wickedgxmes

[wickedgxmes]

floatinginthcwind​:

.

Your own people.

It was a bittersweet though. In her heart, Lola knew that she was no longer the girl who cross pollinated flowers by hand, feet bare in the earth as if she might sprout roots of her own. If the truth of her was known, she wouldn’t be accepted by her people. Sure, she’d cultivated a network of clients, but would they really be there if she needed help? Belonging to the Pirate Lord’s community of thieves was off-putting only because she didn’t know how to be a part of a community anymore, but still the florist nodded. Lola tilted her head, a wry smile lifting her lips. “You are too good to me,” she murmured quietly.

“I can provide you something useful now, and I will bring you something fun tomorrow,” Lola promised. She knew Hana well enough to know that she wasn’t joking. Carefully, she produced a small vial. “This is a blend of A. Baetica, one of the rarest wildflowers, bella donna, and adelfa. Brand new, and the only one I brought with me.” Lola offered it to Hana with a grin and a wink. “I figured you ought to have something unique, given the circumstances.”

-

“I’m really not,” Hana admitted after a drawn out breath. “If I was, you’d probably trust me a whole lot more than I have a feeling you actually do.” The pirate lord’s gaze fell back to that of the crowd momentarily, lingering briefly on the masked but obvious nobility among them. Individuals who once made her sole social circle and, yet, now felt more or less like strangers passing through a crowd. “You’re right not to fully trust me, by the way, or anyone for that matter. But, just know, you’re not the only one with a foot in both worlds. And how I treat you is just a small fraction of how I wish someone had treated me when I had made a choice to start a new.”

“Okay,” A hint of a smile pulled back across her face as she gave Lola that of a simple nod. “I look forward to it. And wow. It really is my lucky day now, isn’t it?” Hana let out a low whistle as she took the small vile from the other, looking it over before tucking it safely away. “You know me too well,” She let out a content hum, despite her words acting as a sweet sentiment rather than the whole truth.

[wickedgxmes]

dxncingafterdeath​:

-

“Compared to your daily experiences, events like these must be a bore.” Ophelia knew the fable and tales that followed Hana Seong’s long and adventurous life. The illegitimate sister of the ruling Duke, who took the people’s support and made herself into the Queen of the Seas. A divisive figure that could spark debate in any room. Some called her an anti heroine, whose generosity offset her less-than-ethical means of turning coin. Others called her a scum, her actions a fruition of her less-than-pure bloodline. A few even thought it a waste - her noble breeding could fetch a fruitful husband and a better alliance for the Lost Coasts. Yes, she was the subject of universal debate. And in as many years of knowing her, Ophelia’s judgement swung back and forth. She had rescued her once, from the salt water that dared engulf her like it did her mother. And since then, Ophelia has endeavored to return the favor. But in doing so, she learned more of her life, and questioned its sustainability.

Such questions, that plagued her overthinking mind, seemed careless now. Who was she to play judge, jury, and executioner on a woman who at least owned her own life? Could Ophelia say the same? Well, perhaps tonight could be a start. There’s a coy smile along her face, fidgeting under their taunting gaze. “If I speak of it more, it may go to your head.” She jokes, almost in jest as the tizzy of champagne emboldens her. “You certainly look like you fit in.” She clarifies, nodding softly. “Which makes sense. If I recall, you grew up in these circles.” Ophelia was not born of noble blood, but it meant little to the likes of the Sacred Wood. With an intuitive bite of her inner lip, she gently raises her chin behind Hana. While Ophelia did not know much of mischief, hers was a clever enough mind. “Whatever is likely lingering down that hall, I reckon.” She raises an appeasing hand, a silent gesture to let Hana know that her words were mere curiosity. Neither an accusation, or a threat.

-

“Sometimes,” Hana admitted, with a nod of her head. “Sometimes they can be a bore. Other times, they can be nostalgic. But, tonight- I mean come on, love. You can’t help, but admit the dance floor is fairly stiff,” She leaned over and whispered into the healer’s ear. A teasing smile gracing her lips as she motioned towards the sparse dance floor Ophelia had just come from. “Other than you and your friends that is,” She promised with a teasing wink and mischievous glint in her gaze willfully eyeing the woman up and down.

