claim: Lia
Title: Snapshots in Time
Author:
fireflypenance
Prompts: each is individually labeled
Rating: PG at the highest
Summary: 10 snapshots of moments in Lia's life.
Author Note: Each was written to both a song prompt and a word.
Prompt: Ends
Lia woke, haunted by the feel of him, the sound of him. She rose from the bed she had slept in since she was a child, and stood in the room that had been hers as long as she could remember. This was her home, but she felt like a stranger here, and she knew why. She knew it was his fault.
Jared. He had left without so much as a goodbye, and she found herself stuck in the cycle of their flight and fighting. Too much had happened between them with no time to digest it, no words to make all the hurts alright. He had left without giving her a chance to explain, without a change to apologize.
Without a chance for her to tell him that she loved him, that he had a home here. With her.
Prompt: Death
War came to Dena Nehele, as all knew it would. Reports came by the hour of Hayll's forces moving against her people and still she remained still, cold, unmovable. Even those a part of her inner sanctum did not know why she did not move, did not strike back.
“Tell the people to retreat to Grayhaven, and defend where they must. But retreat.” was all Lady Ardelia said. She stood with distant cold eyes, and the three closest to the Queen wondered if she had lost her will to defend. The Consort approached her. The Master of the Guard hesisted. The Queen's closest friend turned away.
One by one, they left to do as they had been ordered. One by one, they began to wonder if their Queen would allow them all to be destroyed.
Once she was alone, she stepped carefully away from the dias and took the few steps to the balcony doors. She stepped outside, and the humid air of Dena Nehele's summer struck her in the face. She did not mind, she barely noticed. Her hands found grip on the balcony rail and she looked over a greater distance than she could ever have hoped to see.
She could sense the entire population that lived between the mountains and the palace moving towards her, but not fast enough. She could sense the line of conflict if the she reached far enough out, and she knew she had to act now. Closing her eyes, she made a controlled dive to her core, concentrating all of her power just beyond the line of conflict, and pushing with a wide range towards the border.
Little pops that would be screams if she could hear them. Hayllians died. A few of her own died as well, and she felt each of their deaths like a knife. When she finished, when the deed was done and the Hayllians destroyed, she came to herself weeping on the floor of the balcony, alone.
And she knew what it was to be a Queen.
Prompt: Touch
The little girl danced her hands through the bright, clear water. She leaned over from the bank, delving both hands into the cool water to play, and ignored that her dress would be marred and dirty when she rose. No child of seven ever cared if they got dirty; or at least, Lia conceded, no child that age should.
She knelt next to her daughter and leaned into the water as well. She picked up river stones, two round edges things, and presented one to her daughter. The girl took it and smiled.
“What's this, mommy?” She asked sweetly.
Lia gave the answer that a long line of witches in her family had given their daughters. “A mermaid scale.” Her daughter's face lit up and she examined the smooth stone with newfound fascination for it. Lia brushed a hand over her dark hair. Her little girl with golden skin and beautiful green eyes. If only her father had been able to see her this grown up.
“Can we find a mermaid?” Rehna jumped to her feet and tugged at her mother's hand. “They live in the river, right?”
Lia was dragged along as little Rehna plotted how to find the mermaids and befriend the mermaid Queen. Lia couldn't help but feel very old, but so very proud of her daughter's spirit.
“Oh Jared... you'd be so proud of her.”
Prompt: Love
After that display, Lia mused with mortification labeled carefully on her face, the Chaillotian delegation was never going to consider peaceful negotiations with Dena Nehele. The Queen sank down into her chair, slouching something awful, hoping no one noticed.
The one that did notice was the one she would have cheerfully flayed just then.
“The Consort would like a word with the Queen.” Jared said softly after he approached. She glared at him.
“The Queen would like to gut the Consort.” She said indelicately. She stood, despite the mingling guests and the cocktail party. Their previous fight had been the entertainment for the first round of drinks. Would this be their encore?
“Lia, that fight was ridiculous. What are we even fighting about?” Jared said in a hissed whisper. Several aristo witches turned their head, and Lia's face colored. Dear Darkness, she had been Queen for less than three months, and this was the first serious fight she and her Consort-cum-husband had partaken in.
And he didn't even know what they were fighting about. “We're fighting because you cannot keep your eyes off of pretty witches.” she said stiffly, and probably too softly. He gave her a bewildered look.
“I what?”
“I saw you with that pretty red head earlier.” Lia said. She really, truly hated feeling this hateful and jealous. She hated sounding so psychotic.
