REXANNA
i was born with a knife in one hand
She wrinkles her nose at the same time that he does, when he reenacts the nobles and how they responded to such things, and she shakes her head slowly as she continues to wash, listening to the vehemence in his voice and the praise he gives to the place despite having fallen into it. Her eyes lift to look upon him with a soft smile and a nod of agreement. She doesn’t need to add more to it, he had perfectly summed it up.
But she can’t stop thinking about what the Voice had known about her, and a part of her wishes that Bastien had already known so she wouldn’t have to repeat it. Yet she knows he doesn’t know the details, doesn’t know the harrowing bits so beautifully described like he had done to paint the picture for her. The time she had told him of her own past had been rushed and pushed through, rough and awkward with the curse in effect until it simply fell away.
She sighs lightly, looking back down into the water to finish running it through her hair, her dark tresses mixing and melding with the greys and black of the fluid mixed with blight, while he grabs a towel and waits. “She must have been able to get into my memories.” She says quietly, thoughtfully. “Halyven was the most destructive, yes… But not the most harrowing.” She frowns when she closes her eyes to run more water through and a small amount of soap, lathering it to clean.
“I was in Asciend with Cal when they found out I wasn’t the King’s daughter.” She begins, picturing the day. “He and I had been trying to have an heir for a few months, but it was standoffish from his point. It was a job and not a life choice. He didn’t trust me still. And when he had captured a guard that had been there when I was born, he learned the truth and was… very angry, but he kept it secret from his father.” She pauses to rinse her hair before her eyes open and settle on Bastien’s face.
“I was a month pregnant when he found out. But he thought I was lying when I told him, like I was trying to pretend I was to prevent punishment.” Her face wrinkles up slightly with the memory before she reaches for him for his help to stand and grab the towel. “He branded me in our chambers. C for his name and for the crown.” There’s a hint of anger within it when she says it, but she passes it quickly. “But then his father found out and I was thrown in Asciend’s dungeon for months, very little food, if any at all, and tortured week after week.” She doesn’t go into the details here, keeping them for herself and herself only.
“But the whole time I had been planning a way to get out, to survive it somehow and take my child and make a better life. But they kept everything randomized and I couldn’t find a pattern, couldn’t get out. And eventually… well, I had a son.” She frowns, looking away from him then as she wrings out her hair. “He was small, born too early I think without enough of me to help. But gods, Bastien, he was beautiful...” Trailing off, there’s a slight smile on her face as she recalls the beautiful boy. But the problem with it all is that he couldn’t breathe, and it was perhaps the most dreadful, terrible feeling in her life. “And the guards, Cal, all of Asciend thought I had murdered him in some form of revenge.”
But she can’t stop thinking about what the Voice had known about her, and a part of her wishes that Bastien had already known so she wouldn’t have to repeat it. Yet she knows he doesn’t know the details, doesn’t know the harrowing bits so beautifully described like he had done to paint the picture for her. The time she had told him of her own past had been rushed and pushed through, rough and awkward with the curse in effect until it simply fell away.
She sighs lightly, looking back down into the water to finish running it through her hair, her dark tresses mixing and melding with the greys and black of the fluid mixed with blight, while he grabs a towel and waits. “She must have been able to get into my memories.” She says quietly, thoughtfully. “Halyven was the most destructive, yes… But not the most harrowing.” She frowns when she closes her eyes to run more water through and a small amount of soap, lathering it to clean.
“I was in Asciend with Cal when they found out I wasn’t the King’s daughter.” She begins, picturing the day. “He and I had been trying to have an heir for a few months, but it was standoffish from his point. It was a job and not a life choice. He didn’t trust me still. And when he had captured a guard that had been there when I was born, he learned the truth and was… very angry, but he kept it secret from his father.” She pauses to rinse her hair before her eyes open and settle on Bastien’s face.
“I was a month pregnant when he found out. But he thought I was lying when I told him, like I was trying to pretend I was to prevent punishment.” Her face wrinkles up slightly with the memory before she reaches for him for his help to stand and grab the towel. “He branded me in our chambers. C for his name and for the crown.” There’s a hint of anger within it when she says it, but she passes it quickly. “But then his father found out and I was thrown in Asciend’s dungeon for months, very little food, if any at all, and tortured week after week.” She doesn’t go into the details here, keeping them for herself and herself only.
“But the whole time I had been planning a way to get out, to survive it somehow and take my child and make a better life. But they kept everything randomized and I couldn’t find a pattern, couldn’t get out. And eventually… well, I had a son.” She frowns, looking away from him then as she wrings out her hair. “He was small, born too early I think without enough of me to help. But gods, Bastien, he was beautiful...” Trailing off, there’s a slight smile on her face as she recalls the beautiful boy. But the problem with it all is that he couldn’t breathe, and it was perhaps the most dreadful, terrible feeling in her life. “And the guards, Cal, all of Asciend thought I had murdered him in some form of revenge.”
and a wound in the other
