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Post by kajeayn on Feb 25, 2021 20:43:03 GMT -6
Once Upon A Dream
Spring 1702. Morning. Rosebriar Manor, New Valore. |
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Post by kajeayn on Feb 25, 2021 20:56:58 GMT -6
A U R E L I A N A
post 1 | wc 820
Banner art by nychnymph! <3
On a beautiful sunny morning like this, it felt like a crime to stay in her rooms, sequestered between dusty pages and poring over old tomes. Opening her window hadn’t been enough, though it had tempted her to at last finally just hop over the sill (after a brief, embarrassing tangle with the bushes outside her window)
It could hardly be considered sneaking out of her room, considering she never strayed beyond the property line. It also wasn’t hard to find Aureliana most days, for any who knew where to look- which was almost every resident of Rosebriar. The slaves, the employees, even some of her family tended to know the main places she liked to roost- if anyone needed her, they would be able to find her without any problems.
This is what she told herself to feel a little less guilty about not letting Poe know she was going to take a walk.
Well, maybe not a walk. That had been the original intention, but her hooves had carried her deeper into the garden then she’d meant to go, and she had seen her favorite lounge chair sitting unoccupied in the gazebo she liked to read in, and she had made a beeline for it before she could think twice.
“Shall I send for your things, ma’am?” One of the slaves- Bernette, an older unicorn- questioned from where she had been pruning the closest bush to the stairs, barely glancing over at Aureliana as she trotted up into the gazebo.
“Oh, yes please.” Aureliana flashed her a grateful smile, hopping up onto the chaise and sinking into the cushions, tucking her legs underneath her and getting settled. “And some tea?”
A few minutes later found her spreading out her sketches, end of a pencil caught between her teeth as she frowned thoughtfully at them, a cooling cup of tea set near her.
She hadn’t gone outside to sketch in too long, and it showed. All her recent sketches were of a familiar dark face or of still lifes she set up to doodle when she couldn’t sleep. She stared at them now, at the piles of books and potted flowers she’d drawn, and thought they looked sad, somehow.
She stuffed into them a pile, opening her most recent leather bound sketchbook to blank pages, idly doodling in the corner while she glanced around, looking for a subject, anything catching her eye. Some quick warm ups would help shake off the rust, and she began by sketching one of the slaves at work trimming a hedge, scribbling loosely to catch the vague shape of him, his silhouette.
Without quite realizing it, she started to draw a figure she saw walking behind him, her eyes flicking from the slave to the unicorn she could just see walking on one of the garden paths. He stopped to speak with the slave, and Aureliana furiously began to draw, trying to catch the interaction before it was gone- she mostly succeeded, huffing a little in disappointment at the lack of detail she’d gotten to the stranger’s face.
She shifted, bringing the sketchpad closer to her face as she touched the tip of her pencil to the paper, glancing up again at the dark unicorn, cloaked in elegant garments that caught the sunlight.
He had an incredible silhouette she sketched immediately, a lightning strike horn cut with sharp edges, like Ignacio had struck down and blessed the stallion himself. The color was just as bright, shocking against his dark stormy coat, and she only briefly mourned not asking for her pastels today- she didn’t think she could catch the color with them anyway.
His hair was more difficult, catching the wind and she struggled, settling for wispy tufts she tried to at least match the general flow of. Dark scribbles tried to convey the inky black of his hair shot through with pale blonde.
She lingered over his face longer than she usually bothered on a warm up. She traced out an eye, shadowed to show how shockingly bright the color stood out, and idly darkened the face, lightly sketching in the white marking that traced down his nose.
“My lady.” Bernette’s voice was polite but only just, covering an amusement that shook her words. “You have a guest.”
Aureliana’s head snapped up, looking down at the black coated figure at the foot of the steps, and suddenly realized just why she’d managed to get so many details of his face.
“Oh!” She bolted upright, one wing spreading forward to slam the sketchbook closed and shoving it behind her. She hopped off the chaise, wings flaring out for balance as she all but scrambled to the top of the steps, putting on her brightest, least awkward smile.
She hoped, at least.
“My apologies! I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.” She said, dipping her head, ears twitching back. “What may I do for you?”
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Post by mai | nychnymph on Feb 25, 2021 23:59:30 GMT -6
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Adonis was perpetually disgruntled by this new alliance of sorts with House Cardea - and traversing their stately but extremely expansive grounds was becoming more and more treacherous every waking moment.
