MOD EVENT ↠ IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

[faderifting]

WHO: Anyone
WHAT: Some dreams
WHEN: Harvestmere 9:45–Wintersend 9:46
WHERE: The Fade
NOTES: OOC post!

Comments

[ipseite]

( a hand catches his elbow with strength behind it, controlled; the smell of iron and leather, the shift and weight of practical armor obliged to be made palatable for palatial surroundings. davidias stands roughly of a height with julius off of his knees, perhaps a little taller, perhaps not; in the shadow nearly a year ago where marius had held a sword to this man's throat, he had looked resigned, unkempt and unshaven. now he looks fit for the captain of a queensguard with his hair clean and tied back, his smooth jaw tight. )

You are wasting your time, Selwyn, ( his voice low, his accent like his queen's. his gaze follows her even as he ushers the other man to walk in the shadow of the pillars shading the building, a tangible grief tamped down. ) And I understand; believe me, I do.

( thaïs waves to them, tossing her light above her head to do it, and davidias smiles back at her, inclines his head respectfully when petrana looks over her shoulder and does not react when her hard to read gaze settles on julius. )

Believe me, ( he repeats, slowing their steps. out of immediate earshot of most but not all of his men, and keeping the queen and the crown princess in his eyeline. they look nothing so much as dutiful. ) But I would see her grace at peace. It isn't how I— there are other ways for her to help us stop this.

[overharrowed]

[Julius is torn. A lifetime of training tells him him that you should not play along with a dream or give in to an imposed version of reality; that is the way danger lies, especially for a mage. But an equal amount of non-dream experience demands that he acknowledge that the best way forward is never to make waves or shut down a conversation without cause.

He tells himself, firmly, that he will remember who he is; that he is playing a part as a means of gathering information, no more.]

What ways?

[His voice is low, quietly insistent, for all his body language looks relaxed at a distance; just two men having an ordinary conversation.]

We cannot just leave things as they are.

[A gamble, but a calculated one.]

[ipseite]

She would want Thaïs protected above all else. If we cannot get them both away—

( davidias is talking about abandoning her. no; at peace. he speaks of more than just abandonment. the weight of his gaze is as heavy as his hand, and the sword at his hip that does not look decorative. )

Her grace is a symbol. If that is all she desires to be, now, it's for us to respect her wishes.

( it's funny how that doesn't sound like a good thing. he breathes out, and in another, less observed moment he might have dragged his hand over his mouth. in this one, he merely observes the stillness of the guard and who he trusts nearest them. )

[overharrowed]

[He lowers his voice a hair.]

If she desired anything else, would she be in a position to give any sign? Given what she wants...

[Julius glances back, briefly, and lets his gaze rest on the child for a moment before looking back ahead.]

Forgive me my boldness, but you do not seem like a man who believes her grace is at peace.

[ipseite]

The last time I tried to rescue her grace from her misfortunes, she hit me in the face with a cast-iron pan and stole my horse, ( is a dry statement not without some affection; measured, carefully, even in this company. julius's, and the loyalty of the men standing nearby them. ) It was a long time ago. She would have done more, to protect the child she was carrying then—

( he could have helped, he thinks, if he had known. he could have done something else for her, he would have tried. he remembers the way she asked after her parents, her father who had sent him, as well as the set of her jaw when she took him off-guard. )

Selwyn, times have changed. Her grace has changed. She is not that woman any longer.

[overharrowed]

The times always change.

[It's almost more to himself than the man beside him. He's not sure what the temptation is or, in truth, who is being tempted. But something is amiss, that much is clear.]

So your counsel is to just give up, then.