But Jared began to laugh and threw his head back. “Oh, Lia,”
“Dont' 'oh Lia' me.” she replied. “I saw you with my own eyes, and I know perfectly well you were flirting with her before a roomful of my guests!” she said sternly.
“She's my sister-in-law. My brother's wife.” Lia felt her throat swell and her eyes bulge. Her mouth hung open, definitely in an unladylike fashion. “I would have introduced her, but you jumped down my throat when I came back to your table.” he added.
Lia felt extraordinarily small, but it must have been on her face. She tried to ramble an apology, but Jared smirked. He drew her close and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Would you like to meet her now?”
“Can I have a moment to collect my pride? I think I've lost it.” Lia replied. “Jared... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed-” she was cut off, though.
“No, you shouldn't have. But I suppose I can say that your jealousy at least proves that you care, right?”
“Would you like further proof?” She offered. He grinned.
“Aren't I the one who is supposed to be seducing you?” he purred, and Lia was reminded yet again that Jared had once been a skilled pleasure slave. But he'd long ago convinced her that he used those skills now because he loved her, and wanted to please her. Only her.
She should have remembered that, as well.
“Come, Lady Ardelia. It's time to play at Queen, before we retire to our rooms for the night.”
Prompt: Life
Lia knew for sure that something had changed inside her only after her return. She found this out not because of a series of soul searching weekends or anything, but simply because she found that the witches at Court that she normally considered friends were simply too... pristine for her. This was strange to her. She couldn't remember being different than she was.
Could her journey from Raej have changed her and she not notice? Her friends in the Court were not stuffy aristo bitches, but they were untried and did not really know themselves or what they wanted. Lia surely began to drift away from them, lingering more often with Thera and Blaed, until they left to find heir own niche, and she was left alone.
She wasn't sure how to explain her dilemma either. Her grandmother knew she had matured, and her mother remarked that she was sadder now than before. Her father still saw his little girl, and Lia suspected he always would.
She wasn't sure who she saw when she looked in a mirror. She was high bred, high born. The granddaughter of a Queen, and a Queen herself. She was base taught. She had gathered around her like a Court slaves and helped to free them to a better life.
And she was one confused young witch.
Prompt: Middles
Lia curled into herself, clasping arms across her chest and trying to keep the cold rain off of her face. Grayhaven was dreary in the early days of winter, before the snow would start. Lia had come to town to be alone for awhile, under the guise of wanting to shop for a handfasting gift for Thera and Blaed. Her cousin had offered to join her, but Lia had declined.
She wanted to think by herself. She wanted a clear mind when she considered what she would have and do from here on. She was too much a figurehead to waver—her grandmother had taught her that.
She had too terrible a feeling that her journey from Raej had been a lot of wasted time. It wasn't that she didn't believe that she'd had done well freeing slaves or bringing them here. That wasn't what she meant in the slightest, of course. She meant her heart had been wasted on Jared. She had trusted him, given him every benefit of the doubt, and he had behaved honorably until she was safely back in her grandmother's care. Then he disappeared.
He was impossible to figure out. She was beginning to wonder why she bothered. Her grandmother insisted males were impossible to figure out as a whole, and she shouldn't worry herself over one that seemed to be acting strangely. Perhaps she was correct in that.
Prompt: Beginnings
Lia raced ahead of her cousin as they ran the length of the hall to the audience chamber. Gran was holding formal Court today and Lia loved to see her grandmother dressed up and dolling out justice. Lia wanted so badly to grow up to be like her Gran.
She ducked under the arm of a guard, but missed the crooked smirk on his face as he allowed entrance to the gem of the Court. Lia snuck into the back of the crowd, trying to find a place she could see, but without being seen. A Prince with a Rose Jewel about his neck smiled down at her and stepped aside to offer her a view that proved to be lovely.
Her grandmother was seated and looked bemused by the current petitioner. Lia couldn't see the man, but she could hear a little of what was said. It didn't matter what he said. There were stars in Lia's eyes as she watched her Gran, and wished that she could be like that someday.
Prompt: Hate
Her grandson entered the room and broke her heart. Lia tried to pretend she hadn't heard him, continuing on the knitting she'd been working on for an hour. Her hands ached, but she continued with the work to have something to do with old hands. Conrad wasn't going to be ignored, though, with the mood he was in. Something had happened, and Lia didn't want to ask. She did because she was a Queen and a grandmother and couldn't stand the pain that Conrad thought he hid so well.
