Syrenrei

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

Solae had stood behind Rene, slightly to the left of Enro, and stared at the prisoner impassively as she considered the options before them. To murder an unarmed man in cold blood, no matter how justified it may be with his depravity, felt like it was crossing a line that was not even embraced in warfare. The slaver was helpless. Syshin culture was conflicted on how to handle such captives of conflict- there was such a thing as a mercy killing, but it was also greatly dishonorable to dispose of a life unless it was necessary to do so. This was one of the reasons that Rene and Solae had been summoned; not only were they being regarded as leaders of the resistance mounted the night prior, they were being respected as humans who could speak to what human society would request of the members of their race.

Pursing her lips the marquise knew they could not let the man live. Treating him, if even possible, would rob the Syshin of precious resources they could not afford to waste. It would take weeks if not months for any supplies to reach Amber Horizon. The rebellion had bigger concerns than their subjugated labour force. More importantly, the slaver could and would spread word of Syshin hostility to everyone that would hear him. Retaliation would be swift and deadly. Solae was less concerned about the risk to herself- she already had a bounty on her that placed her in constant danger- but she would not impart any peril to the peaceful beings that had become her saviors.

"Enro," she started, turning and bowing to the elderly male, "please forgive me while I have a word in private with my bonded. This is a delicate matter and I do not want to speak for both of us without his understanding and consent." Her Syshi flowed off her lips. Immersion, even for a singular brief day, had made her accent less stilted and clearer to the aliens. Enro glanced to Rene and nodded in approval as he waited patiently.

"I hope you didn't sleep through your High Imperial classes," Solae began, turning towards Rene this time. "I think we have a couple of options."

Rene groaned a little to himself. It had been quite some time since he had needed to read High Imperial much less speak it but there was no better way to discuss the slaver without him or Enro being privy to the discussion. "What are you thinking?" he managed with a slight clipping of his enunciation.

"We let him go. We can lead him to think he's recovering- inject him with adrenaline perhaps- and then give him just enough opportunity to 'escape.' He'll lead us straight to wherever he came from and, hopefully, the spaceship," she proposed. "He won't make it the entire way, but it will put us in the right direction, and put some distance between him and Amber Horizon so they are less suspect. If he manages to get too close to his home..." she paused and shook her head, "then we could deal with it then." It was a tacit way of implying they would execute him if not for his crimes then because he was too close to death to cheat it even with medical intervention.

"And the other option?" Rene asked thoughtfully with furrowed brows.

"We try to convince him we will take him to get medical help and hope he directs us to where his people- and ship- are instead of the acting military. Considering his profession he's more likely to go home than law enforcement. I'd like to say we can go back their house," she said, referring to the Parks but unwilling to drop the easily-understood name, "but I do not know we can impose upon them again to help. Either way... if he survives this the good we've done here is forfeit."

The pair fell silent a moment as the weighted choice hung between them. There was no right or wrong, only a hard question with an even more difficult answer. Enro had taken to watching the shaking man under the blanket as he tried to afford his guests what little privacy they could be granted without abandoning them in the hallway.

Help Wanted (MxF with a gothic twist)

Mitheral, are you the same as the individual on RPNation? From the avatar, the name, and writing style I would suppose so, but I was curious. If so I am glad you have also made the migration here. =)

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

Solae could not help but laugh at Rene's declaration she'd make a great marine. He was clearly trying to improve her spirits and, fortunately, he had succeeded both with the rather absurd faith in her person and his peeled mango flower. "I think there might be more to being a female marine than being a morale booster for one specific brother in arms. Just a wild guess, though," she said with a roll of the eyes. Born a nobleman he had not exactly been groomed for the life that had been thrust on him, but he was still infinitely better suited than Solae would have been. Women on both side of the family were delicate waifs. The beauty that was so heavily genetically modified valued a slight frame over one with more muscle, flexibility over strength, and small shoulders rather than broad. With enough effort it was possible to become a marine- just not a good one.

"You can use all the pretty words you want, Rene Quentain, but even if what I am doing, and what you are doing, is not just for me personally, I am still a person. And this person, regardless of the circumstances, is quite allowed to have feelings regarding the state of the people that protect her regardless of their motivations."