Rosebriar Manor was everything - everything - that the Black Estate was not. The archways of gleaming white spilled into gardens of lush flowers at every turn. There were no long dark hallways, cornered edges of shadows stretching across the deep-colored rugs. Everything was light, and the air was sweet with roses. Where oak reached into every crevice in his ancestral home, here there was only the cool, light flash of shining marble. Adelaide would love it, he thought idly as he crossed the courtyard into the foyer. Rosebriar Manor would be a fine estate to show his sister if they were ever invited to visit recreationally. So far, his visits had really only been for business. And not the business that allowed them the reprieve of the gardens - no, his business with House Cardea often involved closed doors and tightly sealed lips. Such was the nature of rebellion, of course.
In the pockets of his finery, a deep black cloak tasseled in gold with a thick wolven fur across his shoulders held papers of the next allotment of weaponry meant to beef up the security of both House Cardea and House Julius - as well as their other, non-noble comrades. And since both he and Rosalba knew who their enemy truly was, Adonis had been quick to outfit his Heir, Alixandria, and Adelaide, arguably the third in line if he was involved, with armor. The mission of this visit was to very subtly push for Rosalba’s Heir to also be outfitted. He knew the young one had a few guards, both evidence of Rosalba’s cautious nature and evidence of their dangerous position, but he had spent the last few nights plagued with anxiety that would not pass until the little Sereya was properly fitted.
Was that truly a twinge of care and consideration for someone of House Cardea blood? He snorted and shook his mane out as he explored the grounds. It was, but he’d never admit it. The estate was particularly tricky today, and he narrowed his eyes against the burst of light that an impressive display of gold antiques exhibited. Blinded nearly, and grumpy about it, he turned into the gardens.
The garden paths were far easier to navigate. A slave nearby was tending to bushes of flowers in every vibrant color imaginable.
“You there,” He approached the shorter equine, “Is your Mistress around?”
The slave gaped before stumbling out a pitiful, “Which one?”
Annoyed but also vaguely amused, Adonis allowed the poor slave a moment of reprieve, “Any of rank and true blood.”
If anything he would pass on his intentions through one of Rosalba’s family members to the Head. It was as good a plan as any seeing as the Head of House was quite elusive. The slave gestured behind them and bowed quick and low as Adonis moved on. A gazebo sat in the middle of the Cardeas’ gardens, peaked in perfect style. In it, a beautiful equine was laid - deeply intune with a leather bound sketchbook. Adonis approached, eyeing the slave beside the Emin seeing as the pretty hybrid seemed rather engrossed.
He stopped at the gazebo steps and waited. He had no knowledge of Rosalba’s family beyond her daughter Sereya - as his time in Court was both waning and lacking to begin with. But even then, Adonis pondered, if this beautiful equine had been at court at all - he would have very distinctly remembered them.
In a rustle of feathers and motion, at the prompt from her slave, the Eminent - Ignacio save him, she was like the Sun - stood before him. Her balance for a moment seemed unsteady, and there was a split second where he was prepared to leap and help her stand, but she righted herself with a breathtaking smile.
“I can see I might have startled you,” He cleared his throat, dropping to a very proper bow, “Please forgive me. I came to discuss - ah, business with your current Head, but it seems she’s out.”
Adonis looked up at her once more. Rosebriar Manor’s beauty was nothing compared to her. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I am Adonis of House Julius.”
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Post by kajeayn on Mar 3, 2021 23:46:01 GMT -6
A U R E L I A N A
post 2 | wc 540 Banner art by nychnymph! <3
Her long feathered tail swept slowly behind her, ears pricked towards the newcomer. Despite her youth and less than optimal introduction, a lifetime of nobility showed in her careful poise, the graceful incline of her head when he bowed to her.
But her eyes gleamed, and her smile widened a little as her wings spread for balance, moments before she trotted down the few steps, bringing her closer to the unicorn, looking up at him with open curiosity. He towered over her in a way that was hidden from her place in the gazebo- she had to crane her neck slightly back to meet his eye, and the realization almost made her huff.
Being the smallest of the Cardea siblings was a hardship she would never get used to.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” She promised, wings still flared open at her sides, gleaming in the sunlight. “I was merely... lost in thought,” She said after a beat, and cast only a brief wish for fire manipulation- in that moment she would have lit the sketches on fire without a second thought.
