The seven

In the wake

Arrchana ———————

Song: peacefall - purity ring

I woke with the sun, feeling as it drained away my shadows so that they seeped into my skin, clinging to me like frightened children. But the sun was the only familiar thing that lay before me. 

I sat up onto my elbows, wincing when my muscles protested at me, I don't think I had properly rested here since last night but even that wasn't enough clearly.

I was on a slim bed frame , a thin quilt pulled around me so that I was grateful for the role the sun had in warming me. I looked around the room then, small and plain in size but with the usual decorations that all of the elven people seemed to own.

Small jars of herbs and plants lined the shelves , and beneath them , a ton of weapons , enough so that I was surprised Rosie herself hadn't been drawn here like a magnet.

And then to my right, the only other furniture in the room besides an empty fireplace , a plush armchair, and in it a sleeping guard.

It was Loren, the captain of the guard who I trained with frequently. And he was slumped back in the chair, losing the grace I had seen him carry without falter through the days we had trained.

Even in sleep he seemed on edge. His brows lightly furrowed and his arms gripping still onto the chairs arms, and the tension he held within them as he rested was evident.

He did not wake though. Even as I shifted the blankets around me and they ruffled together. And that was loud considering our hearing, all of us befitted with these modified tipped ears. Though maybe he was used to it, had learned to zone it out.

I grabbed my coat where I saw it hanging on the back of the door, besides countless other weapons and prices of armour , and scooted off of the bed. He really portrayed his status through his room.

He did stir lightly then, but I knew we wouldn't train today, not with the prince hurt, so I bundled the quilt in my arms and draped it over his form.

I felt a shift as he began to wake , and nearly dropped the blanket in surprise. But by a strange luck, as my arm brushed his he calmed instantly. My skin clearly must have been warm from the sun streaming in, light that he was not exposed to due to his position.

I stared at him for a moment, watching as shadows casted onto his tan skin harshly, highlighting his facial features as if they were sharp blades to cut through the light. I liked that he could seem to go from being godly in light to a weapon in the dark. I would remember him like this I thought. Not- not that I had thought of him more than this. I hadn't truly looked till now. Too consumed with the darkness I felt around me. But his was exhilarating. Grating in my senses.

And I made my way out of the room then, allowing a tendril of shadow to seep out and guide me back to my own bed I looked back once , to see as the captain sunk into the warmth of the quilt. Sighing lightly with sleep still. Comfort found even in the shadows.

Nadia ————————

Song: plot twist - NIKI

When I woke Kieran was gone and I had been left slumped at the door, my body stiff from laying on the unforgiving stone. I felt helpless as I prepared to endure the loneliness of the day once more until he returned.

I moved to my bed for a while, feeling as unforgiving feathers prodded me from its inside. Trying to find warmth in its threadbare blanket was near impossible too. I knew that I missed the water then. I had yet to feel it's touch fully in this new form, but I craved it far beyond any pushed down magic that the shackles at my wrist pressed upon me. It was different from my ability to control it. I was both able to control and to be water. I needed it. And I was going to wilt soon without it.