Runaway Princess

[bee-the-runaway]

@leoxerickson​

The sun was a challenge for her pale, northern skin, especially among the dunes of the lands surrounding the red keep but she had to admit, the longer she stayed the more comfortable she became with it. There were creams and spells to divert some of the sun’s destructive power and there was just so much light. It was almost as if she was literally in her element. The heat was a challenge but one that could be managed by wearing lighter fabrics, she felt a little exposed but having lived so long wearing so many layers in the Northlands, she felt exposed without a cloak on. 

Some time after her channeling lesson, she made her way down from the fortress and into the marketplace, just to sight see and perhaps eat something. The market was busy, alive but she felt somewhat anonymous in the yellow draped fabrics, fine of quality but not in her family’s signature colour and not so fine as to immediately give her away. He hair and her pale skin would tip someone off, certainly, if they knew to put two and two together. 

Se came across an argument, an impressively tall man and a shop keeper. She frowned, was he a thief? She pulled out a little coin purse that hung between her breast beneath her dress and approached cautiously, “Um...” she said, barely audible, she cleared her throat, “um, hello, if you like, I can pay for whatever that man took, would that be agreeable with you?” she asked the merchant. Thievery was never the best course of action but it was one seldom taken by people who had other choices. 

[bee-the-runaway]

estelleseaworth​:

“Bee,” Stella whispered, a warm smile dancing across her lips as she slid down beside the blonde. Stella often had to remind herself to keep up with formalities whenever she encountered one of her fellow nobles, but a sense of relief washed over her at the sound of her nickname leaving the princess’s lips. Resting her head against the back of the bookshelf, Stella gave Bee a reassuring nudge. “To tell you the truth, your brother and I don’t really have that kind of relationship?” She admitted. Her gaze falling to her lap as she mindlessly tugged on the hem of her sleeve. Theo and her engagement was a political union at best. Sure, they were engaged every since they were children, but it had always seemed like her betrothed had taken every opportunity to avoid at all costs, up until recently anyways which was all the more… perplexing.

“What I mean is, your secret is safe with me,” She promised her. The illegitimate child of House Seaworth knew first hand what it was like to be horribly depressed by her own circumstances. “I actually somewhat know the feeling. If you ever want to talk about it? That is as long as it stays between us?” She offered up. 

-

She shook her head, “it isn’t that I don’t trust you,”she said, “I just have no idea where to begin.” There really was so much, so, so much to unpack and untangle, the worst of it being her cowardice and weakness, the best of it her confusion and much of it was self inflicted. If only she hadn’t panicked for so long, if only she hadn’t convinced herself there was no other way. There were also the feelings, the complicated sad feelings she couldn’t put to words. There was, simply put, too much.

She stretched out her legs, tapping her sandled feet together, she opened her book in her lap. “I wouldn’t burden you with my thoughts but could I trouble you for your opinions on divination magic?” It was a better use of their time she thought, sorting out the root causes of her turmoil than dwelling on the feeling.

[bee-the-runaway]

sirensbeckon​:

      “  ALRIGHT  ,  MOTHER  HEN  —  ”  elena  was  about  to  surrender  ,  offer  up  her  wrist  for  beatrice  to  examine  ,  but  she  paused.  there  was  a  flash  of  a  wicked  smile  on  her  face  before  she  arched  a  brow  and  said  ,  “  but  only  if  you  tell  me  why  you’re  here  .  .  .  i  might  as  well  be  entertained  with  a  story  while  you  poke  and  prod  at  my  wrist.  ”   

     "  ye  of  little  faith.  ”  elena  scoffed  ,  “  i  can  still  amaze  with  a  hurt  wrist  ,  just  .  .  .  without  my  lute.  ”    

She huffed and frowned,”You might be the only person I know who would delay healing to be nosy,” she said with a scowl, that softened into a sigh, “When I heard what had happened, I came right away...I thought my family might have been hurt...” and they had been and she hadn’t been there. The tears threatened to bubble up again, she bit her lip to keep it from trembling.”It isn’t an entertaining story but I hope it will suffice.”

