aldebaranarfeiniel

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

“What will you do?" he asked at last.

I'd had a little time to give it thought, and clasped my hands together, gathering courage to voice it. "My lord," I said, keeping my voice steady. "In the Night Court, when an adept has made their marque, they may stay in the service of their House, and rise within its ranks until such time as they choose to retire. I don't... I don't wish to leave your household."

Delaunay's smile was like the sun rising after the Longest Night.

"You wish to stay?"

"My lord." I swallowed against the lump of mingled fear and hope in my throat. "Do you permit it?"

He laughed out loud, drew me into his arms and kissed me on both cheeks. "Do you jest? Phedre, you take enough risks to turn my hair grey with fright, but I'm the one who taught you to do it. Since you will take them whether I will it or no, I would sooner you do it under my roof, where I can safeguard you somewhat, than anywhere else in the realm." Delaunay stroked my hair. "I'd half-thought I might lose you to your Tsingano boy," he said, not entirely in jest. "If not House Shahrizai."

"If the Prince of Travellers thinks I've been waiting for the moment my marque was made, that he might deem me worthy, he's sore mistaken," I said, giddy with relief. "Let him court me, if he wishes it. And Melisande is too interested in seeing how far I will run with her collar on me," I added, fingering the diamond at the end of the velvet cord, color rising to my face.

Delaunay forbore to comment on it, for which I was grateful.

"Phedre," he said instead, his tone sober, "you are a member of my household, and bear my surname. If ever you doubted it, know well, I would never, ever cast you out."

"Thank you, my lord," I murmured, unexpectedly moved. He grinned at me.

AWWWW.

❤️

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

“He is the other half of my sundered soul”

“I swear on the blood of Blessed Elua himself that I love you, and you alone. By the blood that Blessed Elua spilled, for so long as we both shall live, I bind myself to you, and you alone—”

“Rolande's nature shone through it all, a generous and reckless spirit who loved freely without reckoning the cost, truer to the Precept of Blessed Elua and the archaic ideologies of glory than the political machinations of a monarchy.”

“Let this breast, on which you have leant, serve you now as your shield”

“I felt it the moment you stormed into the salon and charmed me into enjoying poetry. Elua’s hand is in this.”

“He loved too well, Rolande did […] he loved wisely too. Delaunay lived for the memory of that love.”

“Has there been … is there anyone else, Anafiel?” I gazed at his beautiful face, his eyelashes spiky with tears, and pitied us both.”

“Did Blessed Elua have some purpose in joining our hearts together in one swift lightning bolt of a night? I want to believe it; I have always wanted to believe it.”

THESE TWO

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

Omg this is gorgeous!

I found this playlist on Spotify and it's soooo good!! It perfectely captures the themes and vibes of the books, or at least Phèdre's trilogy, (which is the only one i've read so far).

But seriously, i was listening to this while i was reading and multiple time i found myself thinking that the song that was on in that moment was a perfect soundtrack for that specific part i was reading.

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

"Yes, my lord."

"Good." His finger moved back up, hovering. He had beautiful hands, with long, tapering fingers. "Here, see, is where the fighting has been." He indicated a dense patch of mountainous terrain. "You marked what the iron-trader was saying last night? The Skaldi have been threatening the passes again, as they've not done since the Battle of Three Princes."

There was an undertone of sorrow in his voice. "When Prince Rolande was killed," I said, remembering. "The Dauphin was one of the Three Princes."

"Yes." Delaunay pushed the map away brusquely. "And the other two?"

"The King's brother, Benedicte, and ..." I struggled to recall. "Percy of L'Agnace, Comte de Somerville, cousin-germane to Prince Rolande," Alcuin's soft voice supplied. He pushed his white hair from his eyes and smiled. "Kinsman on his mother's side to Queen Genevieve, which made him a Prince of the Blood in accordance with matrimonial law, though he seldom claims the title."

[…]

"Bide your peace." There was no jest in Delaunay's tone and his gaze was somber. "We paid dear for that victory, when it cost Rolande de la Courcel's life. He was born to rule, and would have held the throne with strength and grace upon his father's passing, and none would have dared take up arms against him. We have paid for the security of our borders with instability in the City itself, and now our gains stand threatened in the bargain."

