all my fragile strength is gone - Nayl

[Nayl]

I am not afraid... I was born to do this.

What she hears is not at all what she expected. Had it not been for her quick restraint, Nayl’s mouth would have hung agape in a look of confusion. Alas, her lips remains pursed into a thin line, her autumn eyes curtained by her unruly forelock. A silence is held steadily between them for a few long seconds until Nayl can actually bring herself to shatter it like glass. ”I’m shocked,” she says over the murmur of the tide, her gaze flickering between it and Djinni. At some point she expected the genie to be prepared to resign, however, it seems so soon (but it has been years). Both of them will one day step down, but is it already time?

”Why?” She can’t help but wonder, the question slipping past her tongue before she can reel it back in and consider an alternative response. ”Has Stillwater done something?” For a heartbeat she had almost forgotten about him and the fire that he stirs in the pit of her stomach. It’s uncomfortable to say his name after so long of a self-induced silence and avoidance. An unsteadiness seeps through her muscles and forces her to shift, but she masks it easily enough as she steps out from where the sand has sunken in.

Her reign was so strong with a great deal of help from Djinni, but it’s all slipping now. Is this expected? She draws in a slow, concentrated breath as she weighs the situation and considers other recent happenings. ”What will happen to Sylva when you step down?” There is no if, only when. Nayl would never force her friend to stay on the throne, not if she no longer craves its power and comfort. ”And what shall we do with Hyaline? They will grow weary of being a sunkingdom, but they are children.” And suddenly Nayl envisions her reign drawing to a screeching halt.

queen of nerine
daughter of covet & myrina