She held out her hand to take her wrist, “anyway, I’m sure your lute misses you.”

[bee-the-runaway]

Water Gardens, Red Keep,Mid-Day

The water gardens at the red keep were beautiful, usually too crowded for Beatrice’s liking but on such a sweltering but beautiful day, she couldn’t help but wander out amongst the people. She sat with her gauzy dress pulled up to her knees, her feet in the water when some children with puppies approached her and asked her to look after Spud and Terror while they played.Honoured by the trust they’d given her and eager to hold puppies, she agreed. 

She watched the children play, mild anxiety creeping up on her like a sadow. What if they fell? It would be so easy in the water but...would that be so horrible? A bit of suffering to learn? Would the bitterness be so bad that it drowned out the sweet? Whatever happened, they would have their puppies to return to and she would be there to help if they needed it. 

She felt a shadow fall over her, “yes. may I help you?” she asked before being utterly distracted by the adorable noises the puppy was making...

[bee-the-runaway]

@estelleseaworth​

The air was so much warmer at the Red Keep than it was in the Northlands. Her pale skin suffered under the sun and she was left breathless by noon most days, desperate for a relief from the sun beating down. On occasion she would catch herself wishing she was back up in her cottage, away from the sunburns but then she would remember how she used to wish she’d chosen a warmer climate to hide away in and she felt foolish. 

With a deep sigh, in the sanctuary of the magaesturium library, a book clutched to her breast, she leaned up against the side of a book case and slid down to sit on the ground. Theo wouldn’t be so weak, neither would her sisters, it was the very least she could do, coming to learn. “Beatrice Stoneward,” she said to herself, “if you could spend a few moments not being horribly depressed about your circumstances, that would be wonderful.” God, she was so tired of herself, that frustration prickled beneath her skin, sparking off...was it anger? 

Suddenly she heard the ruffling of fabric, she looked up to see a familiar face, “Stella...” she said, wide eyed, “could I ask you not to mention my muttering to my brother?” She wasn’t in the mood for a biting, completely accurate remark from him. 

[bee-the-runaway]

sirensbeckon​:

     ELENA  FEIGNED  HURT  FEELINGS  ,  even  reaching  up  to  clutch  her  chest  simply  for  the  theatrics.  if  she  was  being  honest  ,  she  would  admit  that  the  less  she  saw  beatrice  ,  probably  the  better.  elena  was  always  bleeding  or  bruised  when  she  came  across  her  friend’s  path.  even  now  ,  elena  sported  her  injured  wrist.  “  i'll  pretend  i  didn’t  hear  that  ,  you  cruel  woman.  ”  

     she  felt  beatrice’s  concern  fall  upon  her  and  almost  winced  at  the  weight.  to  anyone  else  she  would  milk  her  injury  ,  demanding  their  full  attention  and  perhaps  a  beverage  to  moisten  her  throat  while  she  told  her  tale.  but  beatrice  had  seen  elena  at  her  worse  ,  had  healed  the  injuries  that  left  ugly  scars  on  her  skin.  so  elena  merely  waved  away  beatrice’s  worry  and  said  ,  “  a  rebel  got  his  hands  on  my  wrist  but  nothing  more  than  that.  ”  she  gestured  to  her  fractured  wrist  ,  the  current  bane  of  elena’s  existence  —  she  willed  it  heal  faster  if  only  so  she  could  resume  her  traveling  schedule  (  though  ,  she  wondered  if  anyone  really  needed  a  bard  during  these  times  ). 

-

“Nothing more than that,” she repeated, skepticism dripping from ever word, she crossed her arms momentarily before she held out a hand, beckoning her with her fingers. “Let me see,” she said, “so I can put one more worry out of my mind.”

“Besides, if you don’t, your work will suffer for it. I can’t imagine singing or playing with a hurt wrist makes for an impressive show.”