“Is it your father?” she asked with unchecked pain in her voice.
Conrad said nothing, and Lia knew. Stories and accusations had flown for years, but Lia had never wanted to believe her son was capable of such atrocities. She had been proved wrong. It seemed that her son was everything she stood against: rapist, murderer, of witches and the very Law their lives were based upon.
“I am not my father's son!” he cried out, and Lia felt the tears fall down her face. She mourned for her grandson and for herself, and for a son she had lost so long ago and never really known it until this moment.
Prompt: Jewels
“Bella,”
She ignored her mother as she dressed, slowly. A lot of things had changed recently. Her gown was slate gray, to accent the Jewel that fell to rest between her breasts. She was the Gray Lady as much as her grandmother had been, and the line of Queens before her.
“Bella, for Darkness' sake, look at me.” her mother snapped. Lia slowly turned to face her mother, and she saw unease in that woman's eyes. No mother should ever fear to face their daughter, Lia thought, and she knew later she would feel how much this fear hurt. For now, she had embraced the cold, cool Gray.
“What do you see?” Lia challenged.
“I see a Queen capable of leading Dena Nehele.” her mother answered honestly.
Silence, then: “Do you see your daughter?”
“No. I don't.”
Prompt: Sun
The sun beat down on them. Lia felt the heat more keenly than she ever remembered feeling summer heat in the mountains. She wanted to embrace that heat, letting it scorch her until she was nothing. Because if she were nothing, she would not have to face what waited for her the moment she turned to acknowledge the messenger who'd come for it.
When she turned it was Jared. She was so exhausted from the fighting that she'd not even sensed him. She felt strange for that lapse, but he didn't seem to notice. He was far more concerned with her. He walked slowly but with intention towards her, and she let him. There was no reason to resist.
Jared cupped her face, and she felt herself melt against him, tears welling in her eyes. She hated fighting, hated war. How the bitches in Hayll could endure this for centuries, she would never understand. Jared's arms closed around her, rocking her.
"They died because of me." was all she said.
Jared didn't say it, didn't bring her his hourly update of Thera's condition. And it was then she knew her best friend was dead as well. Another dead, another soul on her conscience.
"Quiet, sweetheart." was all Jared said as he rocked her. She didn't feel the sun; she got the numb she'd wished for instead. Soul consuming numb.
Author:
fireflypenancePrompts: each is individually labeled
Rating: PG at the highest
Summary: 10 snapshots of moments in Lia's life.
Author Note: Each was written to both a song prompt and a word.
Prompt: Ends
Lia woke, haunted by the feel of him, the sound of him. She rose from the bed she had slept in since she was a child, and stood in the room that had been hers as long as she could remember. This was her home, but she felt like a stranger here, and she knew why. She knew it was his fault.
Jared. He had left without so much as a goodbye, and she found herself stuck in the cycle of their flight and fighting. Too much had happened between them with no time to digest it, no words to make all the hurts alright. He had left without giving her a chance to explain, without a change to apologize.
Without a chance for her to tell him that she loved him, that he had a home here. With her.
Prompt: Death
War came to Dena Nehele, as all knew it would. Reports came by the hour of Hayll's forces moving against her people and still she remained still, cold, unmovable. Even those a part of her inner sanctum did not know why she did not move, did not strike back.
“Tell the people to retreat to Grayhaven, and defend where they must. But retreat.” was all Lady Ardelia said. She stood with distant cold eyes, and the three closest to the Queen wondered if she had lost her will to defend. The Consort approached her. The Master of the Guard hesisted. The Queen's closest friend turned away.
One by one, they left to do as they had been ordered. One by one, they began to wonder if their Queen would allow them all to be destroyed.
Once she was alone, she stepped carefully away from the dias and took the few steps to the balcony doors. She stepped outside, and the humid air of Dena Nehele's summer struck her in the face. She did not mind, she barely noticed. Her hands found grip on the balcony rail and she looked over a greater distance than she could ever have hoped to see.
She could sense the entire population that lived between the mountains and the palace moving towards her, but not fast enough. She could sense the line of conflict if the she reached far enough out, and she knew she had to act now. Closing her eyes, she made a controlled dive to her core, concentrating all of her power just beyond the line of conflict, and pushing with a wide range towards the border.
Little pops that would be screams if she could hear them. Hayllians died. A few of her own died as well, and she felt each of their deaths like a knife. When she finished, when the deed was done and the Hayllians destroyed, she came to herself weeping on the floor of the balcony, alone.
And she knew what it was to be a Queen.