“And wouldn’t that be grand? My thoughts filled with that of your lovely voice?” Hana pointed out with a curve of her lips. Clinking her own glass of champagne lightly against Ophelia’s as she amusingly watched the woman seemed to float before her on the bubbles of light and fizzle champagne. “I did,” She said slowly. Her gaze drifting from that of Ophelia’s back towards the heaps of twirling aristocrats who didn’t seem to pay them much mind. “Although, rumor has it I hardly fit in,” She sighed at the thought. Her words trailing off momentarily, before she tilted her chin ever so slightly back towards the other. “What’s lingering down that hall, isn’t for you. As clever and cute as you may be. For if I recall, the flustered blushing girl I saved wasn’t looking to involve herself with the likes of pirates. That is unless that’s changed?”

[wickedgxmes]

rowanxscott​:

Who: Rowan and @wickedgxmes​ Where: Grand Ball, immedietly after the announcement

Rowan was not given to public displays of emotion, because such things gave your enemies too much ammunition. The very keen eyed among the crowd who were foolish enough to be looking at them instead of at her highnesses Catherine and Beatrix might notice how one hand tensed around their glass fo scotch, and the other twitched ever so slightly at their side, as if ther emight normally be a large dog there who’s head they would pet.

It did not take long for them to force themselves to appear relaex again, though their stormy gaze was not so easily tampered. Hana. The Pirate Lord was their closest link to the Lost Coast. (They have a handful of tenuous allies in Ravenspeak too, but those people got so tetchy whenever Rowan smuggled away their weaponry. Hana outranked the most of them, too.) They seek her out in the crowd. It takes a moment, she’s dressed far more elegantly than Rowan would normally see her. Though it’s not as if Rowan floats about in… Well, alright they do wear things covered in spikes quite a lot. 

They weave through the crowd to her side and by the time they reach her Rowan wears a small smile that gives no hint to the calculations and scheming happening in their head. They want to ask her outright if she had any prior knowledge of this and decided to keep it from them, but a ball is no place for accusations. “Have fun with all that overseeing of legality happening in your dukedom. Hope your boat is hard to recognize.” Rowan manages to tease, voice light. “Perhaps the two of us should talk.”

-

Hana cocked her brow up at the sound of the familiar voice calling out to her from over her shoulder. The smallest hint of a smile pulled at the corner of her lips as she turned to face her fellow Lord of Hell, the Head of Thieves, Rowan Scott. She didn’t have to look at them to know in an instant that they must be just as displeased with the Queens new declaration as she was. Even if they were not one to let public displays of emotion readily grace their face, the disapproval of the army and navy intervening across the lands was inevitable. “I could say the same to you, Scott. The Royal Navy has always monitored the Seas of Shīqù Hǎi'àn, but now with this new decree, it looks like their jurisdiction has been extended to include that of Stone Garden. Have fun with the Army and Navy now in your backyard too.”

As far as the Pirate saw it, her day to day life would hardly change much. She had been bumping shoulders with Kai Ichinose her entire life and, sure, this new policy may incentivize the Navy to crack down on her and her crews a bit harder than before, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. If anything, it aided her brother by solidifying Shīqù Hǎi'àn as a powerhouse and helped pull the Navy’s focus off of herself to that of the crimes in the other dukedoms. Her concerns, however, rested in the butterfly effect this new law was bound to have. Rowan’s thieves were part of her own network. Both Lords worked hand and hand to keep the Black Market thriving and, with criminals across the lands being targeted, it didn’t bode well for either of them. Not in the long run. 

“Perhaps we should,” She nodded in agreement as she motioned with a tilt of her head towards the nearest exit. “My ship is docked not far from here, if you would like to catch up in a place a bit more... private?”

[wickedgxmes]

drvnktides​:

⋅𖥔⋅ ━━✶━━ ⋅𖥔⋅ 

THEY have always been like this in their little game of push and pull, their petty skirmishes for a negligible shred of power, suffocating, always under the combined weight of the power up against each other. How mighty they could be if they could use their united strength to pull — but alas, like oil and water, Kai and Hana could not mix.

A shame, really. Even he knew this, that in this game the only piece he had control over was himself, that peace is as easy as yielding to the other (her royal blood, as much as she despised it, reeked through the swaggering trappings of a pirate, and Kai knew better than to truly challenge her). Yet, every advance by the Pirate Lord is devoted to an equally forceful parry.

