Tale of Two Queens

[048] lovers of our own

Mera wasn't sure of what possessed people to truly enjoy their name days other than the fact that they were just one year closer to dying because that was mainly the reason why she ever did celebrate them.

Sure those 'I wanna die' and 'I'm going to kill myself' thoughts were far past her now but she often did ponder the question, what was the reason for celebration? She had deduced that people just wanted a reason to eat cate and receive gifts or find one more thing to be happy about themselves which was obviously not killing themselves but the initial reason of name days always confused her.

Well, as the most important person in her sisterhood Mera was often celebrated for her success in her missions which ultimately led to quite a few hangovers and headaches but nonetheless, a good smoke and some snow always fixed her up quickly.

However, she didn't have these thoughts when she was sedated. It never bothered Mera for her to want to know where she was since most of the time, not knowing was better than knowing. 

The avoxes cleaned her up, shed her of her blackened suit and sent off her things to be cleaned. Her shoulder had healed up to only leave a small white dot while the spider web of blackened veins had began to grow past her elbow with her fingertips now completely black. 

Death had marked her and she was his all in due time.

The years had changed Mera and she now had completely adopted her Valyrian customs. The women of old valyria always wore a blue or red ribbon to signify they had given birth or were in love and like them, Mera always wore something blue or red in her hair or on her ensemble. 

In addition, she had a single line of tattoo that ran from the middle of her bottom lip down her chin. It was easily covered with some makeup so the masters and her superior paid no mind to it.

The avoxes washed her, fixing any imperfections in her hair or nails before placing her in a raven blue tunic and loose black trousers. Lastly, they placed her in a coffin before carrying her inside the library and taking her to her waking room where they administered another round of drugs into her system with a syringe.

The avoxes stood around her sleeping figure, their head low and mouths muzzled. One held an hourglass while the others had trays of towels, water, wine, and ointments or oils awaiting the sleeping figure. 

The head of her team, the one who still possessed a tongue, stood at the front of her coffin and looked down. She was the image of a corpse and the woman smirked, softly bending down and giving her cheek a ginger caress before she cleared her throat, straightening her back.

The room was dark, candles illuminating it by the far corners of the space while the smell of lavender was strong. She narrowed her eyes at the corpse and watched as the last of the drugs were pushed into her system.

"Waking on three. Five, four, three—"

Mera gasped as her eyes opened and her chest filled with air. She sat up from her coffin and found herself in no mood to party as her back and shoulder hurt terribly. Mera climbed out as she cursed under her breath before rubbing her eyes. The two avoxes who stood with trays of washcloths and water kept their heads low when she walked over, valyrian hair combed into neat curls.

She cracked her neck and groaned as her shoulder still hurt before taking the offered washcloth and wiped her face and hands. "The mother superior requests your presence at dawn."

She nodded with exhaustion before grabbing her sickles and walking out of the room into the lone corridors. The sun was just beginning to rise and the sky had began to become a distant shade of purple as the warm breeze of the night blew into the compound.