Glaw

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

Dorothea's ears flicked back and forward again, certain no one was listening to their conversation. "I told no one about your origins," she explained confidently. "I supposed there would be too many questions following, and the secret is not mine to tell. I'm fairly sure no one besides myself and the Marshal are aware." Her tail swished against Sam's back, impatient, while she scanned the bustle and armor for her beloved.

"Let's go see Liam. I want to properly introduce you. He should love and trust you as I do, now more than ever. I fear he's no longer certain where his friends are." Her breaking heart caught in her voice, but the she was confident when she spoke again. "I hope you'll give me your permission to tell him where you come from. He may be able to help send you home." She wanted no more secrets from Liam. He deserved all the trust and respect that was mortally possible to give.

Bryn was absently listening to Will, his neck craned toward Sam (who carried the princess as if their roles were reversed), frowning with uncertain interest. Why hadn't she made a point to be introduced to him? It was only polite.

"Yes..." he answered Will, distracted. After Sam moved off and disappeared among the soldiers -- headed toward Prince Liam, he supposed -- Bryn looked at Will with a grin and clapped him on the shoulder. "Well! Carry on, then!" And he marched off with a whistle to find some slow-moving soldiers to order about.

When Dorothea and Sam arrived at Liam's side, Dorothea called out to him. "Liam, darling, hold out your arms!" Once he had complied, the cat-princess leaped off Sam's shoulder and entrapped herself, purring, in the prince's embrace.

"I've brought Sam with me," she informed Liam with a smiling voice. "I wanted you to properly meet. Liam, this is Sam Shea -- she comes from the world across the mirror. Sam has saved my life countless times and has always been true to me. I trust her with my life, Liam, and I hope you will come to do the same."

"Samantha Shea!" Raquelle growled, her fists clenched against her tattered skirts. "Would that the Marshal had let her alone, to be a fairy puppet for all eternity!" She blinked, and she curtsied a little. "Meaning no disrespect, Orin. But I support your cause. If my mother does, of course." She wasn't sure what she was doing here, really -- or what she was expected to do with this information, as infuriating as it was.

She leaned forward on the table, her eyes dazzling with mischief, laced with loathing. "So does the Marshal love the bratty trousers-girl? You know there are a thousand and three wonderful things one could do to manipulate and destroy one who happens to be in love." She was very skillful in completely exempting herself from the association, by failing to mention Liam at all. "What would you like me to do?"

Peregrine [Closet & Glaw]

Dorian laughed at the prince's opinion of that fine sterile establishment, and he petted Anat's nose. "Very good. If you will allow me, then, just --" He showed Zahi his hands, delicately poised for delicate work, prepared with a length of gauze, and he very carefully removed the tape and then the needle from the prince's brown arm. He'd learned a little bit from the nurses of the first war (during his week-long stay with a head injury and a fondness for one of the white-aproned assistants), and he made a show of stopping up the wound and wrapping it firmly. "There," he announced when it was all finished, and took a step back to allow the patient room to swing his feet to the floor.

He offered a hand to Zahi, should he like a bit of support in his journey to an upright position. He did not offer the advice on the tip of his tongue -- to take care for the stitches and to avoid wide sudden movements -- in assumption that someone as well-traveled and knowledgable as the prince of the sands would know enough to take care of a wound freshly sewn.

"We will go back to the Peregrine," he assured Zahi. "There you may rest, and eat, in perfect solitude if you wish. But I'm still very curious about your mission, Your Highness, if you wouldn't mind telling it to me, when you're well enough to do so. Here's a wheelchair, if you want!" There was one sitting in the corner, and Dorian swung it around and showed it hopefully to Zahi, gesturing that it was a fine throne to sit in, shouldn't he mind being pushed about. It was better than being hovered over by a flurry of nurses.

On the way back through the halls -- however Zahi preferred to be transported, by foot or horse or chair -- Dorian smiled cheerfully and waved to every nurse and patient that happened by, successful in his endeavor to rescue a man of royalty. "I should like to see your lands, if you'll allow," he piped. "I've never been there, but I'm severely curious. Ah, here, the children are keeping our door. Has the door been protected?" he called in Japanese staccato, and he was answered with a chorus of "Yes!"

