the birds are whispering

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster She’s probably lost her goddam mind. Several days ago, when a different woman was on the throne, it would have been an unequivocal 'Yes, Wessex, you have lost your mind. And your freedom.' Now, she likes to think there’s a 65/35 chance (give or take) she’s lost her mind. Those odds, she can live with. Walking up to the Launceleyn Manor in the late evening, cloaked and protected as per usual, she informs the guard that she’d like to see Edrei. The Queen. Hmmm. The place looks different in the daylight. It takes a moment, but she’s ushered into the building, through some doors, and told to wait. So she does. Here is where she might have taken a deep breath and forced herself to settle her nerves - if she needed to do such a thing. Instead, she just takes in the room, the decorations, whatever else is in there, and waits for her favorite (which is both saying a lot and not much at all) not-teenager to arrive.

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

"Don't you morons know anything?" Edy sang brightly, descending the stairs wearing hardly more than a silk-wrap that was left precariously open. However since Edy's breasts were not of a size to write home about, it was simply her athletic midsection that was revealed and little more. "I see no booze in her hand, nor any blood on her lips." She added with a patronizing scowl.

Good help was so hard to find.

"You've made yourself scarce." She purred, finally setting her dark gaze upon Wessex with a playful smirk. "Come on. If we go upstairs both the scenery and IQ will be considerably better." Which of course just meant somewhere that they could be alone.

Sashaying up the stairs, her hips swinging unapologetically beneath the silk of her rob, Edy opened a door that led to what was presumably her bedroom. Red silk sheets, a large canopy bed, an open window, and everything else in a wild state of disarray.

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster It’s always amusing to just… watch her rampage about, simultaneously careless and commanding all at once. Wessex chuckles and waves goodbye to the guards, emboldened but not pushing her luck. Following the swing of her hips up the stairs, she’s struck by the urge to grab the silk wrap off and press Edy against the wall, but barring that, she simply makes an appreciative sound and keeps her hands to herself. For now. “Gotta leave ‘em wanting more, you know that.” She replies slyly, implying of course, that Edy is the ‘em’ in this context. Or maybe that there are others (there are no others). And her room is… a picture of finery the likes of which Wessex has never seen, combined with the kind of mess she’s only ever seen when her mother was sick and the girls had to care for everything around the house. She steps over a pile of clothes and other things without comment, occasionally looking for the gift she’d sent earlier in the week. Ok, she has to comment. “Looks like being a Queen is hard work.” No time to clean, obviously. Either that or the maids are seriously behind in their duties. Good help is hard to find.

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

"Don't I ever." The sentiment was more than true when it came to Wessex especially; if she fully indulged the ascended she'd be a lifeless husk. Leaving the blonde wanting more was quite literally the only way to survive their frenzied and orgasmic encounters.

If she happens to glance at the bedside table, Wessex will indeed see the tumbler with a mostly-empty bottle of something amber coloured next to it. "It's something, alright." Edy grumbled, before sinking down onto her bed and pulling a clump of sheets beneath her arm to prop herself up with.

"This is twice now you've had to come find me." Edy said with a grin. Though, given Edy's casual fire-threat of Amalia when Zariah had first put up her notice, the Launceleyn had a feeling that this wasn't a social call. "Missed you at Zariah's little...gathering, or whatever you want to call it." She said with a challenging grin. It was true too, if only because Edy would have been more than happy to see Wessex all riled up again, even if Edy would have been part of the target the ascended would have been aiming at.

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster She sits cross-legged at the end of the bed, back against one of the bed posts, facing the half-dressed woman. Half-relaxed, but perhaps giving the impression of being at ease. Her laugh projects it too, when  she calls Edy out on her turn of phrase. “Like you don’t love that I’ve come knocking.” She knows the power she has - even more now (in multiple ways) - and who the fuck doesn’t want to be wanted. Or sought after. Not always the same thing. “Yeah, I was out of town, didn’t hear about it until I got back.” she offers as an excuse, accompanied by a one-shoulder shrug. And then a matching grin. “Heard they wanted me to advise Zariah. That would have been a disaster.” Like anyone could advise her. Like she would have listened. Like they wouldn’t have been arguing within the first hour and someone dead or in prison (re: this lady, right here) the next. But you know what wouldn’t be a disaster? Edy and Wessex. She finds the glass on the bedside table. “You like it?”

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

Edy does nothing but shoot the ascended a smouldering look as she nods in earnest. There is time for being a shit, for playing coy, for mincing words. But there's a time just to say fuck yeah, babe, too.