[bee-the-runaway]

sirensbeckon​:

     “  I  COULD  ASK  YOU  THE  SAME  THING.  ”  elena  replied  ,  no  hint  of  accusation  or  sharpness  in  her  voice  ,  only  genuine  curiosity.  the  camp  had  turned  up  quite  a  few  familiar  faces  ,  though  beatrice  seemed  out  of  place  in  the  tents.  whenever  elena  thought  of  her  gentle  friend  ,  she  placed  her  by  her  cottage  in  the  northland  forests.  even  her  appearance  did  match  elena’s  memories  of  her  ,  something  seemed  different.  one  thing  was  for  certain  ,  the  camp  had  been  in  need  of  healers  and  beatrice  was  incredibly  capable  when  it  came  to  healing  ;  elena  had  enough  stories  of  her  time  at  beatrice’s  cottage  to  prove  it.      

     ”  i  don’t  suppose  you  came  out  here  to  see  your  favorite  patient.  ”  she  teased  before  stepping  closer  ,  quietly  studying  her  friend.  “  were  you  in  glasswater  during  this  whole  mess?  ”

-

Her favourite patient? “You would be my favourite patient if you were my patient more infrequently,” she crossed her arms. Last she’d seen of the young lady she’d been in a bad state and now she was here, amongst the chaos and others who were in a bad state. Her brows furrowed, “you stress me right out you know that? I’ll go grey early I swear I will.” 

Her hardened gaze softened almost immediately, she sighed, shoulders heaving up and down,  “I wasn’t here when it all happened, I came later,” she said, “did you get hurt?”

[bee-the-runaway]

mccnshadow​:

She had seen the young human girl approach, but it’d become evident to her quickly that the girl couldn’t say the same. She seemed singularly focused, hands in the water, searching, so Yue had not disturbed her. She’d liked watching humans like this, so focused, so lost to the world, so convinced their little task was all that mattered.

Yue couldn’t remember the last time she had such a silly thought, but it still  fascinated her.

She smiled brightly at the girl as she finally noticed her, tumbling down gracefully from the branch overhanging the water she’d been resting in, a little gush of wind halting her fall.

“Don’t worry, sunshine,” she laughed brightly. “I only bite when you’re into that kinda thing.”

“Ah, is that what you’re looking for?” Yue tilted her head in thought, studying the girl closely, a slight smirk on her face. “Now, what could such an innocent looking girl like you need that for?”

-

The comment about biting drew a raised brow. Beatrice was not so innocent as to not know what the elf woman meant by that but she never really knew how to respond to comments like that. It was a joke, clearly...or was it? She didn’t want to offend by laughing. She looked back down at the weeds and then back at her, “they’re useful for salves and ointments,” she said, “they sooth burns especially well. Innocent or not, it’s good to know the plants that help and which ones hurt.” 

She knelt back down in the water and went back to work plucking them from the soggy soil. “So...would you like some? If you handle fire at all or do any cooking, these stalks are as good as gold,” she looked over her shoulder at her. By the young princess’s reckoning they were even better than gold, she’d been without plenty of times she had cooking burns to know their value...

[bee-the-runaway]

[bee-the-runaway]

sirensbeckon​:

𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍  :  refugee  camp  outside  glasswater

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒  :  for  BEATRICE  STONEWARD  /  @bee-the-runaway​​ 

     ELENA  FLITTED  THROUGH  THE  TENTS  ,  eyes  searching  for  some  kind  of  prize  —  a  wineskin  ,  loose  coin  that  the  nobles  had  let  slip  through  their  fingers  ,  gods  ,  she  would  have  even  taken  a  hot  meal.  her  wrist  ,  now  bandaged  ,  hung  uselessly  at  her  side.  her  lute  unplayable  ,  elena  found  the  passing  weeks  and  days  incredibly  boring.  there  was  always  a  song  on  her  lips  ,  but  singing  did  not  calm  her  itching  fingers.  she  was  looking  for  something  to  do.  