"Good!" Dorian grinned. "Now, I promised you all a secret password, didn't I? Listen carefully!" He crouched a bit and lowered his voice, so the children all leaned forward in rapt anticipation. "Whenever you are lonely -- whenever you feel like the world is against you -- just say Alumm Khalasira! All together now." The chorus went up: "Alumm Khalarsira." "Excellent. Do you feel a little warmth in your chest? That is a door of courage and strength being opened inside you. It is an ancient password, a key to the lock of your own power. Use it wisely, and never forget it. Now hush, before the nurses come!" And all the children flung back to their pillows, whispering secrets, while Dorian led the sand prince and his steed back through the door in the wall.

The EarthGiver [Nem & Glaw]

Aaaand that took me longer than I thought. x3 My creativity's been sapped elsewhere, so I never had the energy to make a reply. Hopefully this will do! :)

The EarthGiver [Nem & Glaw]

"Aylen," Agatha whispered, and for a moment she completely forgot herself. His opacity had slowed to a stop, leaving him translucent as murky water, as he struggled to maintain what little he had with what little was provided him. His voice was in her head, and she was fascinated by the strange movements of his mouth, as if his lips spoke a language different from the one she heard. She felt that he was trying so very hard not to startle her, and the tension eased from her limbs and she took a curious step forward, while Pinafore watched with a reluctant eye.

"You need knowledge?" This poor man had been trapped inside that little figure, with nothing to see but dust and cobwebs for centuries upon centuries. His question confirmed her suspicion that he must come from a great time away indeed. She smiled; she so loved to play teacher.

"Well!" She tipped her head up and turned around slowly, scanning the high shelves and cases full of boxes and jars, but there was not a single volume that might at once appear to be a picture book. When she had turned fully toward him again, she said, "A picture book is a a volume, like a scroll with a binding," she wasn't entirely sure what era he hailed from, "that contains drawings and paintings instead of words. People used to draw pictures on cave walls and temples, you know. They would show in pictures all the stories of their rulers and wars and miracles. A picture book is like that, a story in painting, only you can carry it anywhere."

She finally spotted a wide-looking book, and she skipped around Aylen's illusion to pluck it from a shelf. It dropped open easily in her arms, and she smiled and held it up for the earth god to see. There was a long stylized painting inside, of a man in a kimono, brandishing a sword at a wide-mouthed white fox. She turned the page, and the fox had leaped into a tree, its jaws gaping in mockery down at the hapless hunter.

"Do you mean that knowledge will return your body to you?" She smiled up at him, hopefully -- but at a thought she tipped her head. "Can you see through those eyes? You look rather transparent, Mister Aylen."

[Skybreaker] Royal Wings [Glaw]

Rulan winced. This "town" was nothing more than red clay boxes. It hadn't occurred to him before now that he would be expected to sleep indoors. With humans around, stinking up the place. He still thought of them as another species.

He stopped, peering at the door to a particularly unsavory looking box, which Cyrus seemed intent on going into. "Why don't you go rest," he said in a low voice. "I'll sleep out here." The road under the stars sounded a thousand times better than a stinking blanket under a closed clay roof that could cave in on him any moment. He sat down in the sand to make his point, the cloak pulled around him.

It also hadn't escaped his thoughts that Cyrus could easily and simply have him killed, given the opportune moment. There was nothing that would prevent the prince from doing so: Rulan's death would simply release Cyrus from the spell. The Casseion had been trying his best to appear useful to Cyrus' cause, that maybe it would be in Cyrus' best interest that Rulan continued to live. That last look, and the tone of Cyrus' voice, had Rulan worried.

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

"Sam!" Dorothea scampered deftly among rushing soldiers' boots, and she hopped with delicate paws onto the back of a chair at Sam's elbow. "How are you feeling?" she asked with concern. "I'm sorry I had no idea you were sick. I hope I can make it up to you." She went on to explain Liam's blindness, Raquelle's banishment from the camp, and, with more delicate words, the Marshal's confinement. "He's not exactly a prisoner, but Liam and Will have good reason to require him to earn back their trust. We're heading back to my kingdom now, to wage war on Narissa. Furthermore --" she grinned, which looked rather frightening on a cat, "you look wonderful in a dress."

The princess hopped onto Sam's shoulder and sat tall and regal, surveying the bustle of her men, all of whom by now were aware of her identity. They paused in passing to nod respectfully to her, and she nodded back.