Prompt: Touch
The little girl danced her hands through the bright, clear water. She leaned over from the bank, delving both hands into the cool water to play, and ignored that her dress would be marred and dirty when she rose. No child of seven ever cared if they got dirty; or at least, Lia conceded, no child that age should.
She knelt next to her daughter and leaned into the water as well. She picked up river stones, two round edges things, and presented one to her daughter. The girl took it and smiled.
“What's this, mommy?” She asked sweetly.
Lia gave the answer that a long line of witches in her family had given their daughters. “A mermaid scale.” Her daughter's face lit up and she examined the smooth stone with newfound fascination for it. Lia brushed a hand over her dark hair. Her little girl with golden skin and beautiful green eyes. If only her father had been able to see her this grown up.
“Can we find a mermaid?” Rehna jumped to her feet and tugged at her mother's hand. “They live in the river, right?”
Lia was dragged along as little Rehna plotted how to find the mermaids and befriend the mermaid Queen. Lia couldn't help but feel very old, but so very proud of her daughter's spirit.
“Oh Jared... you'd be so proud of her.”
Prompt: Love
After that display, Lia mused with mortification labeled carefully on her face, the Chaillotian delegation was never going to consider peaceful negotiations with Dena Nehele. The Queen sank down into her chair, slouching something awful, hoping no one noticed.
The one that did notice was the one she would have cheerfully flayed just then.
“The Consort would like a word with the Queen.” Jared said softly after he approached. She glared at him.
“The Queen would like to gut the Consort.” She said indelicately. She stood, despite the mingling guests and the cocktail party. Their previous fight had been the entertainment for the first round of drinks. Would this be their encore?
“Lia, that fight was ridiculous. What are we even fighting about?” Jared said in a hissed whisper. Several aristo witches turned their head, and Lia's face colored. Dear Darkness, she had been Queen for less than three months, and this was the first serious fight she and her Consort-cum-husband had partaken in.
And he didn't even know what they were fighting about. “We're fighting because you cannot keep your eyes off of pretty witches.” she said stiffly, and probably too softly. He gave her a bewildered look.
“I what?”
“I saw you with that pretty red head earlier.” Lia said. She really, truly hated feeling this hateful and jealous. She hated sounding so psychotic.
But Jared began to laugh and threw his head back. “Oh, Lia,”
“Dont' 'oh Lia' me.” she replied. “I saw you with my own eyes, and I know perfectly well you were flirting with her before a roomful of my guests!” she said sternly.
“She's my sister-in-law. My brother's wife.” Lia felt her throat swell and her eyes bulge. Her mouth hung open, definitely in an unladylike fashion. “I would have introduced her, but you jumped down my throat when I came back to your table.” he added.
Lia felt extraordinarily small, but it must have been on her face. She tried to ramble an apology, but Jared smirked. He drew her close and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Would you like to meet her now?”
“Can I have a moment to collect my pride? I think I've lost it.” Lia replied. “Jared... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed-” she was cut off, though.
“No, you shouldn't have. But I suppose I can say that your jealousy at least proves that you care, right?”
“Would you like further proof?” She offered. He grinned.
“Aren't I the one who is supposed to be seducing you?” he purred, and Lia was reminded yet again that Jared had once been a skilled pleasure slave. But he'd long ago convinced her that he used those skills now because he loved her, and wanted to please her. Only her.
She should have remembered that, as well.
“Come, Lady Ardelia. It's time to play at Queen, before we retire to our rooms for the night.”
Prompt: Life
Lia knew for sure that something had changed inside her only after her return. She found this out not because of a series of soul searching weekends or anything, but simply because she found that the witches at Court that she normally considered friends were simply too... pristine for her. This was strange to her. She couldn't remember being different than she was.
Could her journey from Raej have changed her and she not notice? Her friends in the Court were not stuffy aristo bitches, but they were untried and did not really know themselves or what they wanted. Lia surely began to drift away from them, lingering more often with Thera and Blaed, until they left to find heir own niche, and she was left alone.
She wasn't sure how to explain her dilemma either. Her grandmother knew she had matured, and her mother remarked that she was sadder now than before. Her father still saw his little girl, and Lia suspected he always would.
She wasn't sure who she saw when she looked in a mirror. She was high bred, high born. The granddaughter of a Queen, and a Queen herself. She was base taught. She had gathered around her like a Court slaves and helped to free them to a better life.
And she was one confused young witch.
