Re: Hope Falls

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 19:50

"How did-" She began casually, though caught herself before the rest of the question had escaped her lips. Letting her hand fall from his face and returning it to her lap, "You seem a kind man, your family should be pleased with you for that."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 19:53

"You’d have to summon them to tell them.” Ruari chuckled, “It is okay. I grieve but… it is not a painful grief anymore. I know you lost your mother a while ago, and your father recently too. So you understand grief in its timeline…”

“I promise you I had good intentions… and it all worked out well in the end. You have returned home with a wife you enjoy and in time to welcome your sons into the world. I’d say you are especially blessed right now.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 20:06

"He was not a good man, my father, not to any of us. He favoured Arzen but that was so he could mould him in his image, not out of any kind of love. My brother stood no chance to be himself, and despite the reputation he built he was... the funny thing of grief is how it changes on who you lost. The saddest part of losing my father, is how it means I have lost Ishaan too, even if he breathes he is gone now. Arzen, Ishaan... me. If I ever get my hands on the wolves that led my family down this path then it will be their worst day. They will pay."

"As are you. Did Wyatt tell you about Zakar? He is excited to meet you, excited by all of it."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 20:13

“You are joining a long list of people who wish for the Adairs skinned and made into rugs, Princess. Prince Kael is incredibly high on that list. Sarika Adair killed the woman he loved in front of him. Slit her throat so deeply it almost decapitated her. It broke him. He has never been quite the same since… To love like that and lose it, I don’t suppose there is ever coming back from that.”

“Wyatt has been pleasant but he is hardly a gossip, you know that. He has not told me much.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 20:19

"He isn't, his mate though. I can't believe you haven't heard about Zakar in all of this time, I mentioned him in various letters to Wyatt and my mother."

"The mistress, yes, I did hear about her. Terribly silly of him, to fall in love with a guard. Zoya has done it too, did you notice her batting little eyelashes across the room throughout the ceremony?" She scoffed. "J believe in lust, in longing but in romantic love? No."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 20:26

“Silly yes but, he was a young man. And one cannot help but believe that love exists when it is everywhere here.” Ruairi shrugged, before asking cautiously; “You said married in name only, and you do not believe in love… I assume there is no love lost between you and your husband then?”

“Well now we have established that I do not know who you are talking about, are you going to fill me in?”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 20:33

"I am a 'vessel to carry his spawn." Avani answered non-chalantly. "Four boys, I like to pretend they do not have a father wherever I can. There was a girl, between my eldest and second, but she... she didn't survive the birth."

"A scoundrel who was causing havoc on the streets of your home town, he is a year older than Mor. He was - I've taken him under my wing."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 20:35

“I’m sorry to hear that… both about how he views you, and your daughter. What was her name?”

“You… you kidnapped a child?” Indira’s eyes widened as she sat up. “You just took a child from the streets?”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 20:43

"I did not kidnap him, he was half starced and without a family or a home. He asked to come with me, and I didn't see any issues with it." Kael answered more defensively then he had expected to, patting her legs so she would remove them from his lap.

"Selene, I called her Selene." Avani leant her head against her hand. "She was tiny, perfect. Tiny tufts on her head, all of my boys have been hairless."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 20:54

“It sounds like something you would do.” Indira chuckled, grimacing when she realised she had to move, slowly moving one leg after the other with gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry if that - I shouldn’t have pried. I did not mean to cause upset, Princess.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 21:01

"It is rare I get to speak of her, so thank you. I am sorry if I have pried to much about your family." Grimacing as she noticed the shortened distance between them, "And sorry I keep putting you in perdicaments. Do they - would they really have your head for such things?"

"He is spirtely, but his language skills fluctuate. I'll need your help with him, I think. I imagine he is somewhere in the castle giving Wyatt a hard time." Kael laughed, pushing to her feet.

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 21:09

“If you are leaving, will you help me to bed before you go? I don’t have anyone returning for another hour or so, and I don’t like falling asleep on the couch, it ruins my back.” Indira asked, extending her hand. “I will help as best I can, but I am in no state to be running after anyone. Maybe later.” She added with a soft laugh.

“You were downstairs screaming about how your sister had been brutalised by the Prince… Under any normal circumstance, I believe being alone with a Lady in her room would probably just get me the sack and perhaps a whipping as long as nobody had any reason to believe anything happened. But Isolde would possibly panic, that having being alone with you, you’d accuse me the way you accused Kael. And two Balruunian Princesses being raped in her walls is not gossip she would want streaming around. If she has me disposed of and you continue to run with the story then at least she can say that the moment she knew of impropriety she acted.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 21:20

"I believe she has been, she claims to love him but what choice does she have in the matter when she is prisoner here? A creature will love its master if it knows it will be given safety as a reward, and believing those feelings are genuine is just a way to cope with the realities of it without breaking." Avani whispered, leaning in to be a hairs breath away from him. Nose to nose. "If they try to whip you then I shall scream louder about your Crown Prince, loud enough Ishaan and Zoya hear me across the sea. I shall bellow until they stop."

