Marecal

Read Broken Throne

[shadowandbone]

[lilyharvord]

i need some marecal fluff please help

hehe, ask and ye shall receive. Here, have some older Marecal. (((: 

Keep reading

[lilyharvord]

Post Broken Throne Part 402

The Silver Session: Kidnaps Shade Barrow Calore cause he’s the “boy” and therefore must be the burner and therefore is the heir they are looking for.

Shade Barrow Calore whose hands turn into sparklers like his mom:

[lilyharvord]

if you were to have written the red queen series epilogue, how many children would you have said mare and cal would have had? i always pictured them with more than two

Just the two for me I think, but because you asked Im about to unload every head canon I have about them on you. Victoria also can’t stop me from thinking what I think because well... she literally gave us nothing. 

I have never been able to decide who is born first because I love the older brother is protective even though the little sister really doesn’t actually need his help trope, but I also love the idea of their daughter being the first born cause you know she’s a straight up daddy’s girl no questions asked and Mare is like I need another one because the first one likes you too much and Cal is more than happy to oblige. 

My head canons get so much more specific after that is taken care of so buckle up.

Coriane: God literally hit copy+paste Cal when she was made. She's got the Calore eyes, the dark hair, the stupidly good jawline, the burner ability (as a new blood of course), she’s good with machines (loves to mess around in the garage with him), she's brilliant at strategy and training because she spends a stupid amount of time with Cal learning everything he knows and he is ABSOLUTELY willing to sit at the dining room table with her for hours teaching her. She’s got Mare’s curls (cause no one can stop me from believe that Mare has curly hair), and Mare’s skin color, Mare’s lack of respect for authority, and Mare’s bad attitude for the most part. (also she may or may not ride a cycle--i’m just saying girls that do that and then do the thing where they flip their hair as they take the helmet off???? 😤) She’s 100% bi and gives no shits. She could lie and get away with almost everything, except where Mare is concerned, she knows her daughter’s tells like the back of her hand. 

Shade: God said let me mix a little better this time and went 45-55 with a little more Barrow than Calore this time. He’s got those gorgeous honey eyes that break Mare’s heart because they look so much like his namesake’s, he’s got Mare’s mouth but Cal’s build and which makes for such a funny combination in my mind because Mare’s anger finally has enough space to stretch in her son’s 6′ body. He’s a little quieter than his sister, more content to spend time reading with his uncle than he is training, but when he fights, he fights DIRTY. He does not care who you are or where you came from (it makes sibling sparring sessions especially dangerous because neither wants to lose). You know he’s an electricion which just makes him a straight mama’s boy and Mare is not afraid to admit to that (there are no favorites among their children but Shade definitely could get away with murder and Mare would let him with no questions asked while Coriane might have to wiggle her way out of that one.) On the fence is Shade is gay or straight or some other form of sexuality, I like the idea of him not being straight tho. 

These two are TROUBLE MAKERS™️ with a CAPITAL T. They have gotten into so much shit growing up that their parents eventually gave up trying and became the parents that get that call from the school and go: *sigh* what did he/she do this time? Oh? that’s it? Well that’s not that bad I guess. Just sit them out at lunch or something. 

 They are very close with their parents, but they are also very close with Clara who is only like 8 years older than them in my honest opinion. She loves them and they adore her. Of all their cousins, she’s their favorite. They all get into shenanigans when they get older and they are a god level trio that no one fucks with. 

While they are not dissuade from joining the Montfort military, Mare and Cal are little hesitant to let them follow that path. Mare especially with Shade (some trauma just cannot be dealt with). 

Finally: Coriane may or may not date Ptolemus/Wren’s son. But that’s hush hush and neither of their parent groups are aware of that, even though Evangeline is very much aware but would never snitch on her nephew like that. 

Thank you for coming to my presentation, I return you to our regularly scheduled scrolling. 

[lilyharvord]

Hi queen

How would you think Coriane and Shade would have reacted to knowing about their parents past? They knew it from a young age so it wasn't a surprise? Or one day, when they were older enought (probably teens) Cal and Mare sat them and said "kids, we have to tell you something."

Ohohohoho okay. So hear me out on this: 

Mare and Cal are very on the fence about how much to tell their children what has happened. They are obviously aware of the fact that mommy is a Red and daddy is a Silver and daddy was a prince of a country that no longer has kings/queens and mommy and daddy worked together to make that happen. 