He takes no notice of the endearing mockery tacked onto his name for this is the way they spar, an attempt at belittling him smacked away not unlike an errant fly. Kai doesn’t shift from his place or gaze, arms crossed tightly over his chest. “Perhaps I should reword my sentiment — what you do in your free time in the Lost Coasts and elsewhere is none of my concern, and I am well aware of that agreement we have made,” he starts. “Yet I did not know you as foolish enough to engage in such an illicit enterprise right under the Queens’ noses.” 

A breath. Barely a hair between them, and despite the cacophony that surrounds them in spades, the tension preserves the still air in front of their face. Kai is not known to be a jovial, jesting fellow, but with Hana, he insists on the taunts. “You must know that despite your position in the Lost Coasts, your unlawful existence is a mark against your cause — why, I could bring all of my men in here and shut you down in an instance!” The smirk is visible on his face now, a mockery of her own — and the irony is, perhaps, that his greatest adversary is the one who is allowed to see it. “Perhaps you think of fire as an asset, but I urge you to reign it in before you burn yourself and your crew whole.”

-

“Perhaps,” A low hum parted from the Pirate as she peered amusingly up at him. A fondness finding its way to her gaze at the noticeable lack of distance between them and the way his words practically tickled her lips admits their extremely close proximity. And yet, each of their tones remained tantalizing. Taunting each other as they fell all too easily back into the little game of push and pull they had made for themselves. “And yet are you not standing here, noticeable concerned?” She pointed out with a quirk of her brow and the slightest up tilt of her lips. For as long as Hana had known Kai, she had always felt a need to tease him. Even during her time as a lady, she would whistle at him whenever he was around or drop playful remarks in an attempt to get a rise out of him. In an attempt to see any other expression pool across his face than that of the stoic and often cross gaze he wore so well. But, at the mention of being foolish, the carefree demeanor she carried slipped away. “Foolish?” She asked, repeating his own words back to him. “Is that what you think of me?”

Hana was far too used to others poor assumptions of her at this point. Even as a child, she had dealt with a lifetimes worth of harsh critics and uncalled for comments. She was a bastard. A bitch. A criminal. A loss of potential. The daughter of a whore and a whore herself.  And she had never minded. Never paid much attention to other’s comments and on the few occasions she did, she typically would feed into the rumors. If they saw her as an outlaw, she would show them the greatest outlaw that ever was. So, she wasn’t quite sure why his ill opinion seemed to creep under her skin. “Let me ask you something, Commander- when your Queens announced that your men now have the power to invade any dukedom at ease, what did you think would happen? Did you think you would be met with peace? You may find this festivity to be vulgar. You never were one to let loose with ease, but have you stopped to question that maybe this ‘foolish engagement’ or so you see it is preventing these angry parties from committing far worse crimes amongst the streets?” 

“‘Despite my position’?” She let out a pained scoff at that. “And what position may that be exactly? The position of a once Lady? Is that what you refer to? Only even as a Lady was my existence unlawful, wasn’t it?” Hana pointed out, referring to how her own existence was the product of an illicit affair between a Duke and a courtesan. “So, it seems like that mark you hold against my cause should exist no matter what I do. But, go ahead Kai. Shut us down. It will be a win, win situation truly. You’ll appear as a shinning knight in the Queen’s eye while giving the rest of the dukedoms even more of a reason to fuel their anger,”  Her words may have been spoken softly and yet the calculating glint dancing across her gaze made each one more poignant than the next. “My crew is already escaping,” She gestured with a tilt of her head to where the last of her men were slipping out the exits. The pirates had enough run ins with the Navy in the past to know what to do at the sight of the Commander in their midst. “So, don’t worry. If I burn, I’ll burn alone,” She whispered. Or alone with the Stone Garden thieves and a number of other denizens from across Ashbourne. None whose wellbeing she had all too much concern for personally. Her words trailing off as she caught the rare and visible smirk across his lips. Unconsciously reaching up, she brushed her thumb lightly against the corner of his lips. “The smile suits you by the way.” 

