Amalia
"It's not because she's an Outlander." This is only half true - Zariah's status as an Outlander does not earn her any points in the baker's eyes, but her ire with the situation runs far deeper than that. "Or because she's in charge." Again, half truths. Having a Queen chafes something wild at Amalia's core, an independence she feels deeply. They have never had a Queen before, a single person to dictate actions, to figurehead their world.
But their world has never been so big. So perhaps they simply never needed it.
Biting her lip, Amalia tries to find the words to make Phoebe understand a thing she cannot quite name herself. "It's because... because who is she, to decide overnight to tell us what to do? To change our customs without asking, or forbid us from going places, or force us into an army to fight some unknown foe? Did she ever ask anyone if we wanted this? If we had been trying already to change things, or make them better? Why things are the way they are? Where was she during the festivals, or the fires, or LongNight, or even now? She hasn't talked to us, hasn't shown her face, can't respect us enough to ask advice from any of the people who actually care about this place-"
Amalia stops suddenly, because her words have become a growl, her nails claws, her ears leopardlike and pressed against her skull. Anger rolls through her in waves, and beneath that a sort of helplessness, a childlike despair with a complicated world. Exhaling deeply, the girl tries to calm down, fur disappearing and claws retracting until only Amalia remains.
"Sorry," she mutters to the ground, falling silent as they continue to walk.
The change of topic is a welcome one, though Amalia finds herself growing freshly tense at Phoebe's bubbly onslaught, suddenly regretting raising the issue. "Um. Sort of?" Boyfriend seems like the wrong word for what Deimos is to her, too small and minimizing, too childish, too benign. Raising her hand anxiously to pull at her hair, the girl tries to sort through the questions, answering as best she can. "He, ah... he uses a sheath. And no, but I don't... I haven't... had a lot of experience. Just one other, when I was a teenager. And Frey." She shrugs, not sure if the deity really counts for this, but wanting to include them just in case.
But their world has never been so big. So perhaps they simply never needed it.
Biting her lip, Amalia tries to find the words to make Phoebe understand a thing she cannot quite name herself. "It's because... because who is she, to decide overnight to tell us what to do? To change our customs without asking, or forbid us from going places, or force us into an army to fight some unknown foe? Did she ever ask anyone if we wanted this? If we had been trying already to change things, or make them better? Why things are the way they are? Where was she during the festivals, or the fires, or LongNight, or even now? She hasn't talked to us, hasn't shown her face, can't respect us enough to ask advice from any of the people who actually care about this place-"
Amalia stops suddenly, because her words have become a growl, her nails claws, her ears leopardlike and pressed against her skull. Anger rolls through her in waves, and beneath that a sort of helplessness, a childlike despair with a complicated world. Exhaling deeply, the girl tries to calm down, fur disappearing and claws retracting until only Amalia remains.
"Sorry," she mutters to the ground, falling silent as they continue to walk.
The change of topic is a welcome one, though Amalia finds herself growing freshly tense at Phoebe's bubbly onslaught, suddenly regretting raising the issue. "Um. Sort of?" Boyfriend seems like the wrong word for what Deimos is to her, too small and minimizing, too childish, too benign. Raising her hand anxiously to pull at her hair, the girl tries to sort through the questions, answering as best she can. "He, ah... he uses a sheath. And no, but I don't... I haven't... had a lot of experience. Just one other, when I was a teenager. And Frey." She shrugs, not sure if the deity really counts for this, but wanting to include them just in case.
don't make a shadow of yourself, always shutting out the light