Since the bounty had been posted she had been aware that she was not merely Solae but a tool for the PEA that would determine the success or failure of the rebellion. No one would be so desperate to find her unless she was a pivotal piece they could not do without. The marquise could still vividly remember sitting in an overly grand meeting room as one of her superiors droned on about the changes in security procedures. A viscount immediately to her right had been so dismissive of any threat meriting this change in protocol that he had spent the entire hour and a half messaging his fiancee in the Vital Records Hall. Not one person in attendance considered the scenario that faced her now. As elites they arrogantly believed themselves invincible and immune to attacks. War was waged on peasants and fought by soldiers.

Solae was a key both damned and blessed. If she failed she lost herself, Rene, and the lives of countless others. If she succeeded she would be a hero while those that carried her to victory went unrecognized.

"If we make it out this alive, and I become the voice of New Concordia, I may have all the marriage proposals Mother wanted for me. The moment I make it known I intend to fight for the rights of Syshin... well, I dare say I will solve that dilemma," she remarked. And it would. Though she would be theoretically catapulted in status, prestige, and renown to sufficiently affect the plight of the subjugated race, it would not be well-received. People would be reluctant to give up those that worked harder than humans and for far less pay. Only a Syshin uprising- which was a distinct possibility in the future- would make stubborn minds and hearts reconsider. The current social climate made it more convenient to ignore the bigotry than object.

Because of Rene's insistence (and very effective method of persuasion with boyish charms) Solae ate all her food, albeit more slowly than was normal, and the earthenware was whisked away by their hosts almost the second they finished. A roughly teenage Syshin led them towards a less used section of the ship and to a set of mechanical doors that still functioned despite their disuse. One had Syshi scrawled on the surface indicating it was a secured storage room for the rare valuable kept at Amber Horizon. Syshin were more sentimental than monetary in what they considered worth such exceptional shielding; as such the door was more a symbol of the effort than meant as a deterrent itself.

"Yours," the Syshin explained and pointed to the other door which had been left unadorned. Rene stepped forward and pressed the small console that surprisingly had been left intact. The door groaned quietly as it slid open obediently and revealed the room that had been prepared for them as best as the Syshin could. A mattress had been placed on the floor with two blankets composed of discarded garments that had been cut into geometric shapes and sewn together. Two basins, one for each human, were in the corner for washing of hands and faces, and a jug of water for drinking stood beside them on the floor. It was tight quarters but more than sufficient for a single night of rest.

Solae let out a slow breath as the door closed behind them. Surprisingly it blocked out the sound of the jubilation still ongoing in the main hold. "Just like Lord Armon's manor, don't you think?" she asked as she flopped down in the middle of the makeshift bed.

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

That the life of a marine was dangerous was not something new to her. Despite the courage required to join the armed services they were labeled as 'crazy' and 'unhinged' by the elites who had no illusions about why they joined in the first place. Were the volunteers not criminals trying to expunge their records and earn new identities such stereotypes might not prevail. This made it easier for the highborn to justify why they were thrown in hazards with little thought as to bodily harm; after all, they were violent offenders more often than not and any violence visited on them was undoubtedly earned in their past.

But Rene was blessedly different. The murder accusation against him was false and thus he was one of the rare innocents thrust into a merciless situation he did not deserve. Humble and heroic he would have made a fine poster child for positive public relations had there not been evidence damning him (false though it might be). If she were in charge of such press releases she would have made it her life's goal to clear his name and plaster his face on every piece of propaganda so that marines were not so callously judged. Hell, if she survived this war she might very well politically maneuver herself to do just that. Who could or would stop her? No duke or duchess was tripping over themselves to aligned with the mercenaries employed by the empire.

Seeing him injured made her heart ache more than the Gids that had sought to capture her or the slavers that were ready to pillage Amber Horizon. He was not depraved or without morals. Perhaps it was because someone so virtuous survived that until today she had been able to shrug off the deaths of others more easily. They were flawed, arrogant, selfish, corrupt, and embodiments of sins that the Stellar Empire would swear its citizens would not indulge. Now that even Rene, gleaming as he seemed to her, was vulnerable she felt panic rise in her throat with bile. Nothing and no one was safe.

"I care for you too," she said quietly. "I'm just... today we almost lost," Solae remarked somberly. In the back of her mind Solae had always rationally known that they could fail and that either one of them could die- or worse. It was not until she had been pinned to the ground, screaming, that the reality of this she felt the impact of the realization so acutely.