     until  she  exited  one  of  the  tents  ,  the  sound  of  scolding  following  her  out.  one  of  the  refugees  did  not  take  kindly  to  her  taking  a  sample  of  one  of  the  apples  that  sat  gleaming  next  to  their  makeshift  bed.  walking  backwards  ,  elena  stuck  her  tongue  out  at  the  person  before  turning  on  her  heels.  as  she  turned  ,  she  caught  sight  of  a  familiar  flash  of  blonde  hair.  “  bea?  ” 

     elena  followed  ,  a  spark  of  excitement  setting  a  flame  under  her  feet.  the  last  time  she  had  seen  this  person  ,  snow  had  coated  the  ground  in  the  northlands  and  elena  was  sporting  a  terror  of  a  head  injury.  never  before  had  she  seen  the  other  woman  outside  of  the  northern  country  and  yet  ,  here  she  possibly  was  —  in  an  elysian  refugee  camp? 

Beatrice was exhausted, after treating her brother her thoughts were so mixed up she had a hard time sorting through them. She went down to the camp right away and put herself hard at work doing what she could. She wanted to help but she also wanted a distraction and she wanted to be so tired her mind would quiet itself. She was in a daze, flitting from one tent to the next. Her eyes avoided the light and her thoughts avoided her. 

She was leaving the tent of someone with a burn when she heard a familiar voice. “Elena?” she said, she sounded so tired. She turned and looked for the owner of the voice...perhaps she’d dreamed it up? Blinking eyes finally settled on the head of brown hair. “What are you doing here?” she asked, walking as briskly as she could to her. 

She knew it would be confusing to see her, hair not half loose, pulled back securely, wearing a short dress and breeches, not the layered skirts and rags. She braced herself for the inevitable questions and sheepish explanations. 

[bee-the-runaway]

rebelliousrizareyes​:

Riza chuckled at her question. “That’s definitely a loaded question. Skilled has definitely taken years. I’ve been studying since I was a child. It didn’t take me very long to learn control, but control also depends upon you personal. Are you normally level-headed in your normal life? Because control wouldn’t take too long. But if you normally panic in the face of disaster it could take a lot longer. Magic and your body and mind have to be on one accord. When they’re all in harmony, control can be simple. If it’s not, it could take more time to learn that harmony.” She remembered how she had to get herself in control because spontaneous fires all around were not good. It hadn’t been much of a choice for her. Though she was never prone to being out of control in her life. She’d always been very level headed, so getting her mind, body and magic to work on one accord was an easier feat for her. 

-

Panic was something Beatrice was quite skilled at. Granted, she could be panicked in a rather measured sort of way, her panic had manifested in a careful plan to run away. Could she gain control? Could her mind and body and magic be in harmony? It seemed the answer was yes but...would she do it knowing the risks? “Thank you,” she said, “for taking the time o talk to me...I would stay a bit longer but I need to attend to my laundry. I hope we meet again some day.”

[bee-the-runaway]

under-the-elvish-sun​:

“Very good. No use in talking when better served by doing.” Xi’mia nodded and took the young woman at her word to try. Phelix was elsewhere, doing some other important work no doubt, and bothering him would take longer than taking this young healer to the family. So she did the latter. The elf pushing forward and holding her healer companions arm and pulling her along. 

She stopped when they came to a tent, a small crowd already gathering around the family due to the commotion. 

“Out of the way, out of the way. Blight and boring beetles if you are not here to help then make way for someone who is. I’ve a healing mage with me and she needs to see the young lady.” The young lady in question was not as young in the human sense persay, but certainly young to the 1500 year-old-elf. Her red hair splayed out in a corona around her head as she was laid down. There were blankets set down to protect her from the cold ground.

Anxiety rose as the reached the crowd surrounding the tent, she quickly fished up her hood with her free arm, pulling it down, hopefully to cover her face and avoid being seen by someone who would recognize it. It was inevitable that the runaway princess be found out but she wasn’t to put it off as long as she could. She avoided everyone’s eyes as she was pulled through and into the tent where she saw child, struggling to breath, tears and fear in her eyes. 

No matter how many times she saw a person in pain, sick, struggling for life, it hit her every time like it was the first time. She was filled and overflowing with desperation and panic. She closed her eyes, breathing in and out. Think clearly Beatrice. She opened her eyes and set about the tent. 