[wickedgxmes]

dxncingafterdeath​:

-

“Really?” Javier cants his head in easy humor. “I didn’t think it took much, concerted effort.” Or perhaps it was simply Javier’s observation, from when he had known the Pirate Lord intimately. Unlike her brother or those of similar, noble breeding - Hana Seong floated through aristocracy and courtiers with an effortlessly sharp tongue. Something likely garnered from her precarious lineage, but seemingly built into her very essence. There was a time when Javier took great comfort in her effortless charms. It reminded him of himself. But hers were words that could cut, and his were made to bolsters. A quiet thought passed in between sips of his pitcher of ale - how much of the girl he once knew, still prevailed?

There’s a sardonic laugh as she serves his own jest back to him. “Your Grace” sounded just as it did in his boyhood - stuffy and impractical. A noble term meant to cut the young boy down to size, to better fit with his comrades. Or so it was, when Javier was an unruly and energetic boy taking lessons in Kum Diyari or jaunts to the Lost Coasts to indulge in the sun and sea. With a rueful shake of his head, he clicks his roof of his mouth. “It cuts just as deep as it did when we were children.” He says with false theatricality, a glimmer of truth riddled amidst the smiles and easy company. “How’s about we simply be Hana and Javier?” He licks his lips. “For tonight, anyways.” Their foyer into maturity made it so that the escapism tonight would only ever be that. Come sunrise, propriety and stature would find root yet again. For him, more so than it did for her and her free-wheeling life.

“Correct.” He nods. “Same old premise, but a different tale from your brother’s. The point tends to be the same, though.” It was common knowledge that her adventure-seeking brother had come to his own title unexpectedly. Worse - that the distance drawn between Hana and the ruling Duke, was forged in the divided Lost Coasts. And perhaps it was the permission of vice that evening, or a sentimental feeling where Hana was concerned. But he feels compelled to be truthful about it. “Oh, I get out plenty.” He adds with a salacious wink. He cannot help but frown, Hana’s disbelief taking him by surprise. “I’ve always been honest… There are simply not a lot of people I miss.” Javier was surrounded by friends, lovers, and trusted advisors. Many of whom, he would vow fealty and loyalty to. But he’s also never lost anyone, not truly. Not like he missed her. “You have found yourself on a very short list. I would tell Yasmin the same, but I’m afraid it’ll go to her head.”

-

“Would you prefer if I said I was born like this?” She asked. A hint of curiosity clinging to her breath as peaked all too observantly over at him. Though, she was fairly certain they both knew that wasn’t quite true. The Pirate Lord may have an effortlessly sharp tongue these days and, even as a child, she was known to give a saucy look or two. But, Hana’s words didn’t used to cut the same way they now do. She used to be a bright doe eyed practically infectious ball of chaotic energy and light. It was practically impossible not to smile at the carefree and pure at heart child whom never ceased to hold her head high despite all of the cruel words and disgusted looks thrown her way. The irony of it all far from lost on her. The tenderhearted young girl she once was, whom had tried so hard to define herself as something other than her mother’s daughter, eventually became her in an attempt to preserve what was left of their fleeting family. 

“You haven’t changed, have you?” Hana mused as she took a sip of her drink. Breathlessly, a nostalgic smile found its way her lips in response to not only his false theatrics, but also the reminder of how much simpler things used to be. “For now, Javi,” She nodded in agreement, still choosing to pick her own nickname for him rather than the name he provided, but at least it was a much more endearing one this time around.

“Quite a different tale from him indeed,” She noted, feeling the need to make it clear that whatever heavy head Javier felt, his story was not to be compared to that of her family’s. “Though, in my experience, heavy is the head regardless of a crown or title. All the world's a stage and, like it or not, we each have our own part to play.” Something she knew better than anyone. For Hana played the part of the ‘free spirited pirate’ well, but it was just as much of a role for her as the title of Duke was for him. The nobles needed the outlaws. The crown needed criminals they could point fingers at and direct the masses focus to rather than have their own cracks in their foundation brought to the forefront of everyone’s attention. And Shīqù Hǎi'àn needed a pirate lord. Someone the poor and downtrod could put their faith in when the law betrayed them and someone the nobles could scorn and praise her brother for keeping in check. A balance of scales of sorts. “Though I still don’t see how you’re more damned than anyone else, Duchy.  And mhmm.  Of course you do. Though, are you sure you’re getting out plenty, or getting under plenty?” She teased, offering up a knowing look of her own as she raised her glass towards his.

