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- Primarily Prefer Female
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no-lightbox
She had cracked Altrey and all she had needed was a convincing performance. This, at least, was the comfort she tried to take from all that had happened in that short period of time. This was what she tried to tell herself, each time the temptation arose to skim someone's thoughts, pry into their mind just a touch.
It scared her, the idea of what might happen if she used it again, but she knew only too well that resistance would not... could not last forever. And but a few days following her visit to Lord Altrey, it became abundantly clear that her resilience was nowhere as strong as the magic within her. The fever was mild to start, but intensified as the day wore on, until she felt shaken apart inside, her mind unsteady, unfocused, her stomach twisting at the very thought of food, her body a mass of aches. Her mood, too, had darkened, and an irritability had overcome her that was very unlike her.
Rain still beat down on the dirty, muddy streets of Faledrin, as she paced back and forth in front of the fire in her room. She had left the Seawatch and taken up a temporary residence at Quinn's establishment. There were other locations she could go, and probably wiser ones, but there was a comfort in the familiar that Cordelia desperately needed, a comfort being near someone who knew at least something of who she really was and it helped to be easier to reach. The masque was nearly upon them, and for all hers and Milly's efforts, they had everything they required to crash the party with convincing effect, but her diminishing health had driven her into seclusion, and with time crawling nearer to the event, she was running out of energy to fight.
Sinking into the chair before the hearth, she dropped her head into her hands with a small groan.
Sothal had heard of her stay at Quinn's and was sure to set aside time to see to her before the affairs of the masque. And it was a perfect excuse for him to take leave of his affairs as a prince despite his council being in the dark. Sothal could essentially abuse his magic near to excess without as much repercussions as Cordelia had endured the other day. All he had to worry about for the most part was going missing for too long.
Entering the establishment, he engaged very little with anyone about. His focus was on seeing to Cordelia and thus had no time for idle chats. Rounding a corner, he headed up a stairwell and found the door to which he was told she presided. "Oracle?" he softly called as he knocked.
Flinching at the knock, Cordelia straightened. She recognized the voice and had, in fact, expected him to visit. It had been a few days, but she knew that he would not let what had happened after reading Gerard go easily. Sothal had a way about him, that was certain...
Rising, she made for the door and pulling her shawl tighter around her frame, opened it, leaning against the frame, with a nod, "Sothal..."
He eyed her over noting her state with a bit of a frown before nodding towards the room behind her. "I come bearing gifts," he said. "May I come in?"
It was unusual, indeed, for Cordelia not to be entirely put together - her hair hung down her back, loose curls nearly wild, and she wore only a plain slip beneath the aubergine shawl, her feet bare as they often were.
Nodding, not oblivious to his gaze, Cordelia stepped back, holding the door open for him, her cheeks flushed with color, "Gifts, hmm? Have a seat."
"I think you should sit," Sothal suggested as he motioned to the chair. Despite his inward concerns, he held an aloof and almost businesslike air about him. "Have you eaten recently?"
Frowning, but offering no argument, Cordelia moved, lowering herself into the chair again, shaking her head with a small flinch, "I'm not hungry."
"Well, that's unfortunate," he said as he sat himself down beside her on the floor, cross legged like a child before the fire as he placed a fine embroidered cloth upon her lap. The cloth unfolded to reveal small bricks of chocolate. "Freshly imported from Ghildi. A present for recent relations I've been kindling. We may open trade with them if all goes well. And then chocolate won't be so rare. I may even get fat."
Even in her current state, feeling a miserable as she did, it was difficult to turn a frown at the small brick placed upon her lap. It was exquisite... as fine as if it had been made of gold. Breathing out, Cordelia shifted her gaze to his, cautiously masked, "...Emyrs, fat? What would all those doting ladies think?"
"They'll find a happy man," he said, but then snatched up the chocolate from her lap. "Such sweets are only so good if one eats a meal before. Let me get you some food, hmm? And then you can have your chocolate."
"...Sothal." Leaning back, she shut her eyes for a moment, "It's been too long. I can't... I need to... I don't know how much longer I can hold off."
His expression became guarded once again, and he placed the napkin back on her lap as he turned his head to look at the fire instead. This was not something she could overcome and recover from due to the amount of years she had been practicing her craft. She needed what this world could not provide.
"Then do something small," he suggested. "Take it slow and keep things limited."
"I'm scared." Her voice lowered to a whisper, and she dropped her eyes to her lap, fiddling with frayed edge of her shawl, "After Gerard... What happened... It happened again, twice. I've been alright, since, but I haven't used it. I'm afraid to. I'm afraid not to..."
Inhaling sharply, she turned away, shaking her head, "Damn it all. I just want it to stop... I want to stop."
For a time he let them sit in the quiet of the room after her words had dissipated into the crackle of the fire. He needed to fix this somehow and yet was powerless to do so. He needed the comfort of a drink and it's numbing embrace.
"If you don't use your magic you'll die," he stated. "Sooner than later. I'm sorry, Cordelia."
