is no place in the palace without ears. “Second thoughts?” he asks, bitterness coating his tone as he internalizes my hesitation.

He drops my hand and runs his fingers through the curls on his head. It sticks up in weird ways showing exactly how long the top has gotten. I have a third thought, then a fourth, but that’s mostly the alcohol.

“Hey, I want to talk. We should talk. How often are we in the same place, right?” I cringe at his wince. I’m an expert at throwing salt in his wounds. “I just don’t think now is a good time. I mean, I have had more wine than I should. We deserve clear heads, right?”

He swallows, agrees because there’s no other option being given then we hastily make plans. He is scheduled in most of the same sessions as Farley. Almost an entire week completely booked from nine to six. Dinners with various councils and factions take up his nights. I can hear the unspoken conclusion: this is the only time he isn’t already booked.

“But you have to eat lunch, right?” I ask before he can suggest otherwise.

“Provided.”

“But it’s not scheduled. I mean, it isn’t for Farley. Can you get away for lunch? I know a cafe that makes nice sandwiches.”

“Okay, lunch, I guess. I get out of session at eleven-thirty, rejoin at one-fifteen. So, at best, ninety-minutes.”

“Plenty of time,” I respond.

Cal’s face falls. He looks as if he can’t breath, a feeling I know so well that I hurt for him. But I can’t quite fathom why he’s stricken when he never answered my last letter.

“If you’re not ready, that’s okay. It’s okay.” He doesn’t sound like he’s talking to me but to himself, assuring himself.

His chin snaps up in a court-trained posture. He’s let his emotions drip down his sleeves and he makes an effort to recover.

“I meant to start talking. I didn’t mean… I don’t know Cal. Don’t look at me like that.” I can’t help but snap at his neutral mask.

The muscle in his jaw flexes. His eyes are steady and controlled, his temperature moderated, and his voice even when he says, “Where is this cafe?”

Cal gives me whiplash when he squeezes my hand gently and pulls his lip up on one side. Regardless of how much time it is, or what gets said, or what he thinks I’ll say when we get there, we have a date. No, not a date. A meeting. It’s just a meeting, we’ll talk, catch up, trade war stories like other soldiers. We’ll see where he is and where I am. And it’s a fucking date, and I can’t help the surge of excitement.

I walk away, back to Farley who’s critiquing dancers on the floor with another Red General. I’m too caught up in how quickly my word choice crushed Cal to remember her name. One hand, he still likes me, obviously. On the other, he didn’t exactly strike me as emotionally stable. Then again, I almost broke down before dinner just from seeing him, so who am I to talk?

“Oh, you’re still here. Lovely, let’s leave,” Farley muses, flashing teeth.

“Leave? There’s still wine isn’t there?” I smirk as I snag another glass.

I don’t see Cal reenter the ballroom nor can I stop looking for him. I don’t even finish the glass. I hold it just to make Farley wait, which she does with expressive sighs and head rolls. Clara kept her up the night before, too excited about visiting grandma to sleep. But if I wasn’t a pain in Farley’s side, would she still think of me as a sister?

Wriggling out of ballgowns, even those so delicately tailored to my requests, is still a relief second only to a hot bath. Farley’s tub is not luxurious. It barely holds enough water to consider it a soak and my knees stick out if I want my shoulders in, but still, I fill it with water, bubbles and –for good measure– I drop Clara’s mersive and her battleship from eye height just to see them splash.

Between evasive maneuvers and using a bubble-cloud as a fog-storm, my mind veers off of elementary battle tactics and towards the more dangerous realm of silver princes. Ex-princes. Generals. Men.

Cal got upset so quickly I wonder if he expected to sweep me off the dance floor and back into his life. I very nearly left with him. I could have let him carry me out the door and to where ever he has a bed if only for a few more minutes of his warmth. But that was always our problem, too much chemistry and not enough math. We never added things up, not until the very end, and then we were both surprised when we couldn’t quite make it work. Bad analogy, I was never that great with math.

More like we’re two pieces so closely shaped that if you squinted, we fit together perfectly. But eyes wide open, at least when we last parted, there were gaps. We didn’t fit. I couldn’t keep squinting and neither could he.

Maybe I’ve managed to fill-in the right parts of me, and maybe he’s made himself into a new shape, too. That’s what I hoped time would give us. Walking away last night, seeking a clearer head, I don’t think I could have done that before. Surging with pride, I sink the mersive to strike the battleship from below.

“Don’t sleep all day,” Farley tosses something at me, it lands with a thud. She’s out the door before I can roll over.

Bundled together with a rubber-band are brochures, pamphlets, and adds from a newspaper all about jobs. Red retraining programs touting the achievement of a true education and a trade all in one. The Guard’s military brochure is a three page tri-fold with the benefits listed in bold, red letters on a white background. The Montfort pamphlets are similar but green and lack a navy. More describe the training to join the tech sectors in the old tech towns. I let them fall on the floor and flop back over.