"Even if you would have done it for someone else, I can't ignore that today that 'someone' was me. My mother must be rolling in her grave to hear me say this," she added, hoping her morbidity would inject humor into the serious confessions they were making, "but to know others are wounded or dead so that fate or purpose might allow me to live... it's haunting. It's not very noble of me to say that, is it? Perhaps I ought to have joined the marines as well," she jested. Both of them knew she wouldn't last a week if she had.

"I don't feel special," she sighed. "The Syshin deserve more and I am embarrassed it took me so long to come here, and that others refuse to see it. In our grand mansions I can't help but wonder if we're isolating ourselves as we hide from worse things than cutthroat politics. Even with the bounty on my head I am not all that worse off than a female Syshin on an average day."

Her eyes roamed around before landing back on the untouched bowl. It would be rude to reject the offered meal but her mouth was still dry. No matter how she tried to convince herself she needed to eat she could not find the willpower to do so. "I'm glad you didn't die gloriously on the fields of battle, Rene. Truly glad."

Without their noticing Lasha had sidled up and now stood over her patients. Disapproval was etched on her features as she crossed her arms in an unnatural way to make certain her displeasure was even more obvious. The healer cleared her throat so as to gain the attention of both humans. "Eat. Eat and retire. If you can not eat here, take your food to your rooms. You can not heal without food," she firmly asserted as she motioned towards the assorted vittles.

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

"It's a title of veneration- not totally unlike a title, but rather than be given it at birth, it must be earned. It is a great honor. The only humans I know of that the Syshin would dare to call Sy'nara are some of the first people of the empire that lived with their communities as they created textbooks to understand the language." It was a time that was not included in formal accounts of the 'Syshin acquisition' but could not be buried in secrecy. A dozen linguists had been tasked with decoding the Syshin's methods of communication and, to speed the process, they had immersed themselves. Time among the gentle giants had made them fond of the aliens. A few had been so reluctant to return to their place among humanity they had willingly stayed behind and become some of the first diplomats that established relations between the races. This was not without recourse from the then-Emperor and Empress. People were no longer encouraged to live with the Syshin and social stigma prevented curiosity from taking hold of most. Distance was prescribed for all discussions with and of the subjugated beings.

Solae politely inclined her head to the crowd of gathered Syshin as they cheered at the couple who had been newly anointed with what prestige the Syshin could grant in their culture. Rene, following her lead, did the same. Nari allowed this congratulation to continue for only a short time before she raised her arms and let them fall slowly indicating a call for quiet. Enro stood yet by Solae's side but he exchanged glances with his twin without letting a single syllable fall from his lips. Their silent communication imparted thoughts from one to the other and, with another sweep of her arms, Nari moved from the table. The Syshi on her tongue was yet foreign to Rene but he could discern the meaning well enough: it was time to feast.

All eyes turned towards Rene and Solae. There was an expectation the guests, the humans who had led them to victory, would fill their bowls first. "Please, we ask the children are allowed before us so we may gather our thoughts," Solae said gracefully in Syshi. There was some murmuring and, before any parents could object, a cluster of rambunctious youth bee-lined for the soapstone laden with dishes. Adults followed after them with light chastisement on their lips but the protocol had been broken- and anger could not weigh on their hearts when there was such joy to be found in their successes.

"I'm not sure I can eat," Solae confessed to Rene quietly. Her stomach was churning at the sight of the bound prisoner, at the memories his countenance conjured, at the nightmare that had so chillingly foretold Rene's corpse laying at her feet. The marquise shivered and Enro raised a brow but said nothing. It was not his place to comment.

"I will have Lasha fill bowls for you since you do not know our foods," Enro offered. "Please sit," he requested as he motioned towards a lush space of grass that was conspicuously unoccupied. No Syshin would intrude on a place where the noblewoman and her soldier bonded might need to rest while they ate. Solae opened her mouth as if to reassure that his generosity was not needed but the elder Syshin had already departed her side.

"I'm sorry," Solae said as she knelt and then sat on the patch of grass. Though it was only vegetation she almost felt guilty for sitting upon it because it was so well-tended it was bursting with color and life. "You're hurt because of me, aren't you?" Her face was still carefully controlled such that no one glancing their way would see a flash of feeling and feel compelled to interject themselves into the private discussion. Despite the restraint of her features, her voice was laden with guilt.