“Cheers. Color me lucky then. And who- oh! The Kum Diyari Duchess,” Her eyes lit up in realization. Hana may have grown up around the nobles, but Yasmin’s claim to power happened after her fall from grace which is why the pair weren’t exactly on a first named basis, although she did have a few recent run ins with the curious ex-spy of his. “I’ve heard about that. So, the two of you are still at it, huh? She’s pretty and clever. I bet she drives you crazy, doesn’t she?” Hana couldn’t help, but let out a laugh, smiling to herself at the thought of how she still clearly knew him.

[wickedgxmes]

The Kingdom of Ashbourne

Whose Side Are You On?

[wickedgxmes]

dxncingafterdeath​:

-

“Maybe so.” Javier murmurs, a ghost of a sentimental smile daring to break his disposition. His heart would turn sheepish in the quiet moments, as an out pour of love dare break through his defenses. It was not that the Duke of the Fairwinds combated love. He led his land with it at the cornerstone of his actions, as his guiding light. A principle that would provide clarity, when leadership begged for the grandest of compromises. But this wasn’t just love, it was being in love. What’s worse - the illusion of perfection that was Yasmin Yildirim was not someone ought to be in love with. It was like endearing himself to a mirage or a sand storm - utterly out of reach. Even as her fingers tether along his tassels, or lips purse with longing. Javier knows it well enough to be true.

“You know how I feel.” He can hear himself sound like a petulant child, combating her reasonable question with an evasive answer. Darting brown eyes tearing away from her aristocratic features, and onto the flickering enchanted lights. It was not a childishness that kept him from speaking of his feelings for Yasmin. It was what their relationship endured the last time his heart was on his sleeve. He had presented himself to her as friend, supporter, and something more. What came next, was a pooling distance that would gnaw at him forever. Yes, it was true that Javier was still as in love now as he is then. But an even more prevailing truth, was that Yasmin would never truly allow him to love her. Instead, they dance their intricate dance, close but never too much.

“You also know that there’s nothing to be gained in repeating it. Right?” A challenge thrown back at her haughty question, challenging brows to the contrary. Yet their venom turns to honey, as he unceremoniously pushes her against the wall. Haggard warm breath, as easy habits are a larger comfort that where their conversation was heading. He smiles against her skin, warm goosebumps as her body complies with his. He hums into her lips, shaking his head ruefully. “Yes, here.” He nods on, wicked smile as he looks side-to-side. The threat of being exposed, eclipsed by a need and a heart-pumping adrenaline. His hands against her exposed back, taunting along the skin. A second kiss, with fervor and need against her lips. “What are you so afraid of? We are hardly a secret.” With a cocky smile, his hand dips down her dress, hand against her ass as he squeezes it ruefully. “Don’t you want Her Royal Highnesses to see a fruitful negotiation?”

-

“Do I?” The words breathlessly break from her lips before she has a moment to stop herself. Her fingers unconsciously trace their way along the collar of his shirt before trailing their way along the line of his strong jaw. A want pulling in her chest to guide his brown eyes back to hers. But, with the want always comes the fear. As much as she sometimes speculated what this truly was- what she truly meant to him, a part of her knew deep down that she might not ever want to know the answer. Sure, she sometimes wished she could just be the girl to lean in to the way her heart seemed to flutter and her breath seemed to hitch whenever she took him in- the way time would seemingly stand still and exotic words, far from the cynical and straight-laced thoughts she was prone to having, would drift across the mirror of her mind for a fleeting moment there, but in her experience, as lovely as the butterflies were, what was to follow would be that of heart wrenching pain. 

Yasmin had been in love before. She had given all of herself to a boy she had once deemed worth it. And what did she have to show for it? That of empty pockets, of a grumbling and starving stomach and a lifetime’s worth of grief that came in grueling waves like a shard in her gut that had never seemed to leave, though perhaps in time the edges had dulled. So, she kept her guard up. She buried the fiery thief deep down and swore to protect to her heart at all costs. Only for Javier De Leon’s annoyingly handsome face to worm its way in. And if she gave into him only for history to repeat itself once more- she’d be reduced to nothing more than the broken fool she tried so hard to be better than. 

