[center][img]https://i.ibb.co/ssxt53R/Thalia-Evercrest.png[/img][/center][hr][right][sub]Location: Community Barn
Interactions: Virgal ([@Dark Light]) 
Mentions: Flynn [/sub][/right][hr]
[indent][indent] [color=#ffffff]Since Thalia had declared she did not serve the prince, a perplexed expression had settled on Lord Calistar’s face, as if she had presented him with a particularly intricate and baffling riddle. It lingered there, a silent question in the lines of his brow, until she finally offered her name.[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Ah ha! Thalia Evercrest!" [/color][color=#ffffff]he exclaimed, a note of triumph in his voice as he slapped his pant leg with his free hand.[/color]

[color=#ffffff]It was strange to hear her name spoken with such delight, as though it belonged to a character from a storybook, not to her. In another life, in Aurelia, that name had been a commodity. She had been presented like a prize filly, polished in silks and satins, meticulously taught which fork to hold and which carefully curated smile to wear for which occasion. Now, her hands were mapped with calluses, and the hem of her rough-spun coat was perpetually frayed, with pieces of hay clinging to it like a stubborn ghost of her new reality. The stark juxtaposition of her past and present seemed to amuse him, a curious anecdote stumbled upon in a dusty stable. For her, however, it felt like a rough hand scraping against a wound she had worked tirelessly to ignore.[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Ah, yes. Evercrest," [/color][color=#ffffff]he said with a reminiscent air. [/color][color=#b22222]"Your family reared horses, didn’t they? What became of them? I remember the great estate from my younger days. Every lad wanted to ride an Evercrest."[/color][color=#ffffff] He smiled distantly, lost in memory. [/color][color=#b22222]"How is your mother, by the way?"[/color]

[color=#ffffff]Thalia’s eyebrows arched in surprise, though she kept her voice dangerously level.[/color][color=#663399] “The estate is gone, sold to settle debts. The few horses we managed to save are here in Dawnhaven, though I can’t promise they’d thank you for remembering their pedigree.” [/color][color=#ffffff]She paused, her gaze hardening.[/color][color=#663399] “And my mother… my mother remains in Aurelia. And unless you mean to send her your well wishes by carrier pigeon, Lord Calistar, I suggest you keep your questions less…imaginative.”[/color]

[color=#ffffff]It repulsed her. His casual smirk. His easy nostalgia. Her mother’s name was not a jest, not a shield for men’s laughter, and certainly not a subject to be so carelessly dragged through the muck of a barn on his patronizing tongue.[/color]

[color=#b22222]"Ah, well, we used to say many things in those days. Nothing of importance, though. Forgive my rambling," [/color][color=#ffffff]he said, retreating from her icy tone. [/color][color=#b22222]"I’ve spoken with too few civilized people of late, and it can be difficult to let go of the memory of brighter days. I... well, I suppose I don’t need to explain that to you, of all people."[/color]

[color=#ffffff]He looked her over once again, and a new, unwelcome emotion dawned in his eyes: sympathy, accompanied by a false, thin-lipped smile. His gaze was a physical force, seeming to note every smudge of dirt, every straw clinging to her hair, every humble detail of her existence. Thalia knew that look before he had even finished putting it on; it was pity, plain and simple.[/color][color=#b22222] "If I recall correctly... were you not nearly engaged to the prince himself?"[/color][color=#ffffff] were the words he spoke then, but she barely registered them.[/color]

[color=#663399]“Don’t.” [/color]

[color=#ffffff]Her voice was a blade, cutting through the space between them.[/color]

[color=#663399]“Don’t look at me that way.” [/color]

[color=#ffffff]Her hands trembled faintly at her sides, a traitorous sign of the anger and humiliation coursing through her. She curled them into tight fists, her nails biting into her palms until the shaking stilled. The words had come out harsher than she’d intended, laced with a venom she usually kept contained. But she couldn't regret them. Better to scorch the earth now and burn away his condescending sympathy than to have to suffer under its smothering weight later.[/color]

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