"I didn't mean to..," she took a shuddering breath as she tried to get herself under control. The day had been full of surges in adrenaline as they were first pressed under sugar cane, anxiously waiting for their stop as they wondered if they would have the misfortune of being discovered, then meeting with Syshin who were wary of them and within their rights to turn them away, then in armed conflict with slavers who had nearly spirited Solae to a life of unspeakable horrors. She oscillated between fatigue, steeled determination to persevere, and tittering with the energy of fried nerves. "I didn't think about the harm I put you in, that I am putting you into, and now it is all I can think about."

Enro approached with two matching earthenware bowls and cups sized for Syshin children but more appropriate for humans than the larger physiques (and digestive systems) of adult Syshin. Each had been polished with lacquer until it glistened and glimmered in the light that was afforded to them by the lamps strewn around the disabled starship. Crystalline water was contained in each cup and each bowl had been piled high with an assortment of cooked vegetables, a bread made of rice rather than wheat, and a medley of fruits from the grove just outside the hull of the encampment. "When you are done one of my people will show you to your room," he told them and excused himself again.

Solae did not move to eat and instead simply stared down at the offering as her stomach knitted tighter with all she suppressed within.

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

"They are called Syshin," Solae said coldly in a voice so full of frigid contempt that the Inyorin, despite having poor common tongue comprehension, flinched at the tone Solae had assumed. All warmth had drained from her features; she truly appeared every bit the detached marquise as she stared the prisoner impassively. What empathy Solae had for the rest of the living world could not root itself in this depraved individual. The fable of the two sisters immediately sprung to mind and she considered that this heavily injured man in front of her exemplified the type of person that would need to be killed in order for their evil to be mitigated for the safety of all.

"I only see one animal in front of me," the highborn noblewoman continued as she knelt on the floor. Even with the bindings Solae was cautious to stay close to Rene in the unlikely event their captive broke free. As she did not intend to appeal to his humanity it was extremely likely his emotions would flare into vitriol that would flood his body with adrenaline. Surges of wrath had been known to, on occasion, produce superhuman bursts of strength. "And I am looking at him. The Syshin do not enslave their own kind or others for sexual gratification. Only a beast could be so primal."

"You bitch!" the prisoner cursed as he spat towards her feet. A vein throbbed in his forehead and his muscles tensed reflexively. He was not used to being bound, much less when someone was provoking him with insults. Had he been free he would have unquestionably harmed Solae either through brute force or the type of torture she had so recently alluded to. His gaze flickered up at the soldier who was a statue of unfeeling and injured protector of the diplomat. Every ounce of him seethed malevolence and his eyes did not conceal his murderous intentions.

"I would think carefully about what you call the person who is here to determine what to do with you," she remarked icily. "The Syshin try not to take a life unless they have to, but I am not certain that the man behind me is quite so forgiving as they are. What were you going to do with the female Syshin you were abducting? Keep them as pets?"

Enro made a face that displayed displeasure at any Syshin being a pet but he remained silent; Solae was being abrasive so as to make the man's tongue loose. As she was more proficient with conversation and manipulation of this sort he would follow her lead- no matter how insulting the line of questioning was. The blonde lady of the Stellar Empire had proven her compassion and loyalty towards his people so he was obliged to trust it would not falter now or in the future.

"You're out of your fucking mind if you think we'd keep them at the plantation!" he erupted, taking her words as a sort of personal insult. The slaver would have ravaged Solae, and subjected her to physical atrocities, but the Syshin did not appeal to him as much as his cliente. Keeping them near the place they had been taken from would be almost as bad as business as keeping the merchandise indefinitely. "You are out of your depth," he growled. "I could take this whole place, including you and that pretty boy behind you, off world and turn a tidy profit before you could blink. The whole damn world is looking for you- at least with me you'd have had a fun ride before being the duke's slut."

As the prisoner's face turned purple with malice and spittle flew off his lips Solae felt herself flinch both at the visual change and the reference to Rene. The man immediately recognized her momentarily weakness and laughed, capitalizing on the rush of power he had when he realized the hopelessness of the scion and her lackey marine. "That's no hired gun, is it? Tell me, pretty boy, do you want to know how your little missus squirmed when me and my men pinned her to the ground? You stupid shits- you're already dead and you don't even know it!"

Solae stood and turned towards Enro before the slaver could see glistening tears forming in the edges of her eyes. Her voice was still hard as she spoke to the slaver behind her. "I'll see that you're more restrained before we continue," she stated before turning down the hall and out of his sight. Enro motioned to the Inyorin, chattering in Syshi, as they debated what more they could do to make their prisoner uncomfortable and unable to move that would not outright kill him.