“I..” Yasmin couldn’t recall the last time she had even been truly flustered. And yet the challenge he had thrown her way had managed to catch her off guard. Gone was the gracefully calculative duchess whom always seemed to have the perfect retort for every given situation. Instead, standing before him was the messily pieced together fragments of a dejected girl whom hardly knew how to trust anymore let alone answer his question. “I... I don’t know,” She mumbled out. Helpless doe eyes blinking up at him before she quickly shook her head and adverted her gaze in a poor attempt to brush off his poignant question. 

“Javier,” She hissed at him once more. Those momentarily innocent eyes of hers morphing into that of daggers as his own smile grows wicked. “Have some decorum for god sakes,” She rolls her eyes over at him, giving his chest a shove far too light to truly push him off of her- just yet that is. For her eyes may have been barring into him, but her body seemed to have other plans. Her cheeks flushing a bright red in a mix of heat and embarrassment as her petite physique seemed to mold into his arms. 

[wickedgxmes]

everlastingdawn​:

- Being out in the world was still a shock for her. She had spent so long locked away in the tower with nothing but her books and the spies that came through the halls to whisper to her the secrets they had discovered as they were out in the world. She had visited the different places in her mind a million times. She could picture the famous places in each of the dukedoms as they were described in the texts but she had never been to any of them. She had never been anywhere. She felt overwhelmed. She had been out gathering information as much as she could from the different displays that people were putting on but she was starting to be afraid. She didn’t know if she could truly handle being out in the world and part of her longed for the confines of the tower. 

She was grateful for Yasmin. The closest thing to a friend that she had she clung to the woman more than anyone. Of course she adored Javier as well but there was something more of a kinship with Yasmin. She hoped that the tentative trust that she put towards the woman wouldn’t leave her with regrets. When Yasmin had wanted to spend the time before the ball getting ready together she had almost asked to be allowed to not attend. She had nothing to wear to such a grand event. She had never been to a party and she had no idea how to act around all the strangers she would surely face. 

“They are all so pretty. I’ve never seen so many beautiful gowns before.” Her fingers reached out to trail lightly over the fabrics taking in the different textures. “They’re gorgeous. This one though is my favorite. It reminds me of a field of wildflowers that I used to play in as a child.” It made her think of home. A dark lush green with a million different colored flowers embroidered into the fabric. She had never seen anything so beautiful. “Of course any of them would be wonderful though.”

-

“I hadn’t either,” Yasmin found herself admitting. Her voice no more than a low whisper as her eyes drifted back to the dresses before them as if fixating on lace trim of a stunning blue number rather than having to meet her dear friend’s gaze. In truth, she rarely spoke of her past. She rarely let the façade of duchess she had built up around her crumble even for that of moment. Their people looked up to her after all as their hope and hero. She was their voice. Someone who came from nothing, but managed to redefine her own circumstances to dedicate her life to providing them with a better one. What would they think if they knew their leader felt like a fraud in the shoes they had bestowed her? “Before I... well, you know,” She said softly, folding one of the dresses neatly over to make room for her to sit down at the edge of the bed. “I used to look at dresses like these in the show windows and merchant booths and wish I could afford something even a fifth as beautiful. I’d wonder what sort of lives the wearers of such elegant garments must live and now... now I’m oddly one of them. Only, it’s never quite how you imagine it to be, is it?” The nostalgia dancing across the duchess’ gaze faded away as she could practically feel her fingertips itching to scratch at that of her wrists. The pressures of what it took to perform as Kum Diyari’s duchess rushing back in as quickly as they had been momentarily forgotten. 

“It’s stunning and now yours,” Yasmin decided, plucking up the lush green dress from the pile before moving to hold the gown before her secret keeper. “Lovely. As to be expected,” She let out a low hum at the thought, as she reached over to comb the stray strands of Amara’s hair out of her face with her fingers before turning her cheek so that both of them could take in Amara’s reflection in the mirror. “Green is much more your color mine. But, the red on the other hand, may work perfectly for myself. Wouldn’t you agree?”

