on lunafreya's desk sits a white vase, sticking out among the grey of niflheim's walls. a piece of paper is gently tucked between the blue petals of sylleblossoms, strong and bright, supped on galahdian sunlight and loving care.
' my moon and stars. these were meant to arrive as an earlier birthday gift from home, but time instead worked out for them to arrive today, so perhaps it was meant to be. forgive me for not being here to give them to you — i currently work to affix boxes to our bedroom windows, that we might grow more of them indoors. niflheim's weather would not treat them the way they deserve, of course. i realize that it pales in comparison to the grand garden of your home, but i hope it is enough to help your homesickness. happy birthday, starlight.
yours always, lorian. ' ( @gaiawilled ).
happy birthday, lunafreya ( september 4, 2023 ) // accepting.
heels softly clacked against cold stone, gray like the dull walls trapping her in cruel lands of snow and conquest. the oracle had resigned herself to spend her remaining years in a lonely prison, chained to a marriage not by choice but by design. the empire saw fit to remind her of her place: a tool, and a means to an end. her time on the star was limited in accordance to the astrals' will, and they would see her languish in misery.
(was the chill in her bones that of the clime, or the frosty touch of the glacian's kiss slowly but surely claiming every fragment of her being?)
but it was not all in misery, was it not? her husband saw to it. she feared he might be a cruel man, but, far from it. a man of few words, of a lonely life much like she, but his heart was full of warmth. lorian never once said an unkind word, or looked at her with disdain. if anything, there was... sympathy.
they were both lonely souls, wounded by circumstance and upbringing.
perhaps that played a part in how they grew closer. first, a mutual understanding, a mutual acceptance. second, quiet hours in each other's company. lastly, a warmth filling her chest when she was in his presence, a deep longing to remain by his side forevermore.
but it is not to be, she reminded herself in heartache.
that selfsame love tinged with regret filled her now as she so gently curled her palm around a sylleblossom. the fragrance reminded her so much of tenebrae, her beloved home and vast garden she tended to with every waking moment leading to her engagement and subsequent marriage. in a beat, she recalled the years she spent in quiet meditation to commune with the draconian amidst those same blossoms.
she didn't recall fully expressing her yearning for that garden to lorian, but he still knew. reading his words, printed in elegant script, made her eyes well with tears. she didn't deserve his kindness, nor his love. how cruel was her heart, to love him so deeply even though her fate would not allow her to remain with him?
❝ lorian... ❞ lunafreya held the note close to her chest, allowing the small teardrops to be shed with the comforting knowledge that he would not see them. it would pain him greatly to know that his lovely gift had moved her to such a point. they were tears of joy, of love, of regret, of unknown memory.
(unbeknownst to her, the elden soul wept with her. a knight of an age forgotten, falling in duty to her prince. falling in regret, as devotion proved to be her achilles heel).
❝ my prince, you are too good to me. how my heart wishes i could show you those gardens, for us to make a home in tenebrae and galahd both. but it is not to be... ❞
it is not to be, her mind echoed. was bahamut mourning with her?
❝ you are the sunrise rousing me from sleep, and the sunset calling me to your arms, ❞ the oracle brushed her fingers against the inked words, over his terms of endearment, his name. ❝ must a choice hurt so? between duty and where my heart calls. ❞
my moon and stars, yours always.
curled fingers wiped the tears from her eyes, her cheeks. she kept the paper close to her heart, wishing to never forget a single letter. she committed it to memory with a tender smile on her face as eyelids fluttered closed.
❝ i love you with all my heart, my sun. ❞
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