The Merking came from the sea, rising quietly from the waves to find Flora already waiting for him upon the shore. The sunset was swiftly fading in the west as the stars began to appear across the broad sweep of sky above, the night clear and holding that little extra bite in the air because of it. Hadama lingered in his merform, well-suited to the chill of the depths it helped to protect him from the chill while he tucked his offering at the edge of the tide line, among rounded rocks as black as the sand that surrounded the lighthouse. A pair of earrings were nestled in a bed of seasilk within a clam shell the size of his large palm, a glitter of small, dangling stars in silver and mother of pearl that he let go with a silent prayer. Beside the shell were placed bones and jars of starlit water and sand, all of the items requested alongside their less tangible efforts.
Pulling himself onto the beach and changing his tail for legs was a familiar action by now, though the cool caress of the breeze over his damp skin was... bracing, if he were to choose a charitable interpretation. He squeezed the sea from his hair as he moved to join Flora, and he inclined his head deeply to his co-ruler, a hint of a smile in his eyes and lifting the corner of his mouth. "I am ready," he said simply. He offered her his hand (still, alas, a little damp) and then tilted his face to the sky, eyes falling half-shut in reverence as he let the light of distant stars fall on him.
"Safrin, we have completed the tasks for the stargate key. And Torchline has chosen Queen Flora to carry it." If Flora had taken his hand he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze of pride. "Will you give this quest your blessing?"
Pulling himself onto the beach and changing his tail for legs was a familiar action by now, though the cool caress of the breeze over his damp skin was... bracing, if he were to choose a charitable interpretation. He squeezed the sea from his hair as he moved to join Flora, and he inclined his head deeply to his co-ruler, a hint of a smile in his eyes and lifting the corner of his mouth. "I am ready," he said simply. He offered her his hand (still, alas, a little damp) and then tilted his face to the sky, eyes falling half-shut in reverence as he let the light of distant stars fall on him.
"Safrin, we have completed the tasks for the stargate key. And Torchline has chosen Queen Flora to carry it." If Flora had taken his hand he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze of pride. "Will you give this quest your blessing?"