Pushing himself away from the table, he rose to pace the library, standing at last to gaze silently out a window onto the streets below. Alcuin and I exchanged wordless glances. Delaunay was in many ways the gentlest of masters, reprimanding us with nothing harsher than an unkind word, and that only when we were truly deserving. But there was a darkness in him that surfaced only sometimes, and we who attended his moods closer than a farmer watches the weather knew well enough not to rouse it.

"Were you there, my lord?" I ventured at length.

He answered without turning around, and his voice was flat. "If I could have saved his life, I would have. We shouldn't have been mounted, that was the problem. The ground was too uncertain. But Rolande was always rash. It was his only flaw, as a leader. When he led the third charge, he got too far ahead; his standard-bearer's horse stumbled and went down, and we were held back in getting around him. Not long . . . but long enough for the Skaldi to cut him off."

I WILL NEVER get over Delaunay having trauma-induced dissociative moments when talking about the battle of Three Princes while feigning calm.

🥲

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

“His topaz-flecked eyes searched mine. "Is it your will to be dedicated unto the service of Naamah?"

I held off giving an answer, glad of a chance to gaze at such leisure at his beloved face, elegant and austere. His hands on my shoulders, ah! I wished he would touch me more often. "Yes, my lord," I said at last, making my voice sound firm and resolute. As if there were any question!

But, of course, Delaunay had to satisfy his sense of honor. Because I adored him, I understood.

"Good." He squeezed my shoulders once and released me, smiling. Faint lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes. Like the rest of him, they were beautiful. "We'll buy a dove, in the marketplace, and take you to the temple to be dedicated."”

Phèdre is down bad

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

“We speak of stories ending,” Thelesis de Mornay said softly, “when in truth it is we who end. The stories go on and on.”

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

~I know it’s problematic don’t @ me~

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

I really love him sm

“Why? I will tell you. Because there are places I cannot go and people I cannot reach… everywhere the actual business of governing the realm takes place, Isabel’s allies bar their doors to me. They cannot be swayed, Cecilie, but they can be seduced. I know their vices, I know their desires. I know how to reach them.”

— Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel’s Dart

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

See my vision. He is Anafiel Delaunay.

(Ralph Fiennes 20 years ago / he was in his late 30s)

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

Story of my life. This man. He owns my brain chemistry

hello friends it’s half an hour after midnight and I have been struck with an overwhelming flood of emotions about anafiel delaunay and now I don’t know what to do

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

I love this man so much I feel like I understand Phédre, Alcuin, Rolande (and Mélisande??) all too well

“For those who never knew him, I can say only that there was a charm about Delaunay that compelled the affections of all who surrounded him; for good or for ill, I might add, for I knew later some who despised him. But those who hated him were the sort who envied excellence in others. No matter what he did, Anafiel Delaunay did it with a grace that eludes most people in this world.”

— on Anafiel Delaunay; Kushiel’s Dart, ch. 8

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

Those two. I would d*e for them both

"Zip me", Anafiel and Alcuin, before the auction of Alcuin's virginity

I don’t get many Kushiel’s Legacy prompts - thank you!  “Zip me = a drabble about one character dressing another, or the other way around.”  I hope you like it. <3

Continua a leggere

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

“All knowledge is worth having.”

— Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel’s Dart

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

THIS bomb dropped in Cassiel’s servant is taking my sleep away. Is it possible that /really/ behind Rolande’s impulsive act was a subconscious desire to appear the hero in Anafiel’s eyes (let’s remember that Anafiel casted him as Achilles/Hector, so maybe Rolande really wanted not to disappoint him) or it’s just Cassilines being Cassilines and twisting this episode to brainwash cadets to make them consider the danger of love over rationality?

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

Thanh you anon for making me suffer even more

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

They are so romantic

“O, dear my lord, Let this breast on which you have leant Serve now as your shield.”

— Kushiel’s Dart, Jacqueline Carey

[aldebaranarfeiniel]

““You own my marque,” I said bluntly. “Yes.” He gave me that gauging look. “But I do not own you. And when one day your marque is made, I would have you remember me as one who lifted you up, and not cast you down. Do you understand?””

— Kushiel’s Dart - Jacqueline Carey (via night-blooming-flowers)