stillwater;

[Nayl]

She spun the stars on her fingernails He knows that she isn’t here for solely political reasons. When he looks at her he can see her wall begin to crumble – pebbles fall away, nothing yet larger – and her eyes flicker away in attempt to conceal what truly ravages her mind. Naturally, she had been angry when his post in Nerine was abandoned. Djinni had told her the news, but Nayl didn’t question whether it was his motives or hers; she trusts the genie and her decisions. It was a benefit for the kingdom, no? Days had often passed that the Queen contemplated whether it was his choosing to leave or not. But she is too proud – too arrogant – to want the answer. Even in this moment, years later, she doesn’t know the truth. While her thoughts wax and wane with her steadied breaths, Nayl reminisces of the sexual tension that bound her to Stillwater. Something was there, lurking beneath the surface, but she had been too afraid to exploit it. Now, now when she is fearless, she finds herself tethered to Lior. Of course, he crosses her mind, even now. When she looks toward her exit it’s as though she can smell him, feel him, taste him. But then with another breath, he is gone, and Stillwater is in his place. His hot breath pulls her from her musings. With a mild stare, she regards him with a half-hearted grin. ”Perhaps,” she whispers into the space between them, quiet enough to not disturb the world around them. His lips hover along her shoulder – wanting, threatening – and she shudders with a slow blink, but then her gaze levels on his again, fire licking her irises. ”You’ve hurt some women,” she remembers the metallic odor that lingered on Djinni; it was blood – perhaps both of theirs mixed together – but Nayl didn’t pay it any mind. His scent enveloped her, smothered her, and it churned the gears in the Queen’s mind, but still, she said nothing until now. ”I wonder how well you are able to tolerate pain,” she murmurs, her forelock cascading down the length of her pretty face, ”if you can handle repercussions.” A cruel smile touches her lips then and a new blaze of fire gleams in her eyes. Nayl covet and myrina's creation