flora
"Half a season is absolutely enough," Flora says, her voice bright with mock innocence, but the smile she shoots Maea is all sly, sparkling implication. "Plenty of time to start doodling your name with his last in the margins of your map collection. Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it at least once." She lifts her glass to her lips, but there’s no drink in it anymore—just the theatrical swirl of nothing, which she pretends to sip anyway, gaze lingering over the rim.
But as the conversation shifts again, the queen’s grin fades. She lets Maea’s words settle between them like silt in still water before giving a slow, thoughtful shake of her head. "Honestly? No. Running around the Greatwood probably isn’t enough to register." Her fingers tap lightly against the base of her empty glass, nails clicking against the wood. "And Halo isn’t healing the infected. The Springs were destroyed during the attack, and even before that, they could only do so much."
She leans in a little, voice softening, low and measured. "Look, I get it. I really do. This place is beautiful. It's quiet and green and dripping with magic. But if you think this 'small backwater place' isn’t worth targeting, you're not thinking like someone trying to take over." She lifts a brow, lips quirking faintly but without humour. "The Cordillera and the Desert are already gone. Stormbreak’s compromised. Torchline is doing our thing—but the Greatwood? All the way up here, all alone without any allies and bordered by the void?" Because Flora could just about guarantee Danta wouldn't come running if the Greatwood needed help.
Her voice doesn’t rise. If anything, it dips, like a current pulling just beneath the surface. "You say you want to help the Greatwood and its people." Flora’s fingers lace together, resting in her lap, though there’s a stiffness to them now—tense, coiled. "And that’s great, it really is. But I was born here. Grew up here. Fought the void here, saved the Mathair, got murdered here for trying to keep it safe." She blinks, once, slow. "And honestly this all seems like some cause you're championing to try and make up for the past, but..Like you said, it's only been half a season."
A breath, long and quiet. "Just...know what you're getting into, and what you're getting the Greatwood into. And maybe don’t call it a backwater next time."
But as the conversation shifts again, the queen’s grin fades. She lets Maea’s words settle between them like silt in still water before giving a slow, thoughtful shake of her head. "Honestly? No. Running around the Greatwood probably isn’t enough to register." Her fingers tap lightly against the base of her empty glass, nails clicking against the wood. "And Halo isn’t healing the infected. The Springs were destroyed during the attack, and even before that, they could only do so much."
She leans in a little, voice softening, low and measured. "Look, I get it. I really do. This place is beautiful. It's quiet and green and dripping with magic. But if you think this 'small backwater place' isn’t worth targeting, you're not thinking like someone trying to take over." She lifts a brow, lips quirking faintly but without humour. "The Cordillera and the Desert are already gone. Stormbreak’s compromised. Torchline is doing our thing—but the Greatwood? All the way up here, all alone without any allies and bordered by the void?" Because Flora could just about guarantee Danta wouldn't come running if the Greatwood needed help.
Her voice doesn’t rise. If anything, it dips, like a current pulling just beneath the surface. "You say you want to help the Greatwood and its people." Flora’s fingers lace together, resting in her lap, though there’s a stiffness to them now—tense, coiled. "And that’s great, it really is. But I was born here. Grew up here. Fought the void here, saved the Mathair, got murdered here for trying to keep it safe." She blinks, once, slow. "And honestly this all seems like some cause you're championing to try and make up for the past, but..Like you said, it's only been half a season."
A breath, long and quiet. "Just...know what you're getting into, and what you're getting the Greatwood into. And maybe don’t call it a backwater next time."
We need love, But all we want is danger
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer
We team up, Then switch sides like a record changer