Well, maybe a second thought. They were nice sketches.
“As for our Head, that would be my sister. I am Aureliana, of House Cardea. Ignacio shines upon our meeting this day.” Her wings spread further open at her side as she slipped into a small bow, prompting a brief glance from Bernette before she wordlessly returned to her duties.
Greater House nobles did not bow to Lessers, not really, but Aureliana thought it polite, at least outside of big events where she might get scolded for such a thing.
And if a Lesser House noble was here at all looking for Rosalba, then clearly this House had already passed her intense scrutiny. He would never have made it this far into the grounds without Rosalba’s approval of him.
“I must offer my own apologies, for even I don’t know where our Head is at the current moment,” She told him with a small, sheepish smile as she straightened. “My guess would be the Palace, though you are welcome to wait here for her, if you like? I’d hate for you to come all this way only to be sent home- though I imagine you’re quite busy yourself. You are the Head of your House, aren’t you?” She questioned, for though she didn’t know his face, she certainly knew the name- House Julius was one of the more interesting of the Lesser Houses she had studied.
She wondered if he’d be insulted if she asked him a few questions about his house’s history, and hurriedly stifled the thought before it could grow any further.
She gestured out with a wing, giving him a smile as she nodded her head towards the grounds.
“I was just considering a walk, if you’d like a tour of the gardens?” She offered.
Perhaps a little too hospitable to a Lesser House noble, but if his handsome face had not intrigued her, then his business with Rosalba certainly did. She knew frustratingly little, of whatever business Rosalba had gotten herself involved in, and was eager to pick Adonis’s brain a little.
And, well, the company was appreciated, but he did not have to know that.
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Post by mai | nychnymph on Mar 4, 2021 1:23:50 GMT -6
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Being the prim and proper Heir and then Head for House Julius had always led him to stand his ground. He was quick to learn to hold and stand up for himself - especially with Regulus’s bitter violence in their younger years, and with how often he fought with other stallions in college - but watching this Eminent walk over to him was enough to shake him. Adonis was very faintly aware of the minuscule shudder that ran over his spine when she stood in front of him, and he was halfway to already responding to her when she bowed.
His mouth went dry and he stared down as her pretty mane nearly touched the ground. Something about that made him rigid. This was too low of a bow for someone not just above his station - Ignacio’s flaming hindquarters, this was Rosalba’s sister? - but also someone too wildly beautiful. The wisps of her mane dipped just briefly against the grass but didn’t touch dirt thankfully, and rushes of relief filled him when she straightened.
“That He does,” He murmured lowly, more to himself, already entranced by the light bouncing off of her reflective and mesmerizing wings. With Aureliana - he sent a quick prayer to Ignacio for the grace of knowing her name in the slightest - so close to him, Adonis could barely take his eyes from her silky mane and delicate accentuating roses.
But then her words hit and he quickly grimaced to himself. Of course, Rosalba would be as far as the Palace, even though he had scheduled this with her by letter very recently. His ears pricked upward and he looked down to Aureliana once more.
“Ah, yes,” He was intrigued by the gleam in her eye, “I am. I cleared my schedule for this afternoon however so I am more than willing to wait for Advisor Rosalba’s return. Otherwise, if I were to return with so much free time, it would more than likely be filled with the prattlings of my dearest extended family.”
Adonis joked lightly but he cast a good-natured frown at the idea. If he was glimpsed at all at the Black Estate with not a paper or secretary in sight, he would be descended upon like vultures. If not by Imperia or Madya, but by his half-brothers or sisters.
Her offer to walk the gardens was a kind one and he inclined his head to accept her invitation immediately. Slyly he took a glance over House Cardea’s expansive gardens. Adelaide would indeed adore this space, and if he returned home with details of Cardea’s secret gardens, she would sure to be happy. As much as he wouldn’t vocally admit it, he loved to see her happy.
“I would be honored to receive a tour from you. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had an aimless walk.” Adonis smoothly smiled, already liking the gleam in her eye. Was she curious? Rosalba seemed to be a quite secretive equine indeed, and he was no doubt sure that her plans and inner works of the Estate were not quite public knowledge among the rest of the family. He was willing to indulge, and already was eager to know Aureliana better.
For the first time in a long time, it felt like there was a fresh breath of air in his lungs.
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