“I need you to try and clear them away,” she said to the elf, “everyone who isn’t the family, please.”

Beatrice turned to the family and saw the girl’s father holding her hand, “you can stay there, just like that, can you check for a pulse?” she asked. The man nodded, so did she “Good. Good...tell me if you feel a change.” It wasn’t a necessary task but she knew it would help him to feel like he was helping. 

She kneeled down and pressed her ear to the girl’s chest, there was a squeaking gasp of pain at the pressure, which meant there was likely trauma on the outside of the lungs as well. She felt an aura about her, magic had been involved...

She placed her hands on the girl’s sides and closed her eyes, she tried to imagine herself as a wave, one made of light...no, more like a nova. She pictured her lungs, the bronchioles and bronchi branching out like a tree, scorched, teeming with ash and pus, all she had to do was clear it all away. 

Breath Bea, Breath. 

She summoned it all, the energy, the light within her, she felt a glowing around her, even as she closed her eyes she could see it. She pulled it all into her head, just to anchor it somewhere that didn’t shake like her hands. The feeling sent tears streaming down her cheeks, not in pain just in feeling. Her head just felt so full, it began to hurt. She felt breathless and leaned in again, until her forehead touched the child’s chest. 

It rippled out of her...or it felt that way, novas that started small and expanded over her lungs, through the rest of her body. Every ounce of magic she could muster spilled out. She’d overdone it, she felt weaker and weaker until it was all gone. 

Had it been enough? She was gasping for breath, propping herself up on shaking arms. Oh gods...what if it hadn’t been? What if after all that the girl’s father was holding the hand of her dying child. She kept her eyes screwed shut, she dared not look, she couldn’t bare to know for sure one way or the other. 

And then she heard it, a loud, strangled gasp and a sob, followed by a wail. Her eyes snapped open and she looked over to see the girl, alive, clinging to her father, afraid but...well. 

She sat up and the hood once again fell to her shoulders. “C-can you breath? Is she okay?” she asked the father. 

[bee-the-runaway]

under-the-elvish-sun​:

“Young miss, or Madam,” Xi’mia’s good graces had been stretched as of late. “Or, however it is you’d wished to be addressed.” There were too many new faces, and enough old that looked entirely different after days of distress. She’d done her absolute best to keep everyone’s titles straight, but abandoned the effort halfway through the second day. Such things mostly mattered when everyone was smiling and batting eyelashes at each other.

“Forgive me but I’ve just seen you heal this man,” She gave a curt nod to the guard. The man, while stunned with relief, looked like he was about to ask his question again. Xi’mia paid him no mind as she deftly stepped to the side of the young healer while the elf’s hand slipped from the shoulder to the back.

“I must also offer my apologies for frightening you so, but speed is of the essence. Any amends I need to make are for a later date.” With a little guiding force Xi’mia sought to lead the woman away and guide her further into the camp. Headless of any rudeness to the guard or the woman she continued. 

“There’s a young girl, a daughter of one of the influential merchants at the party. I don’t know what’s set on her but I suspect she inhaled too much of the smoke in the attack. Possibly from magical fire though I’m no mage or healer myself so I don’t know if that makes a difference.” She went on, making short swift strides; an elf on a mission. “The poor young thing collapsed, she’d been fine till now but something must have been too much from her. You are the first light mage I found, and possibly the only one around not occupied.”

“So…” Taking a pause, Xi’mia turned her head sharply. Ordinarily this would have caused a jangling with the amount she’d adorn herself in, but in the refugee camp she was without trappings.

Pausing now to breath she was able to fully take in the young woman before her. Her eyes briefly narrowed, there was a hint of familiarity in the woman’s face but nothing she could place at the moment. Perhaps, a passing family resemblance to some noble house with light hair and strong-cheekbones, but the elf would have seen the young princess last when she was just a baby. 

“Are you able to help?”

She took in her features, her pretty face, her long dark hair, her ears, she was an elf. She got to her feet and shot the guard a pleading look not to say anything, not to make any mention he saw her, it was a desperate, pathetic expression but the man nodded, a little stunned. She gave him a grateful smile before heading off after the elf, impressed by how quickly she walked, granted she was sure she had several lifetimes of practice. 

