Blood And Stone

Chapter 23: Lyric the Sithaurian

Lyric stood looking out the window of the room they had been brought to. The room was decorated with grand furniture, all of which held ornate designs so beautiful that she had a hard time believing that they were not created by magic. In fact, she had a hard time believing this entire city was not created solely with magic. She sat now in an overstuffed chair whose cushion was a beautiful and lush shade of green. Golden leaves and flowers snaked their way up the legs and arms of the chair, cascading down to form the back of the chair, looking like a tangle of the most beautiful and delicate branches of a tree. The cushion beneath her felt softer than anything she had ever touched and she found herself wondering if all Kings and Queens owned such fine things. She could only begin to try and imagine how soft their clothing must be. What about their beds? If they felt like this, it would be as if she were sleeping on a cloud. Her excitement grew with each passing minute as her eyes found one fabulous object after another.

Neri had left Lyric in the room alone as she accompanied Dubal to the room Brail would be left in to heal. Lyric had wanted to tag along but they suggested it would be best for her to remain behind in case their leader was ready to address them before Brail was properly settled. Lyric rose from her seat and walked over to a large wooden desk that sat at the other end of the room. The desk was also adorned in the same leaves and vines as the chair she had just been sitting in, as was the chair behind the desk. Though this chair stood far taller than she did, the back rising high enough to surpass the tips of her fingers should she reach straight above her head while sitting in it. The frame of the chair was much more sturdy and the golden accents were polished to an almost painful shine. The fireplace behind the desk was carved out of white wood, made once again to look like the branches of what she imagined to be a very old and wise tree. The entire room was nothing but shades of white, gold, green, and accents of natural dark wooden colors. It was breathtaking 6 say the least and left Lyric cautiously curious about each item.

Atop the desk lay a large map drawn on a thin piece of leather. The map covered the entire surface of the desk, the corners dangling off the sides ever so slightly. Lyric walked around to stand beside the high-backed chair and leaned over to inspect the map. It was filled with cities and villages, roads dotted the map like the veins in a human body. As she bent closer, she began to notice small natural landmarks that had been drawn neatly into place. Her eyes stopped on one area of the map, two towers drawn directly across a large gorge from each other. One of the towers was drawn to look as though it had crumbled and the bridge that at one point, had extended across the gap, was redrawn to break halfway across. One of the walls of the deep crevice had small, rounded, and darkened holes drawn onto it. She bent even closer, attempting to inspect the very small details that adorned the area along with what looked to be words in a language she could not identify or understand. The tip of her nose grazed the leather lightly, her entire attention on the map, leaving her unaware of the woman who had just quietly entered the room with Neri following closely behind.

"I see you have found my map. It is quite the feat is it not?" The woman's voice was soft and sophisticated, an air of royalty dripping from every letter. Lyric jerked into a standing position and attempted to stutter out an apology but was stopped by the woman putting her delicate hand up to quiet her. The woman was short, as were all the Sithaurians, her skin was pale and her hair was so light that it nearly showed as white. Though she was short, she stood in such a way that it would make you believe she was a giant. Confidence fell off of this woman in waves and left Lyric feeling as though she should bow. The woman's face was strong but somehow still soft and delicate looking. Her brows were dark and arched in such a manner that she almost looked as though she were curious about something that had not yet been said. Her lips were full and soft shade of pink that nearly looked like she had stained them with berries during the morning meal. Out of all of her features though, it was her eye that drew Lyric in the most. The woman's eyes were kind and soft but outlined in a dark ring of seriousness and strength. The irises of her eyes were a brilliant shade of gold, mimicking the sunset as the gold slowly turned to a darker shade of orange and then red on the very edge. They were piercing eyes that knew far too much about the world. Lyric did not doubt that this woman was much older than herself even though she appeared to look as though she were just coming out of the young adult stage of life. She looked younger than Neri but older than Lyric.