"Ohh right. Rendezvous in the woods. Heard about that." Edy said, suddenly wishing she had a lollypop to pop out of mouth at just that moment to punctuate her point. "Keep it up and Zariah is going to find herself some sunlight magic to neuter the lot of you when she's around." Quirking a brow, the not-teenager drew lazy circles in the satin with a finger as she too shrugged in agreement. "You'd have been a prop at most." She conceded easily. Edy might have been more soldier than politician, but it didn't take an idiot to know that Wessex would have had ties to the crown in name only.

Glancing over as her new toy is touched (actually, not her newest toy, not the one between her legs), but her gift. Sitting up suddenly (half a nipple making an appearance), Edy narrowed her eyes with a sparkle of withheld surprise. "You?" Her voice was only hardly more than a whisper. Having only had a few friends in the totality of her life, Edy is much more familiar with the fuck-buddy relationship. And though with all the finery Zariah surrounded herself and the family with the tumbler was nothing special, it was thoughtful. And that was something the Launceleyn--matriarchs were not known for.

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster “Noted.” she says with a raised brow. Then a little addendum, “She’d have to catch me again. But noted.” Cause Zariah had the easy part. She literally just came to receive a package. The Fae did all the work of catching Wessex, and she didn’t even really fight it. But they’ll never know what could have been, now will they? Anyway. Back to the gift. Don’t ever say there isn’t a thoughtful bone in the Ascended’s body. Wessex can actually be quite considerate of others sometimes, for all that she freely admits to being selfish. Edy’s reaction brings a sly grin to her face, more that she’d been able to surprise her than anything else. And it’s nice, you know, to feel like the gesture is appreciated. “I’m more than just a one-trick pony.” Lifting a hand an unsheathing her talons, she holds them up to the light and examines the very sharp edges. “Not the prettiest work, but they can do more than slice and dice.” Like make a salad. Wessex would  probably be a beast at cutting up vegetables… or making sushi, if they had such delicious delicacies in Caido.

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

"Well, cheers to being fast when the moment calls for it. And not when it doesn't." Edy purred, tipping the ascended a wink as she grabbed the tumbler and raised the amber liquid inside to her lips. It really was a pity that Wessex couldn't drink. Edy could go for a buzz right about now, and it was always better with hot company.

Edy watched the claws suddenly appear, hissing in a breath that was 2/3s impressed and 1/3 overly curious about the other uses for weapons? fingers? whatevers, like that. "Well shit." Connecting the dots, the not-teenager looked down at the glass in her hand, tilting it so she could see the etching. "Aww!" She cooed, sounding very much like a girl whose partner just won them a stuffed unicorn at some local fair.

"I got a new hidden talent of my own." Edy said with a lascivious grin. In a swift motion, she pulled aside the lower part of her robe to reveal naked legs and thighs (she was queen now, fuck underwear). And where there should have just been a well-trimmed bush of dark hair on the knoll of skin above her lips, there was a semi-hard cock. Edy's new member was a grower, not a shower, but the number of wrinkles and excess skin indicated that there was much more length to be had.

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster Well. Couldn’t drink and can’t get drunk are two very different things. She can still taste the alcohol, but it no longer burns when it’s going down her throat, filling her with a warm and pleasantly loose feelings. However, that doesn’t mean she isn’t going to toast to the nipple-baring Queen. Looking around the room for more alcohol, she quickly finds it (like the woman doesn’t have it nearby, ha) and has turned around to pour some more into that very same glass when, like a teenage boy trying to impress, she whips our her dick. Wessex almost drops the booze. Her first, imediate thought is what the fuck?. Her face probably shows a degree of that as well, though it quickly fades into something far more positive - incredulity, lust, awe, hedonism - take your pick. Her second thought is that she hasn’t had a cock in a long time (for various reasons, all pretty much her own fault). And her third, as a wicked smile creeps in, is that blow-jobs are off the table, cause no one wants sharp teeth near them like that. She has so many questions. Not just about how she’s suddenly a hermaphrodite - but first - another drink. Pouring more into Edy’s glass, she then raises the vessel in salute and says, “To your many… impressive talents. And using them well.” Bottoms up. Pun intended.

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

The flashes of Wessex' thought process that Edy can see in a shimmer across the high-cheekboned face makes something coil darkly in Edy's gut. Some earlier memory of the Spire pops into her mind, of touching it, ebony and ivory and all that bullshit only it isn't bullshit, not really. It's stupidly metaphorical and in another world, far too political, but for a split second Edy just sees an ass that hasn't seen the sun in decades a cock as sturdy and unbridled as the spire ever was.

Happily offering the tumbler—nay, her gift—as it is filled (the things Edy would like to fill...), the not-teenager returns the salute. "To the talents I can give you..and the talents I can give you." She purrs, her cock twitching slightly as she downs the amber liquid.