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

"You are kind," Solae said, clearing her throat as the liquid medicine she had just swallowed stubbornly clung to the back of her throat. "But having the courage to run pales in comparison to the bravery of your people and..," she paused, eyes flitting to Rene briefly before returning to Enro, "my bonded. There is a story I read once about two sisters who walked the same path, seeking to unite their country in a time before the empire. One refused to fight, using her words to spread peace and unity, while the other was a warrior. The one who spoke brought many together but not all. One was enraged and wanted the power she had, so he threatened her. When she refused to help him, he cut down a man. Still she refused, imploring him to be compassionate. He cut down a woman. She continued to refuse, invoking his empathy. He cut down a child. She pleaded with him for mercy. As he moved to cut her down, the warrior cut him down. When she was asked why she intervened, when the one who spoke was spreading word how they ought not to fight, the warrior said she stained her hands so the one who spoke did not need to. I believe that is much like our world. The Inyorin and Rene have killed so that others could be saved and protected. I only ran."

Lasha and Enro listened to the tale quietly. While the moral was still at odds with Lasha's personal beliefs as a healer she understood what the noblewoman was trying to say. There was some truth in that it was easier for a virtuous soul to talk, to heal, to nurture than it was for them to harm another even if the cause was righteous.

Enro bobbed his head appreciatively. "You are different from the other humans we have met, Solae of the Empire," he declared. The tone of his statement was a clearly a compliment rather than an insult. End results of the would-be assault on Amber Horizon were better than any Syshin had anticipated and the two imperial citizens that had contributed heavily were humble. Their genuine disposition and willingness to sacrifice meant that their names would be as close to heroes as humans could be in their community.

"I am of my people, but I am not my people," Solae remarked wryly. It was a proverb that was uttered more frequently in diplomatic relations and the courts than rural reaches of the sector. The meaning, however, was not lost on the less sophisticated speakers of the common tongue. Solae was purposefully creating a distance between herself and other humans' actions while still acknowledging she was of the species.

"If you mean to ask her to translate for the captive, you should do it now. They should both rest," Lasha told Enro sternly. They conversed in common for Rene's sake so as not to be rude. Although Enro was her superior in their culture, as healer he deferred to her when the health of the wounded needed to be taken into consideration.

"He speaks too quickly for us to understand," Enro said to Solae in explanation as he shook his head. Most of the Syshin spoke with relative fluency but as with many languages the speed of the speaker could greatly affect comprehension of the listener.

"We have two rooms with the metal doors still," Lasha interrupted. "I will make one of them ready for you so you may have privacy more like your people." The two rooms in question had not been fully converted to Syshin living quarters as the population had not expanded in such a way it was necessary. Along with the 'pruning' of their population that was done incidentally or planned by Armistice their culture valued sharing of space between familial members that were not yet bonded or had lost a mate.

Lasha exited the room, moving past Enro briskly, and Solae took this as her endorsement to stand of her own accord. Rene moved to support her arm but she shrank back slightly as guilt played upon her features. With the fog of confusion lifted from her mind she was overwhelmed with how many things caused an aching guilt: that Rene put himself in danger for her, that he was injured because of her, that he killed because of her, that his future could be jeopardized by her, that she had worried him, and that she could not separate herself from him no matter how hard she tried. To keep touching him would invoke a longing for his continued comfort. Were she to close herself she would still clearly see the purple-faced monstrous Empress as her accusations echoed in her ears.

"You should lay down," she told Rene quietly. "Please do not push yourself for my sake," she added rather hypocritically.

Star Crossed: The Duke's Rebellion

Solae stood before the Empress on her gilded throne as ornate tapestries fluttered in the invisible wind. They were alone in the massive room yet all she could see the polished floor, the ruler of the Stellar Empire adorned in luxurious fabrics that had been draped with a delicate attention to detail, and the massive seat on which she presided over official affairs. Inky tendrils on the edges of the marquise's vision threatened to expose the dream as an act of fiction yet she dismissed their existence each time they crept forward.

