╰┈➤ paul atreides x oc
❝ do you always try to murder your suitors? ❞
❝ maybe. ❞
☄. *. ⋆ in which octavia blackthorn's peace is relatively interrupted by the brink of holy war.
---- completed on ; ???
---- published on ; 25/03/24
empire - featuring;...
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"why must you always trull your irresponsible heels into places where you should not?"
octavia had an inkling that she was in trouble, the morning after her little excursion beyond where she was technically permitted to roam. being summoned out of your room and dragged down a hall by your aunt really cemented that idea.
lady clarysse's nails were like claws; perfectly manicured, and as sharp as her tongue. octavia could feel them digging into her flesh through the fabric of her sleeves– if she was to be dramatic, she would check for blood.
there was something demeaning about being frisked around like a child who had done wrong when you were quite literally an adult; but she was intimately attuned to the fact that she had indeed done something she had not been supposed to.
in her defense, no one said not to, and so what if it was implied? she was not one to read the fine print.
"i do not see why the matter is so pressing." octavia stated, stumbling along in her aunt's wake. her bravado was intact, but being scolded, even by someone she held little respect for, gave her an unpleasant pit in her stomach– not concern over what her aunt could accomplish, but rather what the perception would be.
because if anything, she was proud of her place and her family's empire, even if she did not show it around ninety percent of the time. family pride was something engrained with her status, so no matter how she tried to convince herself she was above petty concepts like judgment from others, the reality happened to be that she was the last elowen in a position of power. that had a hold on her.
"you have aggravated our guest." lady clarysse hissed, stopping before the door of one of the meeting rooms, a smaller one for more interior discussions; more commonly used than the war room for obvious reasons. "you are undermining your future husband by acting like some thieving vagrant."
"it is not as if i was committing a grievous sin. i simply wanted to see the prisoners up close."
"that is not a matter to take lightly. your behavior is not that of a duke's wife; speaking to prisoners would implicate that you are...conspiring with them." she shuddered, as if having discussions with those lowly enough to descend ranks that drastically sent a shiver down her spine. "--and you involved your cousin; you could have put her in peril."
"the prisoners are an old man and a young woman trapped in a cell, i do not see the threat you claim to exist." octavia snorted. "you treat armani as if she's a child who cannot make her own decisions."
"it would be unwise to let her make her own judgements," lady clarysse responded as she cracked open the door, "as she is foolish enough to consider you a friend."
