Entr'acte

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he hardly flinched with his comment, practically paying it no heed at all as she simply hummed in agreement. “Likewise…for we are only as rich as our fathers, aren’t we…?” Nimue stated bitterly with a roll of her eyes in reference to her own.

“I personally find that the worth of a man is truly measured by how much he gave, not how much he gained. I am relieved that my sire nor his family line left anything to my name, therefore I adopted my mother’s maiden name as my surname. It is her lineage I owe credit for my wealth…in spirit.” She added with a coy smile at this. Had she overshared? Possibly. Did she care? Not in the slightest…

She was pleased to have him smiling again and rather eager to satisfy her request of a tour of the College. Nimue was even able to conjure up a magnificent laugh from the professor and the added embellishment of a wink. A mischievous grin tugged at the corners of her mouth with the thought of the two of them as children, certainly seeing herself as the pup that would’ve dragged a tinier Aryth along to get up to…who knows what. “I’m glad to see you scathed by with a clean record having moved through childhood without me then.” She teased sarcastically before following her gaze to the current nobles.

Two walks of of life at the same Ball, indeed. Nim’s sharp, midnight gaze slowly turned on him again, his statement sounding as though it had an underlying meeting. Aryth had a energy of caution surrounding him and she understood exactly what he was getting at. There was no point in beating around the bush, yet she had to find another way to phrase her question, without the proper terminology, in hopes he would understand. She did still lower her voice when addressing him, “Do you fancy the throne as she’s seated, Aryth?”




@Arythmetik

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

A R Y T H M E T I K

Aryth’s ears perked forward, his eyes widening with interest as Nimue described true worth. He quite liked her definition. As the woman smiled, he smiled too, the gentle tug of his mouth blossoming into honest joy. It was refreshing to meet someone from a noble background with a mind and heart for philosophy. In that moment, Arythmetik was endeared to her, and the dangerous, cunning edge of her aura no longer concerned him. That sharp wit was clearly used to cut through life’s shite. Together, they laughed, but the tension did not fade completely.


No, there was a heaviness to the air around them as the scholar’s gaze clung to the royal dais. He could feel Nim’s starry eyes on him, questioning. And when the careful words slipped from her lips, he swallowed heavily. The male’s russet ears flickered back against his skull for a moment before he regained his composure. Political intrigue was not his game, so why did he insist on playing? If he wasn’t careful, he could wind up in a dungeon by the end of the night. His choices were to let it go and laugh it away...or he could trust Nimue Tuonela Ȯ Saoirse, a woman of her mother’s lineage.


“That’s...why I’m here tonight, actually, to decide if I do.” The professor’s words were soft, slow. He glanced at Nimue with a sober expression. “The blood stains are hard to look past, you know?”

code by claerie

@Nimue

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‘was a touchy subject, particularly due to the environment and the company they found themselves in. She did have a feeling that Aryth could be someone that she could speak intelligently and philosophically with given the proper circumstances. He gave his brief explanation and she nodded slowly, pleased to discover their reasoning for attending this event was one in the same. Her eyes following a group that had whisked themselves out into the open of the ballroom for a dance as she spoke thoughtfully.

“What kingdom’s in history are not built upon bloodshed?” Nimue challenged, simply curious to know if he might be able to provide any sort of insight that she did not have. For all she knew, there was not a one who’d reigned at the cost of other’s lives. “My hope is to one day have the opportunity in my lifetime to see a kingdom…or perhaps even a queendom, that can be forged with the intent to bring the people together rather than drive them further apart…”


@Arythmetik

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

A R Y T H M E T I K

The mysterious woman raised a good point. Was there ever a kingdom that built its civilization, maintained its unity, without spilling blood? Nimue’s keen, sharp voice seemed to cleave right through Aryth’s hesitation. He whipped his head toward her once more, emerald eyes intense and lips parting in aching, helpless silence. Truthfully, he didn’t know. There were passages in some of the College’s tomes, referencing great lands and cultures and wars outside of Rionnach. But he couldn’t say which stories were true. He’d never traveled outside of this country; hell, he’d never traveled as far south as Sussex. It probably wasn’t Nimue’s intention, but she gave him a heavy moral quandary to consider: was some bloodshed necessary when establishing a successful monarchy? He loathed to believe it.


But the next thing Nimue said sparked drastically different questions in the scholar’s mind. A hopeful smile tugged at his somber mouth. “Indeed. There have been incredible queens in this great nation; I do miss the wisdom they brought to the throne. I’m of the opinion that she-wolves are just as capable of running the country, if not more so than certain kings.” Now Aryth was treading dangerous waters. If Nim was a shark in disguise, she could leap from the waves now and feast on his Jacobite blood. But he hadn’t admitted to anything incriminating yet. And neither had she.


After all, this was just a theoretical conversation, wasn’t it?

code by claerie

@Nimue

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he held back a smile when she had seen that she’d clearly stumped the professor. He voiced his opinion that a female is just as capable to rule as a male. Nimue used this opportunity to give him something else to think about. “And just as capable at cleaving heads of those who would oppose…”

She kept her voice low, continuing to relay herself calmly to Aryth as she could sense his unease. “Kingdoms and Queendoms both have equally shared a role in establishing foundations with cornerstones that were forged from the slaughter and annihilation of other forces.”

Nimue turned her sharp gaze back onto the male, seeking the solace of his sparkling green eyes beneath his mask. “And for what? Power? Is this what monarchy is? To me it feels like a constant battle for supremacy…a show of whose blade is bigger…not a concern for the people of the region wedged beneath the throne.”

“It makes me wonder…what would happen if that power was no longer an option and instead was dispersed to the people…would that not make for an even better world? It is perhaps another flavor to sample as food for thought.”

Nimue paused and allowed it to stew for only a moment longer, before she dipped her head. “I can certainly appreciate a man willing to converse civilly on such matters. Thank you for even entertaining my point of view, Sir Aryth. For now, I bid thee farewell…our paths will cross again.”

With that, the elegant sorceress whisked herself away between the mingled bodies of the masquerade, vanishing into the night.

[Exit Nimue]


@Arythmetik

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

A R Y T H M E T I K

It seemed that Aryth hadn’t been even the slightest bit prepared for what Nimue proposed. Here he thought they skirted the waters as a pair of cautious Jacobites, pining after Queen Aileen. In reality, Nim had already dived headlong into the deep. The scholar’s eyes glued to her as she spoke, brilliant and without judgment. But there was fear in his heart. He could hear it thump, thump, thumping in his chest as the blood pounded in his ears. If they were overheard, her treacherous words would certainly be punished. And yet, what intriguing words they were… Aryth was frozen in place, whisked away to this imaginary place of freedom and equality as though she weaved a tantalizing spell.


And then, before he could respond, she was gone.


A loose breath sighed from his throat. The enigmatic woman’s final words echoed in his quieting skull: ‘Our paths will cross again.’ Emerald orbs flickered to the ground before trailing up once more to seek her disappearing frame, but it was no use. She’d vanished as though into thin air. Power among the people? It was a thought. A pretty, if not improbable, thought. All wolves craved leadership in the end, and without it, wouldn’t Rionnach dissolve into chaos? Suddenly, he wanted to discuss these theories at length, no matter the danger.


And he found himself hoping they would indeed meet once again.

code by claerie

ooc. FIN! Sorry it took me so long to write an ending post. <3 @Nimue