It’s not that I don’t want a job, or that I don’t have one. I just don’t have one that pays money with any regularity. I can smell my mom’s complaining on the bold gesture. When we first got to our small town west of Ascendant, I helped Gisa set up her shop, read documents, kept the ledgers, took down orders. But Gisa learned to read and write and then there was little for me around the shop. Besides, my mom deserved the easy job of helping my sister. I haven’t held a steady job since. I’m unreliable. I’m flighty. I’m sensitive to sounds, fast movement, aggressive tones. At least Farley had the sense to offer me service positions, when I tell mom where I got the brochures, she’s gonna let Farley have it.

With a small pinch of joy, I fall back asleep imagining Farley’s face as my mother lectures her on getting me out of trouble and not into it.

The sun is high and the light is beautiful through the translucent drapes over the windows. They alternate purple and blue and cream creating shadows and casting color on the plain walls. I haven’t woken so rested in a long time, at least a month. My stomach growls.

I am hungry.

The sun is up, high in the sky.

Flying from the couch to the kitchen I squint through sleepy eyes at the clock and panic. There’s no time. I yank on pants, a mostly clean shirt and stuff my feet into boots. I squirt some tooth paste into my mouth and rinse with water. I am leaving five minutes later than I should. I run and it feels so good to be heading somewhere, to have the adrenaline, to chase that high all the way up the hill and down the other.

At the bottom of the hill, work crews struggle. Water pulses out of the storm drain onto the street. On the edges, it freezes into ice and builds up in layers as the waves come faster than the nymph can redirect. The silver isn’t very powerful and can do little more than redirect the water. The entire street is blocked.

I race up the hill to the road at the top and rush down half a block to the alley and then back down the hill. The detour forces me to loop around the building that holds the cafe. The clock on the bank across the street says it’s almost noon. I am nearly thirty minutes late, fifteen if he didn’t leave the council until eleven-thirty.

Through the door, I pause to watch. I want to see him without him knowing that I’m watching. I want to read him, how he is without me. How he is when he’s on his own and not a general or a lord of a high house. He looks stoically at the server behind the counter. His coat floats up as his arm pushes into it and pulls it on, preparing to leave. When the server looks away, he glances back at the table in the corner. Cal turns back, eyebrows drawn together, mouth looking pained. A few coins come out of his hand and fall in the tip jar. A bag is pushed across to him, his lunch to-go. I time it so that I walk through just as he turns to head out so I can clearly see his face.

He is appropriately disconcerted that his path is blocked, then his entire face lightens as he flushes. Blood rushes his cheekbones, he blushes into a pallor and a coy smile. Cal’s caught not knowing what to say, lips moving, tongue still. His eyes are so soft and kind and then concerned.

“Thought you might have gotten lost,” he lies.

“Nope. Just late.” I step forward.

For every two steps, he backs up one, leading me towards the table in the corner. He slips his jacket off and sets it on the chair, his back to the wall. I peel off my coat and drape it over the chair.

“I’ll just order, be right back.”

I order a sandwich, a cup of coffee, and an apple. Cal isn’t fast enough to look away when I glance over, but the fact that he tries confirms where his eyes were wondering. It’s nice to know he still appreciates me in that way. I hope we’re ready to consider something a little more. As weak as I am when it comes to him, I try to swear my self to a resolution: slow, steady, and not just for the sizzle.

“I over slept.”

“Ah, the troubles of the victors.” He teases, I think.

I don’t laugh, stuffing my mouth with a bite of food instead.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Not if you’re going to talk with your mouth full.”

The disgust on his face is real. That makes me laugh for real. I cover my mouth with my hand, somewhere between me and Mareena in my manners. He unwraps his sandwich.

“So?” I ask.

“So… how’s your family? Do they like Montfort?”

If he’s asked Farley then he should know, but it’s an easy enough topic to break the ice. He keeps me talking. He asks about everyone: mom, dad, Gisa, Bree, Tramie –no one is left out.

“And finally, Kilorn. What’s that fucker up to?”

There is no other way I would want someone to refer to Kilorn. For all he is, he is at his very heart a pain in the ass. An amazing, wonderfully loyal and insufferable friend. He has managed to endear himself not just to me and my family but to Farley, and Cameron, and even, apparently to Cal.

“Couldn’t keep him away from the water. He’s in the Nortan Navy. We get letters sometimes, mostly he’s bored. Sometimes he’s in trouble. But he’s always got a good group of people around him.”

“What ship?”

“The Cardinal.”

“I’ll keep tabs.” He holds my gaze and I know that even now, Cal will help keep Kilorn safe in what ever way he can, for me.

“Thanks.” I catch myself dry mouthed and tired lips. My coffee is cooling and my sandwich is only missing a few bites while his is all gone. I’ve talked so long. “What about you?”

“Well, you know. I’ve got fewer to look after, I guess it makes things dull.” He pushes quickly past the pain but I see it all the same. “I just keep my soldiers fit, ready, mind our posts.”