"Now." Edy says, the booze making her feel even warmer and looser than she normally is. Shuffling herself towards the ascended and meaning to drape her arms languidly around Wessex' shoulders, the not-teenager and now-queen (king?) leans her head against the woman's shoulder. "I'm a queen with a cock in this place. An outlander, cousin to the most hated woman here. I already appointed Jigano King, but sir Ronin the butt-hurt turned me down. Do you know what that means?" Her words were a sultry purr against the curve of Wessex' ear.

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster The blonde woman, too, takes a large swill. Cause why not? No one likes to drink alone. And it is a thing (several things) worth drinking to. Wouldn’t want to be rude. An arm snakes around Edy’s body to eases the shoulder of her robe down, before her hand trails slowly down her back, waist, and then to her deliciously firm ass. The one that was waving back and forth in front of her not too long ago. Giving it a little playful squeeze as she listens to the Queen elaborating on her dilemma, Wessex reaches (half-jokingly, or in a way that could be easily shrugged off as a hahahaha, wouldn’t that be a fucking riot? kind of joke) for an opportunity even bigger than the one she’d come here offering. She also reaches for the tie on the robe, moving to pull it open and feast her eyes on the nubile, taut young woman. Teasingly, with full on sly side-eye, the Ascended answers, “You’ve got an open spot on the team and not only would I appease the Naturals and piss a lot of people off in a single go, but we could also fuck any time we wanted to?” Lots of perks right there. Also a lot of cons. But let’s not talk about those.

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

Edy allowed herself to be touched, her back arching beneath Wessex's wandering fingers. Like a preening bird she stretches and turns, allowing her best assets to be fully on display and pliable for her fuck-buddy's inspection.

Seemingly much more interested in the ascended's steely-blue gaze upon her dark flesh than the importance of her words, Edy merely shrugs coyly. "And we both know how much I hate when holes go unfilled." She pouted. Instead of reaching for Wessex as she might have done with any other human, Edy instead reached for a knife at the side of her bed. Pressing her fingertip against it until a crimson bead of blood appeared, the not-teenager raised her dark gaze back to the woman in her bed with eyes like flint.

"If you betray me in this, I will kill you." She all but purred, running the blood along her lower lip as if it were naught more than rouge. Back in Northaven, blood-magic had been one of the Launceleyn's most powerful ways of digging deep into their power. It seemed only fitting that blood was similarly involved now. Wessex was likely much stronger than Edy was, especially at night. But oh boy, Edrei would go to the ends of the earth to burn the woman in a fiery hell of her own making should this go tits up (in anything but the fun way).

Pursing her lips forward with a raised brow, her shoulders scooping inwards to accentuate and push together her breasts, Edy raised a brow.

WESSEX after all is said and done you're just a carnivore let you in and drink my blood you're nothing but a monster A knife? Kinky, her eyes say, until it’s clear that the knife isn’t for blood play (something she’d never thought of doing until literally, right now, despite her new hungers). “That’s a two way street, pumpkin,” she murmurs back, gaze flicking from Edy’s eyes to her lips and back again. She may not be able to burn the Launceleyn, but in the right time, the right place, the right unexpected moment - she could be as dangerous as any magic the not-teenager might throw at her. The Ascended leans forward to capture Edy’s lips, purposefully stopping just before she might have a taste of tangy blood and sweet, sweet, sex incarnate. “And when, if? Zariah comes back? What then? I’ll play with three-to-one odds, but two-versus-two is shit if I’m stuck with Jigano and you return to Zariah’s side.” She wants some kind of assurance that saying yes isn’t an immediate death sentence. There’s too much fire otherwise. The lorekeeper isn’t a fighter. Wessex is loyal as fuck - but only for the right people. Part of her really wants the Queen to be the right person, but she’s not naive enough to think that this will be easy. The three of them are a version of ‘least likely to rule in a trifecta,’ but fuck wouldn’t it be fun to try? "Make sure I'm out of all hell breaks loose and I'm in."

Edrei the Rapacious

& I bury hatchets but I keep maps of where I put 'em

Edy pulls in a breath, fully expecting to need it to sustain her while the ascended drowns her with her lips and tongue and the sharp white-spark of her fangs...but it never comes. "Dunno." The not-teenager replies truthfully, her gaze sharp. "She left to do something for the Voice. I have literally no idea where she's gone or when she'll be back. All I know is that if I'm not still in power when she returns, there won't even be enough of a corpse left for you to play with."

Exhaling softly, Edy moistens the drying blood on her lips. "But I can at least guarantee that when Zariah comes back, it won't be you who receives her wrath if indeed there is any." She mused, tongue flicking back into her mouth. "Besides. You were born here. You're an ascended. You're not a pushover. I could go on and on about all the reasons why I asked you to lead with me.."

She could, though she'd much rather do something else on and on instead..