Rowan
Everything was prepared, I was standing in the back room of the throne hall, watching the minutes pass, one more and I would make my entrance. All the guests were gathered, and I could hear the mumbling voices of the crowd through the wall. The ball had officially started, and I would achieve my goal.
I listened as a servant called out my name from inside, and I marched inside with a mask of peaceful disinterest on my face. Never show them what you want. Seths reminder rung in my head.
I stood before my fathers- no, my throne and boredly smiled at the crowd.
"Friends!" I called out with barely a hint of sarcasm to the half-strangers. "Thank you for coming on this joyous day, as I get to introduce you all… To my queen Luna." The moment I ended the words, the large main doors opened to reveal her. Nymeria had her hair up, perfectly revealing my mark to everybody inside the room. She had a long dark blue dress with lacy golden trim. There was no question who the main character of the occasion was. She held her head high, not even looking at the people in the crowd as she slowly walked towards me. She made her way up the podium and stopped at the edge, bowing to me. An old tradition that I had forgotten to tell her to ignore. When she straightened up, I returned the favor, landing a kiss to the top of her hand.
"Let me introduce you to my mate: Nymeria Evergreen!" I said to the crowd, pride filling me as they all bowed to my mate. Somehow there was a satisfaction in raising her pillar, in making them bow to her. *This... is all yours, anything you want, You can claim it. You don't need my help... but if you want it, I'll be right by your side.* I mindlinked her, stroking my thumb over my mark on the nape of her neck, the touch sending sparks through my skin. There was something primal within me which wanted to make the entire world bow in her name, something that terrified me, yet also tempted me, pulled me towards a world of madness. I shrugged it off, tried to forget the thought had ever appeared and turned my focus back to the crowd as Nymeria extended her hand to me.
"May I have this dance?" She asked, just as the music started playing, and we entered the dance floor.
I had never known how talented of a dancer Nymeria was. To the point where I found myself struggling to keep up. Her movements were precise- elegant, however there was no passion in her eyes, like it was simply a skill which had been drilled in through endless practice. I swallowed as I stepped on her foot for the third time and swore to myself, but she didn't even flinch as my weight was laid atop her foot. I didn't know what kind of pain had made her like that, and I doubted I would ever want to know.
Nymeria
Once we had finished our dance Rowan had quickly been grabbed by acquaintances and I had been left by a table with an extraordinarily tame drink, making sure to cast not all too cold glances at whoever seemed interested in approaching. Suddenly my attention was stolen by the conversation of the group of males behind me.
"There you are! We've been waiting for you. How's Raven?"
Raven. The name rung through me. My sixth child had held the same name. He was the ninth to… I didn't let myself end the sentence. They weren't talking about my Raven. Why would they after all- who bothers thinking about a kid who stopped being around 600 years ago? Or so I thought- until a voice so blood-freezingly familiar said:
"He's growing up well. Resembles his mother more than expected- but little can be done about that now."
I felt dizzy. Like I might puke and pass out at any given moment.
"He's your eldest- right? You should introduce us to the rest of your heap some time. How many did you accumulate anyways?"
"Nine." He said confidently.
Thane. Thane was here. He was alive. And so was Raven.