from the pinnacle to the pit; leliana - Printable Version +- Beqanna (https://beqanna.com/forum) +-- Forum: OOC (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=24) +--- Forum: Archive (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=81) +---- Forum: Lands (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=98) +----- Forum: Tephra (https://beqanna.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=85) +----- Thread: from the pinnacle to the pit; leliana (/showthread.php?tid=24812) |
from the pinnacle to the pit; leliana - vulgaris - 08-28-2019 V u l g a r i S
The children have reached the point where they believe themselves to be grown enough to leave their parents’ side. They come back when they’re tired or to settle arguments, but for the most part they’ve learned to rely on each other for company or stake out their independence. Part of him is relieved to have some alone time as he patrols the borders of Tephra but he would be lying if he said he didn’t miss them. Vulgaris had grown comfortable with Drache and Saint tailing him like glimmering shadows with eyes full of wonder. But they’ve outgrown his scary stories and his children’s games. They’re learning to live their own lives and he couldn’t be more proud.
He enjoys the border between Tephra and Sylva best, he thinks, because the forest seems to hold a quiet mystery to it. He wonders what his former advisor is up to in there but he never steps over that line to seek her out. Maybe another day, he tells himself as the pine needles crunch under his hooves. Some part of him still yearns for the hot springs of Loess or the dessert flowers that bloomed so sweet in the spring rains. Some day he’ll have to go catch up with Castile and see just what the dragon king is up to. He used to find such comfort in having a friend with more scales than him. He steps over a cooled lava flow and he wonders if Leliana will ever be satisfied with how much of their kingdom she’s rebuilt. She slows only enough to permit her body the energy it needs for their baby and devotes entirely too much of herself to the lands. When she comes to sleep, he can hardly kiss her goodnight before she’s drifted off with her head against him. It worries him to see her push herself so hard but she wouldn’t be happy any other way, he thinks. Vulgaris would give anything to alleviate some of that burden from her shoulders but he has never had the magic to heal anything aside from himself, and he doesn’t even have that now. He pauses as he reaches the corner where Tephra, Sylva, and Taiga meet. He knows very well that Heartfire will never allow her territories to invade just as Castile and Starsin will not cross Tephran borders any time soon. Perhaps today he could spend the hours with his wife? Vulgaris hesitates briefly before wandering deeper into their home, toward the spring at the base of the volcano. In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing Don’t look for me; don't look at me RE: from the pinnacle to the pit; leliana - leliana - 09-02-2019 it's only you and me there until the darkness calls RE: from the pinnacle to the pit; leliana - vulgaris - 09-08-2019 V u l g a r i S
He enjoys their quiet walks together as she continuously bleeds her magic into their home, giving it little pieces of herself to fill its gaps after the water shattered it. Maybe that’s why he’s come to love Tephra as much as he used to love Loess. The flowers smell like her breath when she laughs and the breeze always reminds him of their first kiss. It grants him peace that he did not know before she resurrected him from the volcanic ash. They are a perfect balance to one another now – vibrant red to his dreary gray, her strength to his quiet weakness.
Vulgaris watches the wind sweep through the grasses and trees as she drinks, tangling the black locks of his mane carelessly. He only turns to look at her when she speaks and his brows furrow in confusion at her words. She makes an excellent queen, he thinks, so he can’t imagine why she would say such a thing. He tilts his head curiously but a short laugh erupts from his lips when she speaks again. Him? King? That had gone so poorly before that he can’t imagine her genuinely believing he might be fit to wear the western crown. But her gaze does not falter and she offers up a gentle plea. His laughter dies on his tongue as his smile fades to a frown. His father had been a king and saved his people when war came barging down their door, alongside his people and fellow rulers. And what had Vulgaris done? The perfect opposite. He kickstarted a war against the ones he loved best. The memory leaves a sour taste in his mouth. “Leliana, if there is anyone in this world who should not rule, it is me,” he says gently as he returns her kiss against her temple. “I do not inspire greatness in others. I don’t know what is best for our people. I only know how to love you and our children.” He rests his forehead against hers and lets a slow sigh slip from his lips. The serpent knows he would shoulder the weight of the world if she only asked him to. Slowly, he grows to accept her request, even as fear blooms in his chest for the first time in so long. “But I will do anything for you. If you want me to lead Tephra, then I will,” he whispers as he kisses along her jaw. It feels like a mistake but he could never deny her anything her heart desires. In this shook-up, twisted world, I'm gradually growing transparent and vanishing Don’t look for me; don't look at me RE: from the pinnacle to the pit; leliana - leliana - 09-08-2019 I've never loved a darker blue than the darkness I have known in you like fire weeping from a cedar tree, know that my love would burn with me |