ZARIAH
”Remember us?”
Her heart thumped painfully in her chest. He could be teasing. He could be building to something she wished to hear…
”Us as in…you and I?” Not with a smirk. Not with playfulness. But with a raised eyebrow. With confusion.
Her heart sank into her stomach, and with her guard down as it was, Neron would see more than the cold, bare flesh she regularly had on display. In a rare moment of vulnerability he would see the Zariah’s emotions crash down upon her like a wave, sadness sending her briefly careening into a wall of dismay and shock. As much as it was a privilege to see the Launceleyn Family Head in all her humanity it was a terrifying reminder of it as well.
He didn’t remember. He didn’t remember.
In an instant her guard was raised again, her expression as dead as her skin was cold and she pulled away, her filed nails lightly scraping against the skin of his jaw as she straightened, hands falling to her sides. For a moment she simply stared at him, contemplating what to say – how to explain – everything she had known and experienced that he had not. Best to just lay all the cards on the table she supposed. Zariah turned on her heel and fetched the large white fur off the opposite chair and wrapped it around her shoulders, standing as near the fire as she dared without worrying it would catch.
”The power that brought us to Caido plucked me from further down the timeline than others.” she said, the firelight glowing in her eyes. ”I presume the most recent event from Northaven you remember was Cyton’s death. That had been nearly two years in the past for me. In that time you and I married, and I bore you a son named Jace.” she said quietly, finally looking back over at him, face still expressionless. The fur around her shifted slightly as she fiddled with something, before her hand stuck out from the white fluff to show him a gold ring with a pristine black stone set into it, a piece of jewelry he had inherited shortly after his father’s death.
Her heart thumped painfully in her chest. He could be teasing. He could be building to something she wished to hear…
”Us as in…you and I?” Not with a smirk. Not with playfulness. But with a raised eyebrow. With confusion.
Her heart sank into her stomach, and with her guard down as it was, Neron would see more than the cold, bare flesh she regularly had on display. In a rare moment of vulnerability he would see the Zariah’s emotions crash down upon her like a wave, sadness sending her briefly careening into a wall of dismay and shock. As much as it was a privilege to see the Launceleyn Family Head in all her humanity it was a terrifying reminder of it as well.
He didn’t remember. He didn’t remember.
In an instant her guard was raised again, her expression as dead as her skin was cold and she pulled away, her filed nails lightly scraping against the skin of his jaw as she straightened, hands falling to her sides. For a moment she simply stared at him, contemplating what to say – how to explain – everything she had known and experienced that he had not. Best to just lay all the cards on the table she supposed. Zariah turned on her heel and fetched the large white fur off the opposite chair and wrapped it around her shoulders, standing as near the fire as she dared without worrying it would catch.
”The power that brought us to Caido plucked me from further down the timeline than others.” she said, the firelight glowing in her eyes. ”I presume the most recent event from Northaven you remember was Cyton’s death. That had been nearly two years in the past for me. In that time you and I married, and I bore you a son named Jace.” she said quietly, finally looking back over at him, face still expressionless. The fur around her shifted slightly as she fiddled with something, before her hand stuck out from the white fluff to show him a gold ring with a pristine black stone set into it, a piece of jewelry he had inherited shortly after his father’s death.
heavy is the crown
but never for a queen
but never for a queen