"It was only a quick visit. There is lots to iron out, especially after a messy reunion." He grimaced, taking her hand gently to help her to her feet.

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 21:28

“Your sister, when she first learned of being kept here… she screamed and shouted. She and Kael argued, she lashed out at Guards… And she felt she could do all that because she knew that no matter how she acted she wouldn’t be harmed.” Ruairi whispered, getting quieter as she got closer. “You shouting over the sound of my head hitting the floor after it is disconnected from my neck will not stop it happening, Princess.” He chuckled, closing his eyes and tilting his head instinctively as their noses touched, as if he were to capture her lips with hers. Though quickly pulling away when he realised what he was doing.

“You will come see me later? We still have much to talk about. If not tonight then tomorrow, a longer visit? Perhaps a walk in the gardens?” Indira used his hand and a quick push up off of the sofa to right herself to her feet. Wrapping herself around his arm as she slowly walked toward her bedroom.

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 21:42

"You should not be working for a woman who would kill you because of a deranged guests manic words." She whispered, hands moving to rest on the back of his neck, shielding it from an invisible blade even as the distance increased. Lifting dark eyes to take in his. "Indira has had episodes of delirium before. If she had an attack it was not to do with her feeling safe, it was her feeling so trapped she imploded."

"I will do my best, I still have sea legs. My father rushed our return home this morning."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 21:49

“A deranged guest with a title, Princess. You may be a woman, and I know that often it is a detriment to be a woman in our world. But a woman with a title will always be heard over a man without one. If you said I had done anything even a foot out place. You know by society’s rules she would have no option but to have away with me. You are a smart woman, Avani. You are not a fool. You know this as well as I.” Ruairi moved his hand to rest over hers.

“Things will be okay, Kael.” Indira assured him as she moved to sit down on the edge of her bed with a quiet oof from the effort. Taking his hand and moving it to rest on her stomach as there was movement once again. “This is them telling you it is going to be okay.” She smiled, resting her hand next to his. “Your bride will work through her aversions, you will fix things with your mother. You will wed Daphne in front of your ancestors with the mud between your toes, and then we will welcome these two into the world. Things will work out just fine, we have been blessed, remember?”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 22:22

"How old were you when you ended up without anyone at all? Did you have anywhere to go to, or did you just have to work it all out alone?"

"Oh, they're so active." Kael breathed, brushing his thumb against her stomach. "We have been so, so blessed. I am so excited for this, all of this."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 22:29

“I was twenty five. I lived in a small village a few hours north from here in the forest. After I laid my sister to rest, one of the elders told me to leave and not look back. That if I stayed and rotted away in the village with the rest of them I wouldn’t make my parents proud. So I packed up what I had and headed here. Joining the army meant I’d get a bed, food, and pay. It was an easy choice to make.”

“They are, especially when I wish to relax.” Indira chuckled, smiling brightly. “I’ll sleep better tonight than I have in months though, despite it. Knowing that you are with me on this… that you are not angry. That you are happy. I don’t think you will ever understand how much of a relief it is.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 22:42

"Yes," Avani whispered her understanding, brushing her thumbs in small circles against the back of his neck. "Well, you must be very good at it to be doing the kind of duties you have now."

"I am glad sleep will come easier for you now." Kael whispered, kissing the top of her head gently. "I won't be far away if you need me."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 22:45

“And I am glad you are home.” Indira closed her eyes for a moment before moving to lay herself down in bed. “Do not forget to come see me when you have found your land legs again.”

“I am still alive, as is Kael. I must be doing something right mm?”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 22:50

"When are you off-duty for the evening?"

"Yes ma'am," Kael chuckled as he turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind himself.

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 22:52

“I was hoping to be relieved when we got here like most of the men who went with Kael. But someone caused a scene so I was assigned to her. Now it is a waiting game.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 23:02

"When you are relieved, and I am no longer being held captive in my room, then you must show me outside of the palace gates. No one will know me here, and I am child free, I intend to embrace it."

Phoenix Sat 27 Apr - 23:04

“I do not think the taverns I frequent are places suitable for a Princess… But if it is what you command.”

**BestNameEva** Sat 27 Apr - 23:07

"Oh now that sounds very insightful." Avani laughed gently. "I can't remember the last time I didn't have someone to look after."

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