[sub][indent][i][h3][color=d8cfbe]𝕋he 𝕆bservatory[/color][/h3][/i][/indent][/sub][hr]
A pointed finger traced the outline of a star chart. A constellation of a woman embracing a great dog. Stemia, it was called. A woman with a gentle and kind heart that could tame even the most wild of beasts. A name that once was popular on Croan that had slowly become more and more uncommon, until there were barely a hundred with it.

The name of Verity’s mother.

She pulled her finger away from the wall with a huff. It hadn’t been easy, getting the old man away from her. Vector was hopeless, so it wasn’t a surprise when he decided to just follow her around all day. But she’d managed to drop him off in the grand hall, with the promise of conversation with Kothlin. If only Verity could get him to go home as well. It would be so much easier.

That was why she was there, after all. To try and salvage the wreck that was her father going into that meeting representing a house he hadn’t governed for more than a week. It was then that she decided to acknowledge the man next to her. Her brother, the hot-headed one: Veer. He was also staring at the star chart, but his expression was vacant and bored. Well, he had never had much patience.

[color=d8cfbe]“So, father is here,” [/color]she said, breaking the silence.

[color=d8cfbe]“Yeah.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“If I can’t get into that meeting as the representative of House Seler, our best interests become meaningless,” [/color]Verity added. Her gaze drifted to another constellation. Veritus, her own namesake. The image of a sea monster swimming across the sky. Free to do as it wanted. The life her father had taken from her.

[color=d8cfbe]“Yeah.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“That man doesn’t care for House Seler. Not one bit.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Yeah.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Let’s merge with House Lapseus. I hear Melodia and Rhythmia are both single [i]and[/i] beautiful.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Yeah,”[/color] Veer replied blankly. Verity slapped him.

[color=d8cfbe]“Listen to me, [i]Second!”[/i][/color] she snapped. Veer hit her back.

[color=d8cfbe]“I am listening! I’m just… thinking about stuff, alright. No need to pull rank on something so trivial.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“What could be more important than this? No, we must deal with the matter at hand. Anything else comes, well, second.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“That wasn’t funny. Just go dissociate to your little mind beach and figure it out yourself,”[/color] Veer said, glaring at his sister. Her gaze didn’t move from the wall. 

[color=d8cfbe]“There’s more to it than that, Veer. You know, when we were kids, it’s where we used to-”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Oh, stop it. I’ve heard this twenty times before, and I really don’t care.”[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Is that so?”[/color] Verity didn’t bother paying attention to the answer. She knew it already. So not to stoke Veer’s temper, she didn’t persist. [color=d8cfbe]“Then I’ll talk to father myself. We’ll see if it gets anywhere…”[/color] No response. They stood there for a few more minutes before Veer left with a huff. He never did have much patience.

[color=d8cfbe]“I wonder where we went wrong,”[/color] Verity murmured, tracing the constellations once more.

[hr]
[i][center][h3][color=d8cdbe]The sun sets on Harrow's Tower.
The evening has begun.[/color][/h3][/center][/i]