forum Symphony of A Crown // oxo romance // CLOSED

Started June 17, 2019 by @croccin-champagne

tune

It was fifteen minutes before anything happened. And that 'anything'? Was Zarya striding into the library, a determination sparking in her eyes that looked like it could take down Kingdoms. And who knows, maybe it could. "Your Highness, I need to speak with you!"

Amira poked her head out from behind the shelf she was browsing, looking slightly concerned as she approached her friend. "What is it, Zee?" Her voice was low and worried, not carrying like Zarya's had.

"Not here." She didn't explain further, just cast a wary look around the library before grabbing the Princess's hand and pulling her out into the hall.

Mishal looked on with bewilderment. The pair moved much too quickly for him to react. He stood in surprise before gaining his bearings. He hastily decided to attempt to eavesdrop on their conversation. He tried to move as silently as possible, and out of the line of sight to get into a better position.

In her slight, though hidden, panic, Zarya's normal discretion was slightly hindered. Her speech was a mix of her home language and the language they used to speak with Mishal, just enough for bits to be picked up.

"Murder-""-It wouldn't be my first, you know that-""-worth it?-""-treason-" These were just bits, but the others continued to fall in the same sort of line, little clues to her past, what she was discussing, and questions. Amira's were the same in language, mirroring Zarya, but they seemed to be more assurances and confusion and worry.

Mishal derived only the most vague fractions of dialogue. He made out ‘my first,’ and ‘tree’. He decided he did not hear enough to have any idea what was going on. He couldn’t even hazard a guess, he was so confused. What could have possibly been so urgent, so distressing?
A suspicious voice whispered in his mind, ‘Perhaps your guests are plotting against you.’ He pushed the idea away. Surely not. Surely….Surely….

"Zee." Amara stepped closer to her friend, placing her hands on Zarya's shoulders in an attempt to get her attention and ground her. "You are my best friend, but I can't make this decision for you. You have to decide, and I-I trust you. But allow me to give you my opinion?"

It was odd, for the princess to be asking permission from someone of a lower status. Many people had commented on it before, forgetting that friendship and professional class differences were completely different things. Zarya took in a shaky breath and nodded once, prompting Amara to keep speaking.

"Don't make any rash decisions, in either direction. Take your time to decide, then do what you must. Use that incredible mind of yours."

Unable to keep his curiosity at bay, Mishal made his way to the pair of women.
“Is everything alright?” He asked in an attempt to gather more information. He could already see the unsettled look in their eyes, that much was clear. The source is what he wanted to know.

Amara's eyes flickered past Zarya and to Mishal, widening slightly. The sorceress had stilled almost immediately. She didn't do well with people sneaking up on her. "Yes! Everything is quite alright!" Amara said hurriedly, an absolutely atrocious liar.

"Everything is fine." Zarya assured, reaching up to wrap her fingers around Amara's wrist. She squeezed once before letting go and stepping back, turning to face Mishal with an easy smile. No trace of the earlier panic was visible, and she was so convincing that even after seeing and hearing everything, one would find themself almost starting to believe her. "I received some slightly worrying news, but it should all be cleared up soon. My apologies for cutting into your time together."

Thick tar seeped into the crevices of Mishal’s mind, pulling out his suspicions and casting them away. “Of course— I mean, um, no worries. I apologize for interrupting. I’ll have someone guide you to your chambers now.” He motioned for one of the posted guards. “Again, my apologies.”
Mishal left then. He felt unsatisfied with Zarya’s reassurances, though he believed her all the same. Perhaps he was just drama-hungry. Still….

"Did you just-" Amara was cut off by Zarya's warning look, which quickly turned to a slightly flirty smile directed at the guard assigned to guiding them to their rooms. The last thing she needed was her friend accidentally alerting the entire palace to her abilities. Besides, she hadn't used too much magic. Just enough inflected in her voice to ease his suspicion. It was better for him, anyway.

Zarya hadn't even close the door to her chambers before they were thrown open again by the princess, who quickly shut them again. "You can't-Zarya, if they find out you-"

"They won't."

"And you shouldn't even be using that ability! It steals your energy and your voice, and you know it!"

Mishal slunk to his own bed chambers. What a fool he’d been, assuming the worst of his guests. He went to the window where the sun was low on the horizon. He stayed there in his melodrama for some time.
Then he remembered the strange sensational he felt when Zarya assured him nothing was amiss. Any ideas he may have were intangible, slipping away whenever he got close to capturing them. It was if they were being purposefully elusive. It frustrated him. He decided to find out the cause, and he had a feeling it had something to do with Zarya.

"Amara, the only way to get any better at using it, the only way to improve my handle on it, is to use it." Zarya said, making her way to the window and pushing it open. The fresh air, cooling with the setting of the sun, was good for clearing her head and helping her focus. "I only wish I had not had to use it on the Prince." She added, resting her arms on the windowsill and leaning out just a bit. Her chambers had a view of the gardens below, and she suddenly found herself wanting to go down.