He turned himself to her and took her hand in his as he eyed her with severity. "I'll give you your other gift if you use your magic," he said. "Any spell."
Grimacing at his words, she lowered her gaze to his hand, as it gripped hers... She knew the risks, either way - knew there was a chance even if she did use it, she could die, anyway. But she wasn't ready to give up. Not when they had so much still to do...
"I visited Altrey..." She whispered, her gaze shifting to his, "It was a hunch, and it paid off. He knows what's happening with the Tainted. I'm sure of it. And he knew who the ring belonged to... He... he thinks I'm a part of it, Sothal. Of the Cabal. A notion I didn't entirely bother to correct. There's going to be a demonstration at the Masque. Something to show their progress..." Curling her fingers around his, bringing his hand to her forehead, she rested against it, closing her eyes.
"I don't want to read you... To invade your mind like that..."
"You're going to have to do something," he stated a bit forcefully. "Anything. A panic attack or one of those light dimming spells. But you can't just do nothing. We will need you there if they're expecting you. You need to get better."
With a sigh, she straightened, her eyes opening. He was right. She had put herself in a position that, whether it had been her intention or not, made her presence at the masque necessary. But it was difficult to put it all into the proper perspective when she hurt so much.
She couldn't remember, through the fog in her mind, the old spells, those her mother had first insisted she learn. They had frightened her, even then - the idea of what she was capable of. Memories, they seemed so much less destructive, even if in truth they weren't.
But it had been so long since she had used her abilities on him. Not since their first meeting, when she had nearly driven him to...
Still... she had to do something.
Nodding, she reached for his opposite hand, cupping both of them in hers, "I'll try for a good memory, this time." And with the barest nudge, she closed her eyes and pressed into his mind.
He didn't resist the pull of her magic as it slipped him into the void. But once there in the fraction of a moment they were enveloped in black he gripped her hands tightly. There was a palpable fear of the nothing eased with the smattering of hazy colors and muffled sounds as Cordelia reached into Sothal's past.
The muddied colors sifted, blurred, and bled onto the black canvas of the void as it painted a scene of a strange city filled with colorful horseless carts and tall buildings that blocked out the sun.
A teenage Sothal sat upon a concrete wall that partitioned a set of stairs from the upper level of a walkway. A man sat next to him in what was defined as a suit-and-tie, or the typical attire of a working citizen. His name was Sergei, and it had been a few years since Sothal had seen him last. They sat silently for a time eating a cold treat called ice cream.
"The mustache doesn't suit you," Sothal said as he motioned towards Sergei's upper lip. Sergei huffed a small laugh and stroked it thoughtfully.
"The ladies dig it," he said with a shrug. "It's been a while. You've missed some things."
"How long has it been?" Sothal asked.
"The war is over," he said, and smiled somewhat. "Vitally is home again. Do you think you'll have enough time to come by? I'm sure everyone will want to see you."
"It doesn't feel like I will," Sothal admitted. He frowned a little in disappointment as he fought the telltale pull of his world beckoning him home. It was beginning to feel like both worlds were tugging him at the arms in a fight for his attention.
"I'll tell them you say hello, then," Sergei said. "They'll understand. Hey, how's the war going where you live?"
"Hm?" Sothal had almost forgotten about it. Had it been that long since they'd seen each other? The last time he had run into Sergei he was around his age and in school. They'd known each other for years and always came to this very spot for ice cream and conversation.
"Oh," Sothal continued, "it still hasn't turned into anything massive. Just terrorism at random."
"No leads as to where they are?"
"They're everywhere."
Sergei shook his head solemnly. "I'd give you a whole arsenal if I could," he said. "Think you could take me back? I'll find them. I have a knack for finding things."
Sothal chuckled at that. The last time he had brought Sergei into his world the two spent their entire time setting up practical jokes around the castle. It only lasted a couple of hours and resulted in Sothal falling unconscious for days. He never told Sergei, but the thought ran through his mind as he tasted the final bite of the cold chocolate cream.
"We'd get nothing accomplished," he said in return. Sergei laughed and punched Sothal in the arm.
The memory swirled back into the deep black of the void. The struggle to return to the present was still evident in Sothal just as it had all those years ago. His eyes stared out at nothing, widened and blank for nearly a minute. And in that time a nagging sensation, almost like a tug at the soul, could be felt within their connection. But just before the ethereal rope felt taut, the sensation lifted, and his eyes blinked as he settled back into reality.
"How are you feeling?"
For a few seconds, Cordelia sat in silence, her breathing deep, her eyes closed. The feeling was gradual, rather than all at once, but she could feel it lifting - the pain... the anxiety. Like pressure being released from a valve, she could feel herself returning to normal.
Her eyes flickered open and a small smile formed at the corner of her mouth, "Someday, Love... you're going to have to sit down and tell me about these adventures of yours."
Leaning back in her seat, she pressed a hand to her forehead, "It's still there, but it's better. And I don't feel the way I did after Gerard. Thank you, Sothal..."
