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Thanks to a really incredible review on my Dark Jewels Saiunkoku fic, I was actually motivated to continue writing it. It isn't finished, not by a long shot, but I thought I would type up what I have so far.
Dark Jewels Saiunkoku
Roseford's Queen, Part 1 | Part 2
Roseford's Queen, Part 3
Shuurei brought the stranger-- Warlord Shi-- into the drawing room, and sent Seiran back to the kitchen with the vegetables and the unspoken understanding that he was to prevent the impending catastrophe of her father attempting to make tea for their visitor. The familiar ritual of a hostess making a guest comfortable was a welcome relief from the uncertainties of potentially prickly males and unexpected situations. The Prince gracefully accepted the hospitality, continuing on as if he were still merely a lost traveller and not the most powerful man in the Realm.
Shouka brought in the tea tray and served them all, taking the burden of conversation off of his daughter's shoulders, and likewise a share of the Price's attention. She couldn't help but be grateful-- of course he behaved perfectly, as before, but there was a certain intensity to the Prince's gaze that was starting to make her uncomfortable. Shouka also had a gift for mild and innocuous conversation that Shuurei had to envy; her head was abuzz with questions that demanded answers.
She tried to calm her interior tumult by covertly examining the Warlord Prince. He seemed perfectly at ease, sitting relaxed in his chair as he sipped his tea, asking amiable questions about the local orchards and Roseford's few noteworthy attractions. He didn't exude any feeling of danger or power that she could tell, and yet Seiran had reacted to him instinctively as a threat-- but then, Seiran could be a bit overprotective. And that instinctive reaction was justified, because however inoffensive he seemed Warlord Shi wore a birthright Green and had descended all the way to Gray when he made the Offering. That, and he was the last living male of direct descent from the famous and dark Shi bloodline. However harmless he might appear, beneath the surface there surely lurked a deep wellspring of power. And his eyes-- what was it about his eyes?
As if he had heard her thought he turned just slightly to meet her gaze. "The wind brings change," he said conversationally, as if he had not been discussing Roseford Tavern's unique hazelnut beer with Shouka a moment before, "but there's nothing here that you need to fear."
Before she could do more than open her mouth to try to respond to his sudden and complete jump in conversation topics there was a loud knock on the door. Seiran opened it immediately-- he must have been lurking in the next room-- to admit the somewhat flustered Province Queen Heki Karin, an Opal-jeweled witch who was normally too busy with more important affairs to visit a sleepy little township like Roseford. Shuurei only ever saw her two or three times a year, and certainly never as bothered as she was now. "I'm very sorry," she said, curtsying deeply to Ryuuki, "had I known you were taking the east road--"
"It was such a nice day, I thought I would walk instead of taking the coach the entire way," he said, raising her up with gallantry so thoughtless it seemed unconscious. "I've only just arrived myself. Would you like some tea? It's very good."
xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx xOx
This song is well and truly lodged in my head, and I find myself singing it most everywhere I go.
Dark Jewels Saiunkoku
Roseford's Queen, Part 1 | Part 2
Roseford's Queen, Part 3
Shuurei brought the stranger-- Warlord Shi-- into the drawing room, and sent Seiran back to the kitchen with the vegetables and the unspoken understanding that he was to prevent the impending catastrophe of her father attempting to make tea for their visitor. The familiar ritual of a hostess making a guest comfortable was a welcome relief from the uncertainties of potentially prickly males and unexpected situations. The Prince gracefully accepted the hospitality, continuing on as if he were still merely a lost traveller and not the most powerful man in the Realm.
Shouka brought in the tea tray and served them all, taking the burden of conversation off of his daughter's shoulders, and likewise a share of the Price's attention. She couldn't help but be grateful-- of course he behaved perfectly, as before, but there was a certain intensity to the Prince's gaze that was starting to make her uncomfortable. Shouka also had a gift for mild and innocuous conversation that Shuurei had to envy; her head was abuzz with questions that demanded answers.
She tried to calm her interior tumult by covertly examining the Warlord Prince. He seemed perfectly at ease, sitting relaxed in his chair as he sipped his tea, asking amiable questions about the local orchards and Roseford's few noteworthy attractions. He didn't exude any feeling of danger or power that she could tell, and yet Seiran had reacted to him instinctively as a threat-- but then, Seiran could be a bit overprotective. And that instinctive reaction was justified, because however inoffensive he seemed Warlord Shi wore a birthright Green and had descended all the way to Gray when he made the Offering. That, and he was the last living male of direct descent from the famous and dark Shi bloodline. However harmless he might appear, beneath the surface there surely lurked a deep wellspring of power. And his eyes-- what was it about his eyes?
As if he had heard her thought he turned just slightly to meet her gaze. "The wind brings change," he said conversationally, as if he had not been discussing Roseford Tavern's unique hazelnut beer with Shouka a moment before, "but there's nothing here that you need to fear."
Before she could do more than open her mouth to try to respond to his sudden and complete jump in conversation topics there was a loud knock on the door. Seiran opened it immediately-- he must have been lurking in the next room-- to admit the somewhat flustered Province Queen Heki Karin, an Opal-jeweled witch who was normally too busy with more important affairs to visit a sleepy little township like Roseford. Shuurei only ever saw her two or three times a year, and certainly never as bothered as she was now. "I'm very sorry," she said, curtsying deeply to Ryuuki, "had I known you were taking the east road--"
"It was such a nice day, I thought I would walk instead of taking the coach the entire way," he said, raising her up with gallantry so thoughtless it seemed unconscious. "I've only just arrived myself. Would you like some tea? It's very good."
This song is well and truly lodged in my head, and I find myself singing it most everywhere I go.
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It is definitely too cool for Sephiroth, is all I'm sayin'.
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