"Just…be careful, Zee." Amara said, shaking her head as she placed her hand on the door handle. "I'm going to go unpack, try not to get into too much trouble. And no robbing the nobles of their riches."

"You really are no fun, miss voice of reason." Zarya quipped, shooting her friend a smile. She watched the Princess leave before slipping out herself, forgetting to make sure her belongings were secured with their usual charms. A few minutes later found her in the gardens, the water snake that had been her companion for a few years draped lazily around her neck as she hummed. She was sitting cross-legged in a patch of grass amidst the flowers and plants, her arms outstretched and her smile carefree as a few colorful butterflies curiously fluttered around her.

From his place at his windowsill, Mishal saw Zarya amble her way into the gardens. This piqued his interest. He rushed to compose his image and make it down there in order to…well, to spy on her. Maybe she was hiding something. He wanted to know what it was.
He reached the side entrance where he wasn’t too close to her while she remained in his line of sight. He got low to the ground, trying to be quiet.

The butterflies continued to flutter about, now not so much curious as comfortable in the Sorceress's presence, even to the point of landing atop her head or on her shoulders, though they avoided the water snake around her neck. Gently, Zarya shifted, withdrawing a small canteen of water from where it had been clipped at her waist. She poured a generous amount out onto her palm, the humming growing to singing softly in her home tongue as the water oddly didn't fall from her hands.

Instead, it rose. First a floating ball of water, and then twisting into shapes. Arcs that moved with her hands, various animals and creatures, the water moved like it was dancing to the entrancing sound of Zarya's voice.

Mishal stepped into the clearing. “What is this?” Suddenly he was in her face, grabbed her wrist, “Keeping secrets from your host? Explain yourself!” He demanded.

Zarya had been so wrapped up in her song, in the magic winding its' way through her veins, that she hadn't noticed the Prince. And then he was there, his hand around his wrist and his face in hers and leaving them both in an awkward position, and scaring off the butterflies that had gathered.

Through some miracle, she didn't drop the water. She did, however, allow herself to get angry, just enough that her eyes swirled like the sea during a storm, sparking with the temper she tried to keep under wraps when she could.

"Explain myself? What, pray tell, are you expecting me to explain?" Zarya fired back, her accent thickening with her anger. It felt almost like a joke, him demanding her secrets like that. She had secrets she hadn't even shared with Amara, secrets she'd been keeping from everyone she knew. And most of them didn't affect the Prince at all. "I am a High Sorceress of the Azarian Court, and I did not get that title with cheap tricks performed by card wielders." Magicians. That's what she had meant. "This is no secret, your Highness." She was, in fact, banking slightly on the hope that he wasn't too well-versed in the magic users of her kingdom, because if he was, he would be able to point out that most others didn't use song and sound like she did.

“You think me a fool! I know this is not common magic! You witch!”

His skin grew warmer the angrier he got, the glowing haze getting thicker and more defined. Did she think he didn’t know about this type of magic? He’d been researching for years, (mostly to make sense of his own abilities) of course he knew!

“How many of your people require song to perform magic? I doubt very many! You come to my land as my guest with your witching trickery! I should have you thrown out, banned, never to return! You better have a brilliant defense!”

Hot. He was getting hot, as in literally, and it send a flicker of panicked memory that she'd done her best to repress flashing through her head. Fire, bright and burning and beautiful but it hurt, and it was hurting her and she could hear Kareem crying, somebody shouting, gods it burned and burned and didn't stop-

"Witch?" She spat, using words as an anchor, focusing on anger over the fear spiking through her chest. "How prejudiced is your country to use a term like that as an insult? Or is it just you? You may be a Prince, but I am Masheudha, and where I come from, how I summon that magic has no bearing in my title. I am not sure what this defense you speak of is, or why I need one, when you are the one in my face, calling me words that are clearly meant to be harsh."

Mishal released her.
“Go.” Though he said it quiet, it was harsh and biting. “Just go.”
He turned away, giving her the opportunity to leave. In that moment he did not care what happened in the morning when the palace would hear of this. He was the Prince, and one day he would be king and not even his father could change that, no matter what Mishal did.

((Go ahead!))

Zaria blinked, moving back as soon as she was given the opportunity. She didn’t stand to leave though, just returned the water to it’s container as she straightened, her hands sat properly in her lap. “With all….due respect, I am not going to leave, without a very good reason, your highness. So do tell me. What exactly is so wrong with my magic, that is not the same in my own country.” Her words were careful and neat, like she was handpicking each before she spoke.

When Mishal spoke, he did not meet Zarya’s gaze. He did not face her.

“My sister,” he began, “she was so young. Much younger than me. I loved her more than anything, more then anyone in the world.”

Water babbled in his memory. He tried to push it away, but it was a persistent ghost.

“They took her from me. I will never forgive them.”

He continued to stand in the garden, the incests chirping and cool moon breeze whispering in the air. The old wound on his heart cracked as the memory swirled in his mind like a hurricane of sorrow. He just wanted her gone.