He slipped his hands from hers and sat back down to face the fire as he solemnly pushed away the memory. His head nodded ever so slightly in knowing Cordelia recovered even just slightly with the spell. "It was a strange place, wasn't it?" he said. "It's where I end up sometimes. I don't really mean to go there."
His hand slipped into his jacket pocket to produce a box the size of his hand. It was ornately carved with the wood stained a dark reddish brown. "Your other present," he said as he placed it on Cordelia's lap next to the chocolates.
"You... you ought to be careful, though, Sothal..." She didn't imagine that she needed to explain why. Disappearing and reappearing the way he did, winding himself up in unfamiliar areas... worlds...
It was too unpredictable. Too dangerous...
Her eyes shifted as he placed the box before her and a brow quirked as she looked up at him momentarily, before opening it. A small inhalation followed, as she eyed the necklace inside. Stunning did not begin to cover it... the blues and whites, the shimmering, glistening stones.
Eyes moving to Sothal, she shook her head, "...It's... Sothal, it's beautiful."
"I had it made for you," he said. "My sister recommended a jeweler in Dradmida. It's taken nearly a year to get it here. Now is as good of a time as ever, I suppose. You can wear it to the masque to further your role."
Pulling it from the velvet lined case, Cordelia held the necklace as though it were made from glass, and for all she knew, it very well could have been. Apart from his ring, it was surely the most precious thing she had ever touched...
Blinking, she looked at him and smiled gingerly, before rising to her feet. Holding the necklace out to him, she then turned and pulled her hair up off her neck, "Here... Help me try it on."
He took the necklace and eyed it over for the clasp. It was hidden into the metalwork and took a bit of careful fiddling before it came undone. He brought the beaded strands of blue before her and laid it upon her chest as he secured the clasp around her neck. "Do you like it, then?"
Looking down, touching her fingertips to the necklace, Cordelia shook her head, "More than...It's incredible."
Without stepping back, she turned around to face him, craning her neck up to meet his gaze, "I'm not entirely sure what I've done to deserve it."
He shrugged at that and set the box on the nearest surface to place it out of the way. "What does deserving have to do with it?" he asked. "It's a necklace. People don't get jewelry because of some deserving status. It's an indulgence. Like chocolate."
Smirking faintly, Cordelia's own shoulders rose and fell, "Fair enough." She mused, though her tone carried a weight of somewhat reluctant concession. It was an intriguing indulgence, anyway, "Thank you... It's really lovely."
Over the mantel hung a small mirror and moving towards it, Cordelia looked into the slightly tarnished surface at her reflection. She was a right mess, and the necklace stood out in the worst possible way. Dogs and pearls, or something... but she wouldn't say as much out loud.
Tucking her hair behind her ears, she turned back to Sothal, "Will she be there? Your sister? At the Masque...?"
He looked at her reflection and the way Cordelia studied herself with the necklace. "No," he stated as he looked away. "Politics keep her in Dradmida. I'm not sure she'll ever have a reason to come back here. I've been over there once. It's a far better place."
"Hm..." Turning away, she nodded, "It's a wonder any of us stay, sometimes"
Her eyes shifted to his and she smiled, faintly, "But I suppose we all have our reasons. Quinn has his tavern, his girls... Tam his kids. Milly, Leona, Kylar... even Mies. They've all got ties somewhere or another. And you can't very well leave. As for me, well..." Making a soft sound, somewhere in the vein of a laugh, she shrugged, "I don't suppose I need to spell out my reason for staying."
"We have a good cause," Sothal said. "And I feel it a necessary step in the betterment of Faledrin. It's not my familial obligations that keep me here, but my ambition to see this kingdom flourish just as well as Thallas or Dradmida. I'm glad we all share that in common."
Her fingers dropped down from the exquisite necklace to clasp the other string she wore round her neck, palming the ring with a small shake of her head, "I believe in our cause. And I want to see Faledrin rise from this miserable oblivion... more than I can say. But that's not why I stay."
Biting thoughtfully at the edge of her lip, she glanced up at him, "...And I think you know that. Sometimes I wonder what you'd do, Sothal, if I just stopped playing along."
His head nodded in a thought, and he looked from the window to the door before clearing his throat. "I should go make sure our way into the Noble District is clear," he said. "Glad to see you're doing better, Cordelia. And go eat something. We need everyone to be focused at the masque."
"Oh, right. Seems I already know." With a small, subtle smirk, Cordelia shook her head, sinking back down into the chair before the fireplace, "Better for now, at least... Goodnight, Sothal."
"I'm going to tell Quinn to force feed you if you don't get a meal within an hour," he warned. Despite his serious tone, he had meant it to be a bit more playful, yet never bothered to fix it as he dryly pointed towards her in emphasis. He exited without another word to her, closing the door quietly behind him.
TAGS: Collab with @Effervescent, @Red Thunder, @RiddL, @Doctor Jax, @rissa, @CloudyBlueDay, @Rowboat