"I request that Rene Quentain be kept in my company, your excellence," she heard herself say with the impeccable polish of the courts. As decorum dictated she swept herself down in a bow, for she was wearing a suit rather than gown, and waited pensively for the approval that she felt must be coming. The war was over. As a pivotal piece to the success the empire had in reclaiming New Concordia, Solae was confidant that a reward would be granted to her for the loyalty with which she acted. No longer was Solae just one of many with titles that afforded them prestige; she was a name that spread across several sectors and dripped off the lips of the most prominent courtiers. She was known.

"Keep him by your side?" the Empress asked derisively as her cold gaze pierced Solae's lifted eyes. Her face turned a dark shade of purple as it elongated and bulged monstrously. "You poor dear, you know that keeping him here with you will kill him. You will kill him, Solae Falia."

Solae stumbled back in abject horror as the Empress contorted and metamorphosed into bubbling mounds of gelatinous ooze that grew. A hollow, echoing peel of laughter resounded as numerous arms extended from the creature and pointed to her feet. The body of a man lay inches from her feet that had not been there before. Her breaths became labored as she intuitively recognized the back splattered in blood. Rene rolled over and turned his head in her direction. Two milky white orbs that had been clouded with death stared at her as a crackled, rotting mouth wrenched itself open.

"How many more people have to die before it is your turn, Solae? How many must suffer? You did this! For you to live see what has been lost!" it spat with accusation. From the void above her head fell every employee of the Imperial Embassy, her parents, the few friends she had in the nobility in Armistice, and Lord Armon. With each sickening smack of bone and flesh impacting the floor she backpedaled. Each was horrifically scarred in ways only a brutal imagination could create. Their lifeless shells mimicked Marlene as she had succumbed to the embrace of death with pain etched on her features.

"No, no, no..." she chanted to herself before she turned and sprinted.

As instantly as it had appeared the throne room vanished, her psyche melting her into a dense jungle not unlike the one she had been in when she had been waiting for Rene to return from the assault. Amber Horizon was not in sight and the trees, vines, and underbrush stretched into a endless cage of landscape. Her legs burned from the exertion that lasted veritable hours in easily doctored timeline of the subconscious. Solae stopped to catch her breath, her lungs screaming for air, when she spotted shadows leering at her. She stood and spun around but they were in every direction; there was no escape.

"What a fine prize," one amorphous shade purred at her malevolently.

"We'll bend her over so many times she'll never be upright again!" one boasted as it cackled to itself. "Even the dogs will have her before we collect our bounty!"

Reality grabbed her firmly, shaking her out of the nightmare, and jolted her back to consciousness without even a flickering sensation of warning. Her eyes opened but she was not aware first the first precious few seconds. Each sense had to be roused from its chemically-induced slumber which led to her awareness being stifled as stimulus trickled in. Before all else she was aware of a lumpy mattress on which she had been laid. Scent came next, foreign odors filling her nostrils, and then with painstaking delay were the vision and hearing that Solae relied upon so heavily.

"No, no, no," she choked with such despair that Enro stepped back respectively and Lasha had to stop herself from springing into action. With the marquise's last memory being capture, and the threats upon her involving non-consensual acts presumably on a mattress, it was exceedingly clear that the safety of the room was lost on her. In a blind panic Solae reached down, her fingers closing over the fresh bandaging on her thigh, the unspoken threat being that she would rip into the wound in hopes medical distress would stay the captors she believed were upon her.

"Solae, I'm here," Rene reassured as she took the offending hand into his own calmly but with concern.

Initially she started to wrench away but, at the sight of him injured yet quite alive, tears filled her eyes. His talking corpse was still fresh in her mind with its allegations she heralded the grim reaper itself. Rationally she knew that it was an illusion manifesting from her deepest fears- but there had been shreds of truth buried within the hellish visions. "Rene," she confirmed as she relaxed and sank back into the mattress.

"How do you feel?" Lasha asked delicately in the common tongue.

"I... I just had a bad dream," Solae said with minimization that every soul in the cramped quarters knew her to be trying to avoid any further explanation. "I'm fine now," she then convinced herself as she pushed herself to sitting upright and moved to slide off the edge of the bed.

[MxF] (Mature; 18+) Looking for Long Term Partner

<3 Penny <3

[MxF] (Mature; 18+) Looking for Long Term Partner

Because I for some reason think maybe, just maybe, I can take on one more partner...

I am looking for someone willing to do one of the three above plots or something like it, with a strong preference for "Font" because of magical system shenanigans.

If I am already in a RP with you, I AM by NO MEANS AM DROPPING YOU, so please do not panic! You are lovely, wonderful people. <3