“A young girl?” she gasped, taken aback. There were children here, children hurt. In her mind’s eye she saw her baby cousins, Reynard in particular and walked a bit faster herself. 

When the elf stopped to study her face, she did her best not to look too nervous but likely failed miserably. The question struck her hard enough to distract from her fear of being discovered. Could she help? “I...I don’t know...” she stamared. She scrunched up her face and squared her shoulders, “but I won’t know until I try,” she said. “Take me to her.”

[bee-the-runaway]

rebelliousrizareyes​:

“I can’t speak for everyone, but otherwise what would be the point of teaching? Magic is within us, we spend years sometimes even most of our lives trying to control it, learning about it and the ways that we can wield it. I believe that most are just as fascinated and passionate as I am. And being a teacher, you have to take pride in your students especially in teaching in this field. You have to want to impart knowledge or else what’s the point?” Riza gave her an easy smile as she asked about visions. She wondered if this was just random curiosity or there was more to it. Most times when the questions were specific such as this there was much more to it. “Visions are tricky. They may come at will, when something needs to be seen there will be no stopping it, but I have seen those learn to understand them and even learn to see them as well when they want to see them.” 

Riza shrugged. “Don’t be sorry, I could talk about magic forever and a day.  It’s the one constant in my life that has never let me down, so a conversation about it is never a bother to me. Ask as many questions as you’d like.” She truly didn’t mind. It was refreshing almost a mental break to be asked questions such as this. To have no motives, besides answering questions about magic. 

Control...was possible, it was possible to understand them. She supposed she should have considered that, she’d read a little about it at one point but there wasn’t much information she could find on specific reoccurring visions. Beatrice, in all her arrogance, assumed she understood what was happening to her. Magic had been a constant in her own life as well but never was it so positive. “How long did it take for you to become so skilled and how long did it take for you to gain control?”

[bee-the-runaway]

theodorestoneward​:

@bee-the-runaway​

The fury of the twin Stoneward’s lingered in the back of his mind, haunted by the reckoning that was to come. Adaline’s screams still pierced his ears, while mementos from Riza of Josefin’s thoughts lingered. The formidable pair was a threat to his place in Elysi. With Beric’s body encapsulated in its coffin, and Alaric’s unconscious body running cold. They were the loose ends of his pursuit for control. Naturally, the announcement of a Stoneward returning to the walls of Glasswater Palace had Theodore reeling. Yet as the doors to his father’s study swung open, the sight was one he’d all but forgotten about. Beatrice.

“Bea?” She appeared before him, a ghost of the young girl he knew her to be. Her absence in the Stoneward house was felt, but where his siblings wept, he only recoiled in disgust. She was a shining example of the privileges that nobility was afforded. The Princess was afforded every luxury, bequeathed every gift… Yet when her duty called upon her, she abandoned her house. He heard rumblings, of course, of the healing mage in the Northlands. Rumors from both Elysian allies and rebels, of the starkly blonde woman and her skill. Frankly, he paid it little thought. She made her choices, as did he. “Leave us, now.” Theodore commands, waiting until the Elysian guards shut the oak doors. Approaching his sister tenderly, he cannot help but remark her grown features. And yet… She appeared every bit the petulant, young girl from years passed. “I can’t believe you are here.” Placing his hands on her shoulders, he smiles somberly at her, pulling her into a warn embrace.

Three times Beatrice had almost turned around and run away on the walk down the hall to her father’s study. Her blood ran cold and she was shaking like a leaf, every shaft of light she saw it, another image of her riddled with arrows. She wanted to close her eyes but it was futile and she knew it, she would see it in the after images, all she could do was try to ignore them. Her fingers gripped the strap of her satchel so tightly her knuckles went white but she had to go. She didn’t want to see him but she had to...or rather, she couldn’t imagine he wanted to see her and she didn’t want to know that for sure. She couldn’t show any emotion, she had to promise herself, she couldn’t burden him with that and when she was done she would leave.

