setting: the grand hall of elaris keep, shortly after the arrival of the other houses
featuring: leyla altinsoy, eliza kelindorr & aeliana elarion @moonvcils @wcnderingsovls
Bent over the balustrade, her aurelian eyes followed the line of carriages crawling up the steep road leading to the front gates of Elaris Keep, the corners of her lips pulling upwards as they approached. There was something in the air, static which shocked her with every movement. Trepidation mixed with excitement as their arrivals neared. The last few months had been full of hardship, and Elaris had been shrouded in mourning in the last one alone. But now they were congregating again, upon the marbled floors of her very own home, and Leyla could not deny the spark of excitement which ignited within. Partially because, after such a long wait, she was to be reunited with a pair from Morkhul whom she believed owned twin parts of her soul. After all they had been through recently, it was the hope of seeing Aeliana and Eliza again after such a long time apart that had kept Leyla in good spirits throughout the nights shuttered within Heliophra.
Pushing away from the railing, she turned and practically sprinted down the winding staircase that lead to the grand entrance just beyond the gate. The carriages were close, the others to soon arrive. And while her elders were the true faces of the family, she knew it was only right to be in the procession welcoming their guests in. Leyla knew her part, she knew it well, so well she could play it in her sleep. Looking as radiant as the bright star that shined during the daylight hours, Leyla found her place alongside her family, her head held high and a warm and welcoming grin gracing her lips. A smile that grew ten fold when the Houses of Moira and Minolith came by, covertly slipping them each a note to meet her in the Grand Hall when they were settled. And so when every expected guest flowed through and were shown their guest chambers, Leyla departed from her duty. Swiftly she recounted her steps back towards the Grand Hall, where the two faces she wanted most to see awaited her.
“ I pray my weary eyes do not deceive me. Could it be that the northern wind swept my most darling of friends away from their hollow to finally visit me in mine? ” Her voice, lilting with a tone of innocent jest, did not hold the heavy weight of grief as it had the last time they all met. She learned to compartmentalize her pain, and locked it away in a chest deep in the corner of her heart. Tonight was to be a good night, and Leyla was determined to see it so. They could at least have that, couldn’t they? A moment of lightheartedness between all that had happened and could possibly take place, small things to hold onto when the nights grew darker and tougher. Aeliana and Eliza’s presence alone seemed a promise that Leyla’s lonely and sorrowful nights were to come to an end. That she could hold onto.
Filled with such a tremendous amount of joy at seeing them, Leyla wasted no time in embracing her two dear friends. “ How was your journey? Well, I hope? ” She pulled back but had taken each of their hands into her grasp, leading them away from that public space. She was eager to show them her home, all the secret places she cherished in a lifetime spent within this marble palace. “ Come you two, we’ve a month’s time to make up for and I want the next hours filled with nothing more than your company. Regale me with all your misadventures while we’ve been forced apart, do not spare any detail. I want to feel as though I was there with you through it all. And I require the sauciest gossip you can deliver as recompense. ”