[wickedgxmes]

dxncingafterdeath​:

-

“More than I could count. But what’s the saying about Ashbourne and its love for formality?” She is referring to, of course, the critical Dukedom’s sour perspective on the matter. The Ashworth’s truly did take to their hierarchy, and heralded their Duchy’s as ‘Your Grace’ first and ‘Lady’ every moment thereafter. Frankly, Ophelia thought the entire formality of it tiresome. But for all that she considered Yasmin a friend, she was still the leader of a powerful Dukedom. Little concessions like playing the game of formality, seemed like an easy adjustment. Still - she smiles, cool and easy as she often did. “Very well, Yasmin.” Ophelia concedes after a brief pause. There were worse things than fostering a friendship with Yasmin, though it always felt… Shallow. Their conversations felt limited to talks of politics, the weather, and what the other is enjoying in their spare time. Fair weather friends, they were. She nods, pleased to hear that she would join her for a cup of tea. Observant, light brown eyes catch the weariness on Yasmin’s otherwise refined features. The Duchess always did appear like a perfect work of Kum Diyari art. These days, however, she began to show cracks in her marble make.

"Always happy to help.” She notes with a nod, her fingers reaching for a teaspoon as she prepares Yasmin’s tea just as she liked. A benefit of having known her so long, was knowing frivolous details like the way she took her tea. Ophelia keeps her expression neutral, something resembling a quirk to her lips appearing instead. “That’s correct. It’s a popular one today, to be sure.” Misitu Mitakatifu didn’t make a habit out of selling their more premium ailments. But its energizing elixir proved both profitable, and a worthy distraction from those that coveted their practices. “Mostly bon-vivant lords and ladies who want to dance into the late hour of the night.” She curls her lips into a critical frown. “Or army men looking to stay sharp.” The Sacred Wood’s condemnation of formal armies hailing from the North and the Coast, was common knowledge. No need to hide it in Yasmin’s company. “Of course, I had set aside a few bottles for you.” She coed, sweet yet silent as she blew on her cup of hot tea. “You have been looking quite… Tired.” Ophelia comments with a sweet hum.

-

“I wouldn’t know. If there is a saying, its not one in which Kum Diyari adheres to,” Yasmin stated simply and, yet, the meaning behind her eased words were all too evident- her own existence as duchess acting as proof of how she and her people hardly adhered to Ashbourne’s traditions. If they did, the daughter of a starving poet and once thief such as herself would have never been bestowed the title as duchess as well as their leader. Still, Yasmin made note of the woman’s brief pause. As much as the two, in theory, had in common, there was always a distance between the pair. Neither one choosing to delve deeper than the shallow topics they both brushed over, briefly touching upon one before quickly moving on to the next. For as sharp as the healer could be, Yasmin hardly felt as if she could trust the other or her motives, being able to recognize the scrutinizing gaze in a matter of seconds and know when someone was trying to read her.

“I’m sure,” A low hum left her lips as she took the cup extended to her. “I can only imagine,” The duchess gave Ophelia a small nod just before the warm beverage graced her lips. “You don’t appreciate the bon-vivant lords and ladies exuberance?” She asked curiously. Her own amber eyes studying the other from just above the edge of her tea cup. “Or is the army men that don’t catch your fancy?” Yasmin knew why those might condemn the Kingdom’s army and navy. In part, she did as well or at least their potential intervention into the land of her own people. Though, she chose to keep her expressions stoic when it came to that of politics. Better to not let her opinions openly show as to even, for a split second, give her potential opponents an upper hand. “Thank you. That will be all this time around and...” She paused. Her lips pressing together at the woman before her’s less than subtle remark, as if pondering over the right words to respond. “Do I? I’m not sure why that would be. But, on the second thought... maybe I should take an immune booster with me as well. There may be something going around. I must admit, I’ve been a bit worried for you, myself. Working with so many patients. Recently, you’ve seemed a tad bit... unwell?”

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what do you mean this wasn’t what happened in this scene

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So what do you say? There is only one thing to say in such situation… Welcome home, sister. Welcome home.

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RAMBEL (26)

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moon gayoung ( fr. actress & model ) icons. 

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+

Cihangir doesn’t give up. He asked me again to find a way and kill you. Cihangir doesn’t have to ask you that. I told you before that one day you will kill me.