“You haven’t picked up a hobby?”

“I have, actually. I am becoming an expert at budgeting.” He smiles broadly, proud and cheerful in acknowledging his new position.

“Damn, did you have to cut back on the armor?” His eyes flick past me, again.

He’s been looking over my shoulder, at the door every few minutes. I turn and look. The door swings shut and a patron greets another at a table.

“You waiting for someone else?” I ask, turning back.

“No. I am here completely for you.” His eyes flick again and I hear the door shut again.

“Why you watching the door?”

“Nothing. Just a habit.”

He crushes the paper from his sandwich between his fists. I can still read him well and there’s shame in his posture. I glance behind me again, the suspicion that I’m sitting square in a trap flashes through me and the lightning comes to my fingertips.

“Easy, Mare.”

“You’re making me nervous. Why are you watching the door?”

“I’m… checking for assassins,” he barely mumbles. When the door opens again, I watch him fight his insticts then finally give in with a glance over my shoulder.

“Assassins? You’re not the King, Cal.”

“Yeah, well, some people forget. And the last time, I almost didn’t make it.”

Silence. Stillness. Processing is slow when someone you love is uncomfortable and embarrassed and admitting their weaknesses when they want you to think they’re strong. It made Kilorn shake under our house in the Stilts, and Maven dare me from his bathtub, and Cameron open up to me as we circled the Piedmont base. I want him to tell me more, trust me with what he finds shameful. So I wait and let him come to his words.

“The girl, the one the papers got a photo of me–”

“Kissing?”

“Yeah. She got me alone, um… and then she stabbed me.” Something about how his hands drop into his lap is defensive not casual, an indication of where. I wince with him. “I almost bled to death.”

“Who found you?” The idea that he had a couple suitors never crossed my mind before. But who else would come to find him in his bedroom?

“I didn’t let her get away without injury and she didn’t make it very far before the alarm was raised. Thank my colors, I had my bracelets on.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I sip my coffee and avoid looking directly at him. He’s ghostly pale he’s blushing from his collarbones to the tips of his ears. Some levity seems to be needed, I reach out and touch his hand. He looks up, shocked I’d touch him. “Most importantly, did they take care of that… um… curve?”

“Shut up. It is not curved.” he retracts, losing his breath in laughs.

“Well, I mean maybe not now. I wouldn’t blame you for taking advantage of the situation. I mean, making some improvements.”

“Surprised you didn’t say bigger.”

“Oh, honey, it’s not about the size. It’s how you use it.”

“And how was I at using it?” his knee brushes mine under the table and his lip pulls up goofy and flirting.

“You got better,” I begrudgingly admit after some contemplation.

“I’d happily remind you by how much.”

“I might just…” I stop myself. His lips slam shut. He straightens and clears his throat. I can’t finish what I’m saying.

“Sorry.” He looks at his watch and then back at the door. It’s time for him to return to sessions, discussions, strategies. “Time is up.”

“This was nice,” I admit. My hand is still on his on the table.

Warm fingers slide over mine until he’s gently massaging my palm. “I liked it.”

“Enough to say the past is forgiven?” I ask.

“You never needed forgiveness from me.”

“Didn’t I?” I hold his eyes steady, not letting him look away. For the first time since we sat down, I’m being completely serious. I need to know what might follow us forward.

“What for?” He asks.

“Just one question, one honest question. If you could go back and do it all over again, if you could just flip me that coin and walk away? And I never fall into that arena, would you go back?” I can’t bring myself to use the words, but I need to know if he will live his life regretting meeting me because, in the end, and actually at the beginning, I took his brother.

Cal pulls back, leans against the chair. “Julian says it’s the curse on the survivors to spend our time trying to remake our regrets.”

It’s a non-answer that might as well be a yes. I start to stand, tears prickling. Laughing with him, hearing him sigh, and joke reminds me of too many things I want to keep. But I don’t want to be a reminder of all that he lost. Why he lost everything.

“Mare, I have a lot of regrets. But you’re not one of them. Elara would have ruined him no matter the path. Maybe I could have had a few more years, or a few months, but she would have taken him in the end. Jon only knows, but I tend to think this might have been the best I could have hoped for, at least the way it happened, I didn’t go through it alone.”

“So, where does that leave us?”

He stands and pulls on his jacket. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out. “How about same time tomorrow?”

And the next day and the next. We have one week of sessions and meetings before he’s back on a plane to Norta. And it’s exactly the slow pace I need, that we need, to see exactly where we’ve grown and what we’ve left behind. Maybe at the end, we’ll find that we finally fit. Or maybe it answers the question differently, with less pain, fewer choices to rehash that never asking in the first place.

Reblogs appreciated.

#Anonymous #War Storm Spoilers #Red queen Fanfiction #marecal #my writing #fanfiction #mare barrow #cal calore #war storm #red queen

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