"Liam can understand me now," she said after awhile. "Whatever spell had been put on him, he broke it on his own. We'll win this, Sam. We'll win, and I'll keep my promise. You'll be home in no time."

Her ears flicked toward a commanding voice just outside the door. "The prince of Verinia will be accompanying us too." Dorothea didn't mind him much -- he was easy to ignore, but as a princess she had that luxury. "His name is Bryn, but he likes to be called Your Highness. Don't let him boss you around too much. Let me know if he gives you a hard time." She grinned again, a bit dangerously.

August assisted with the horses, said nothing, and looked at no one. He wasn't in the mood for questions, and the soldiers -- very experienced with his stoic expressions -- kept well away from him.

Jolly stood at the side of the house, filling bags full of food and canteens full of fresh water, and he nodded at every voice of thanks with the utmost humility.

When Bryn caught sight of Sam, he stopped Will with a hand on his chest, and he pointed. "Who is the peasant girl? She wasn't here when I arrived." Sam stood out like a sore thumb: the only female presence (Dorothea didn't actually count) in a crowd of uniformed men.

---

Raquelle opened her eyes blearily, and frowned. A fairy. She hated fairies. But the smoothness in Narissa's voice checked her own penchant for sarcasm, and she instead stood and smiled as sweetly as she could.

"I have," she said with a dutiful nod; her manners were on automatic, prim and proper. "You must excuse my appearance, I haven't had a moment to freshen up." She shot an accusing glare at Narissa, but returned her smile on Orin. "You are Prince Orin of the Unseelie Court, I presume." She was proud to have been paying attention when her mother had explained her allies. She would have to boast about it later. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness. To what do I owe the pleasure of our meeting?" Like the fairy, her smile never reached her eyes.

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

LOL absolutely! He'd totally leave a towel for the stinky lady. :)

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

21-ish sounds fair to me. I'm thinking maybe August started working for Narissa just before she started doing evil things, whenever that is. Not sure it matters much. ^^

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

Bryn's face was grim at Liam's explanation for his blindness. He'd known Raquelle to be reckless, but this was a new degree of hideous behavior.

When two soldiers were required to take the Marshal Derrick away -- August went with them without protest, as stoic as ever -- Bryn looked at the others with a quirk of his brow. Dorothea explained to him the crimes which the Marshal had committed, and Bryn whistled. Never in a thousand years would he have expected the Marshal to be involved in such crimes against Eldonia. Narissa was destroying the kingdom piece by piece.

"Well. If you'll excuse me, I should return to my sleep." He gave a nod to Liam and Dorothea and padded back up the stairs, his head swimming with all this new information. He only hoped Eldonia and Itelia wouldn't assume he was evil for being related to Narissa and her ghastly daughter.

To Will's apology, Doc Jolly smiled broadly, and he nodded his great head in slow acknowledgement. His head never came back up, however: his shoulders rose and fell, and he was quite asleep just where he sat.

There weren't many spare rooms in the house (and Bryn had already claimed the only true bedroom) so August found himself shut into a dark storage room with guards posted outside the door. He tried to clear his mind as he had done these past years -- but he slept fitfully, knowing that his sister may well be dead before he returned to Eldonia. He spent the night trying to convince himself that he hadn't killed her, that he'd simply set time back on its course -- but he had to wonder whether the prevention of a war was worth the price.

---

In the morning, while the horses were being prepared on Doc Jolly's farm, Raquelle trudged out of the forest.

She looked a beast, herself. Her hair was full of burrs and leaves. Her dress was muddy and torn. Her shoes were soaked, her nails were broken, there were bags under her eyes and she was terribly, horribly, furiously sick of tree-spirits. Their song was stuck in her head, and it would be days before she could be rid of it.

Raquelle pushed open the door of the hollow just as the morning dawned, and she collapsed into a chair with full intention of sleeping there for the next millennium.

Just a Fairy Tale | Glaw & carsgovroom

I love the death curse idea! It totally makes everything fit. August betraying Narissa would've been an incredibly hard decision, but at this point he's sure Narissa would never cure Julianna, so he knows he's probably letting his sister die. I didn't intend for there to be so very much angst, but OH the angst. XD

Ok, I'll assume Julianna is yours! If a scene comes up where it'd make more sense to have me play her, though, I wouldn't mind. Just so you're not stuck writing scenes by yourself, now that the character cast is growing. >>