When the door opened and she saw him, it was like being struck by a wave, a cold one.  In the wake of loosing Beric...she couldn’t imagine seeing her was any comfort. It would have been better had it been me and not him...had he taken on her fate? Beric? The guilt was immense, so immense she could barely wrap her mind around it, the wind knocked out of her. It should be Beric standing here, not me. 

With the guards gone, she was sure she was about to get what was coming to her but...he put his hands on her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug instead. She froze. She didn’t know what to do, should she return his embrace? Was that cruel of her given what she’d done? He didn’t know everything, if he did he wouldn’t want to be so kind. The question was moot anyway, with her hands gripping the strap of her bag there was no easy way to hold him. 

She leaned her head against his shoulder, “I heard you were injurred?” she asked in a tiny voice, afraid to feel safe there, “I came to help, if you’ll allow it. I promise I wouldn’t have come to bother you otherwise...” Her brother was so kind, unexpectedly so, strong and brave she knew but kind was not a word that immediately came to mind when she thought of him, Beatrice supposed it should have though. 

[bee-the-runaway]

The only thing hat gave her any peace was the work she did at the camp, doing what she could to heal the sick and injured. The look of gratitude in those under her care made her feel like she was doing something worthwhile and it also disgusted her how much she hoped to see it. Being around so many people she was reminded why it was she’d grown to love the woods so much. Without so many people around it was easier to pretend she was a good person. 

She was combing the lakeside for a specific sort of seaweed that grew in the shallows when she unwittingly came across the pirate queen. She had knelt down in the water to pluck some stalks from a patch when she saw a face reflected in the water. She gasped, shocked, she turned and looked up. 

“Oh...um...hello?” she said, “What brings you to the lakeside? Are you too looking for shallows weeds?” 

The sort of seaweed produced an oil that was a powerful healer of burns and other such ailments. With all of the fires burning there were plenty with burns but also plenty who’s slits and slings chafed.

@mccnshadow​

[bee-the-runaway]

@untetheredgil​

Beatrice Stoneward felt as if she didn’t have a body, ever since she had returned to the Palace, it was as if nothing was real. The sight of what had been her home turned to rubble and knowing that while all this was happening she was hiding away...it was unbelievable. The funeral service for her brother, the fate of her eldest brother, it was all so unbelievable. Beatrice had always been the weakest among them and she was the only one to make it out completely unscathed.

It was a struggle but she held back her tears in front of everyone, what right had she to comfort for the loss after she abandoned him? After abandoning everyone?  She did all she could to go unnoticed, she stood as far apart from the attendees as she could, she wore a very plain black dress and vail to hide her hair and face and she left before the crowd because she was a coward and didn’t want to reckon with the questions and just accusations. Like always Beatrice ran. 

Once out of sight of the rest of the group she ran for the hedge maze, she knew it like the back of her hand, she didn’t really even need to look where she was going. The veil slipped from her head and got caught on the hedges but she left it, she didn’t think it would lead anyone to her, she hoped it wouldn’t, selfishly she hoped no one would come looking for her. 

Once she was sure she was alone she fell to her knees, the sobs overtaking her, her heart ripping itself in half again and again. God, the pain was unimaginable. Could she have saved him? She might have, if she hadn’t run away.

She leaned up against a stone bench right next to her, resting her head against the hard, cool surface. If she had stayed, what might this day have looked like? Would she have gone to the magesterium in the red keep? Would she be a powerful light magi by now? Could she have saved her brother? Even if she couldn’t at least she would have had more time...at least he could have died knowing his little sister, scaredy cat Bea, loved him enough to try...

A shadow cast over her and she yelped, “Eek!” She turned and looked up at them with tear stained cheeks. “I-I-I-I-” she stammered. “I’m so sorry,” she rushed to her feet, turning away to hide the tears she had no right to, that he shouldn’t have to see. “I’ll leave you be, I’m sorry,” she tried to rush away but her foot hat caught on the hem of her dress and her very first step sent her plummeting to the earth. “ow..” she said lamely as she struck the ground.