#since the palace is effectively a city onto itself

[rxttenfish]

slowly returning to the big miravi fic i was working on and trying to recall everything that i was going to have each individual chapter be, though i might also discard the chapter names i had going as a theme (or to add them back later, after its finished) since i dont know exactly how many chapters this will be

also im thinking about adding another merfolk in the beginning scene, both because it helps set the scene as something weird going on (since miranda's serfs are notably not merfolk and aaravi has only seen other merfolk than miri and bell inside of the actual merkingdom), and because im REALLY thinking about how i write the help lately and all of miri's serfs and staff and servants and fleshing them out. its been a huge pain in my side how every single fucking thing lately refuses to include the help and to write them out, including trying to include rich, powerful characters who dont need staff or help to run their estates or do anything, in a way that notably does not exist in reality and only serves to further mentally and psychologically separate out the classes.

which is both good and bad because, oh boy, i get to design more merfolk characters! but also, OH NO, I HAVE TO DESIGN MORE MERFOLK CHARACTERS.

[officialleehadan]

Glass Ice

City on a Cliff

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Boats were not a new experience for Meira, but they weren’t a common one either. The great river that flowed under Glassbyrn went out to the sea in one direction, and snaked far inland in the other, providing an endless stream of floating traffic on the way. Meira had made the journey here and there on occasion, but never so far as Aizer, Anseraen’s home, or so often as his family preferred for leisure.

The advantage of having so much water around, she supposed. Where her people viewed water as a beloved, and costly resource that was supplied by deep wells and the river, Anseraen’s people viewed it as little more than a road, and sometimes a decorative element in their cities.

She found she liked the change, although the thick humidity was difficult to manage with her thick hair. Queen Jaeslyn, who also possessed a great deal of thick hair, saw the problem and provided a maid who was able to help. Between her and the beautiful fur cloak that Anseraen presented her with in preparation for the coming winter, Meira was perfectly content.

The winter was closing in quickly, which was new to her, and also exciting. Life in the desert didn’t vary much from day to day, or even through the year. Here, there was a noticeable loss of light over the weeks since she arrived, It was also colder, and the rains slowly turned to sleet, and most recently to snow.

She had never seen snow before and was utterly enchanted. Anseraen found her out on the balcony watching it, but rather than pull her inside, he left, and then returned with an armload of thick blankets, and a thick clay putcher of hot spiced wine, with a clever candle-warmer beneath it to keep it hot out in the cold. He bundled them both up, warm against the frosty wind, and sat outside with her until the wine was gone and the sun began to set.

The next day, he took her out into the family gardens where they, together with his parents and brothers, had a snowball fight that left them all cold, soaked, and laughing. It was a good day, as many of them had been, and so different from everything she knew that it delighted her down to her bones.

Now she was out in the snow again, and on a boat watching the snow fall onto the smooth water of the river around them. It was full night, but somehow the snow seemed to bring a strange lightness to the evening. It wasn’t bright enough to read by, but it was enough to keep watching the snow. The silence was welcome too. Nearly everyone was in the belly of the ship, enjoying good company and good music. Although Meira enjoyed those things too, she was also feeling somewhat closed-in.

Now she was looking out at the wide, smooth river. The ice was swiftly closing in, which was why they were making their way to the winter palace now. it was, Anseraen assured her, a wonder in itself. Built over natural hot springs, they warmed the whole castle, and provided marvelous bathing halls as well.

After weeks of making do with small, barely-hot tubs when she was used to the great bathhouses of Glassbyrn, Meira had to admit that they sounded glorious. She understood why these northerners had such a fondness for perfumes in he winter, when bathing was difficult, and their castles so cold that the water on her bedside stand froze every night.

If Meira had taken to slipping into her betrothed’s room most nights, well, that was between him and her. It was warmer than sleeping alone, and the company was infinitely better.

And she loved him very much, also.

The ice glinted in the moonlight. Meira leaned over, fascinated by the inky water and the glimmering white ice that framed it. It might, she imagined to herself, be possible to capture the effect with stained glass, layered together. Maybe it could even be enchanted to shimmer as the real version did now.

She didn’t realize her mistake until suddenly someone took ahold of her from behind and pushed her forward over the rail.

Caught completely unawares, Meira struggled, stronger than she looked after years working in the glass shops, but still short and light even compared to many women. Whoever had grabbed her wasn’t much stronger than she was, She thrust an elbow back like her brothers taught her and heard a female grunt, but the rail was too close, and the deck too slick to get any traction.

“Tell your gods hello for us,” a woman snarled in her ear, breathless from Meira’s attack but still a better fighter than she was. “You never should have gotten in our way.”

With a shriek, Meira felt her feet leave the boat’s solid deck, and then there was nothing between her and the dark, ice-filled water below.

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City on a Cliff:

Glass Shadow

Glass Heart 

Glass Fire  (Subscriber Only!)

Glass Light

Glass Wishes (Subscriber Only!)

Glass Bubbles

Glass Moon (Subscriber Only!)

Glass Question (Subscriber Only!)

Glass Water

Glass Cascade

Glass Welcome

Glass Whispers

Glass Temper

Glass Ice

Glass Rescue (Subscriber Only!) (New!)

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MASTERLIST