Prompt: Middles
Lia curled into herself, clasping arms across her chest and trying to keep the cold rain off of her face. Grayhaven was dreary in the early days of winter, before the snow would start. Lia had come to town to be alone for awhile, under the guise of wanting to shop for a handfasting gift for Thera and Blaed. Her cousin had offered to join her, but Lia had declined.
She wanted to think by herself. She wanted a clear mind when she considered what she would have and do from here on. She was too much a figurehead to waver—her grandmother had taught her that.
She had too terrible a feeling that her journey from Raej had been a lot of wasted time. It wasn't that she didn't believe that she'd had done well freeing slaves or bringing them here. That wasn't what she meant in the slightest, of course. She meant her heart had been wasted on Jared. She had trusted him, given him every benefit of the doubt, and he had behaved honorably until she was safely back in her grandmother's care. Then he disappeared.
He was impossible to figure out. She was beginning to wonder why she bothered. Her grandmother insisted males were impossible to figure out as a whole, and she shouldn't worry herself over one that seemed to be acting strangely. Perhaps she was correct in that.
Prompt: Beginnings
Lia raced ahead of her cousin as they ran the length of the hall to the audience chamber. Gran was holding formal Court today and Lia loved to see her grandmother dressed up and dolling out justice. Lia wanted so badly to grow up to be like her Gran.
She ducked under the arm of a guard, but missed the crooked smirk on his face as he allowed entrance to the gem of the Court. Lia snuck into the back of the crowd, trying to find a place she could see, but without being seen. A Prince with a Rose Jewel about his neck smiled down at her and stepped aside to offer her a view that proved to be lovely.
Her grandmother was seated and looked bemused by the current petitioner. Lia couldn't see the man, but she could hear a little of what was said. It didn't matter what he said. There were stars in Lia's eyes as she watched her Gran, and wished that she could be like that someday.
Prompt: Hate
Her grandson entered the room and broke her heart. Lia tried to pretend she hadn't heard him, continuing on the knitting she'd been working on for an hour. Her hands ached, but she continued with the work to have something to do with old hands. Conrad wasn't going to be ignored, though, with the mood he was in. Something had happened, and Lia didn't want to ask. She did because she was a Queen and a grandmother and couldn't stand the pain that Conrad thought he hid so well.
“Is it your father?” she asked with unchecked pain in her voice.
Conrad said nothing, and Lia knew. Stories and accusations had flown for years, but Lia had never wanted to believe her son was capable of such atrocities. She had been proved wrong. It seemed that her son was everything she stood against: rapist, murderer, of witches and the very Law their lives were based upon.
“I am not my father's son!” he cried out, and Lia felt the tears fall down her face. She mourned for her grandson and for herself, and for a son she had lost so long ago and never really known it until this moment.
Prompt: Jewels
“Bella,”
She ignored her mother as she dressed, slowly. A lot of things had changed recently. Her gown was slate gray, to accent the Jewel that fell to rest between her breasts. She was the Gray Lady as much as her grandmother had been, and the line of Queens before her.
“Bella, for Darkness' sake, look at me.” her mother snapped. Lia slowly turned to face her mother, and she saw unease in that woman's eyes. No mother should ever fear to face their daughter, Lia thought, and she knew later she would feel how much this fear hurt. For now, she had embraced the cold, cool Gray.
“What do you see?” Lia challenged.
“I see a Queen capable of leading Dena Nehele.” her mother answered honestly.
Silence, then: “Do you see your daughter?”
“No. I don't.”
Prompt: Sun
The sun beat down on them. Lia felt the heat more keenly than she ever remembered feeling summer heat in the mountains. She wanted to embrace that heat, letting it scorch her until she was nothing. Because if she were nothing, she would not have to face what waited for her the moment she turned to acknowledge the messenger who'd come for it.
When she turned it was Jared. She was so exhausted from the fighting that she'd not even sensed him. She felt strange for that lapse, but he didn't seem to notice. He was far more concerned with her. He walked slowly but with intention towards her, and she let him. There was no reason to resist.
Jared cupped her face, and she felt herself melt against him, tears welling in her eyes. She hated fighting, hated war. How the bitches in Hayll could endure this for centuries, she would never understand. Jared's arms closed around her, rocking her.
"They died because of me." was all she said.
Jared didn't say it, didn't bring her his hourly update of Thera's condition. And it was then she knew her best friend was dead as well. Another dead, another soul on her conscience.
"Quiet, sweetheart." was all Jared said as he rocked her. She didn't feel the sun; she got the numb she'd wished for instead. Soul consuming numb.