The kiddies don’t know details yet, but of course they’re children to they turn that whole thing into some major fairytale story where the prince falls in love with a commoner and they save the day together (we know as an audience that this is just.... not the truth, but they’re  babies and they don’t quite know this). 

Anyway, they get older, and they're not stupid, they also have ears and eyes? So they can pretty much see that maaaaayyyybbbeee there is more to the story than they were told. But Coriane and Shade are very aware that their parents function on the “need to know basis” kinda set up, so they will know when they need to know. 

Okay so now that we have the background, at some point in time, there is a huge event in the States (think anniversary of becoming a democracy or whatever). Mare and Cal bring the kiddies with them because they are required to be at this thing and they figure out that the kids are old enough now to come along. They bring them with them and of course there are people there who talk about the whole war, about what happened, and there are lots of speeches and galas and dinners and Cori/Shade are obviously very overwhelmed and have a lot of questions because there are parts of the story they were told that are just not adding up AT ALL. So Mare and Cal then have to sit them down and tell them the “real story” which is not that far off from the story they were told originally but its a lot more gruesome and dark (obviously there’s no fairytale about the prince and the commoner and they did not have a magic kiss that made everything better). Maven is talked about more, and the actual... situation with him is explained (I always toy with the fact that the kids are very put off by this because they are children still and even when I was like 13 I still believed the idea that the first person you fall in love with is who you are meant to be with, so they are very put out that and I quote “They are not Maven’s children” and “would we have been?” is a question that literally leaves Mare and Cal horrified and unsure how to respond.) Anyway, they do have the conversation about everything eventually. So now the kids know the truth and they're more like early teens when they find out. (: 

[flowercrownsandherondales]

Hello! I just started following you & I already love your blog! I ship mare & cal so much & all your fics are so cute & wonderful! I saw that you said you were taking requests & if you still are I was wondering if you can write about cal & mare being parents. Like maybe moments from the time the baby is born to when the baby's all grown. Just Cal holding his newborn would kill me honestly. Hope this isn't too much & obviously you can write whatever you want this is just a suggestion. Thank you!

Thank you Anon! I also ship marecal, as you can probably tell from my endless fics. That prompt is giving me breathing problems from all the feels. So ill be doing that. Also I am also always taking requests, so if you have any please send ‘em my way! Let’s get started.

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Cal’s POV

It took years of convincing. She was sure she never wanted kids when we were married. Mare had made up her mind on that years ago. Things had changed though, and she finally gave in. I hadn’t pushed the subject, but I had brought it up only a couple of times. We had tried to have a child for months. After a few heartbreaks, we decided to call it quits. I didn’t want to put Mare through it any more. I had watched her cry too many times. 

A few weeks after we had decided enough was enough, she came bursting into my office. 

“Cal?” She said, lightly rapping on the door. I looked up from my documents and saw her standing there, her arms crossed over her chest and her light ivory sundress. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and looked like she was going to burst with smiles. 

“What is it?” I said, standing up and going to her. I grabbed her hands and she smiled even brighter. “Close your eyes” she whispered and I did as I was told. I felt her warm hand grasp mine and shove something in it. “Open” she commanded and I looked down to see a pregnancy test in my hand. It was positive. I stood there and she beamed at me. “Are you sure?” I asked, trying to swallow correctly. She nodded and explained how Sara had sensed it when she was walking with her earlier. I tried to listen carefully to her but I found I could hardly hear anything. I held the sign of my son or daughter in my hand. I couldn’t hold it back, after all the trials that we went through, she was finally with child. I heard the sob escape my mouth and she immediately looked frightened. 

“I thought this is what you wanted?” she said and I wiped the tears from my eyes. 

“It is, god Mare, it is. I’m so- I’m so happy.” I cried. She looked cheerful again and reached to hug me. We both cried and laughed and I held her in my embrace. Lying on the floor of my office, rocking back and forth. I could only imagine what people walking past us thought. 

(Eight months later.)

We painted the baby’s room yellow and gold. Mare said it was for my mother, she had apparently read something she had written before she died. Her house, her colors. It took us all day too paint, and I set up a crib while she laughed at me, taking pictures of my accomplishment. 

“Have you thought of any names?” She asked me while I fiddled with the rocking chair. 

“No, have you?” I said and she looked at the ground, rubbing her large stomach. She could hardly stand being pregnant, saying how much her back hurt and how hard it was to breath when a child is sitting on your ribs. I would give her back rubs when she woke up in pain, trying to slow down her breathing as the kicks intensified. Sometimes I would heat my hands slightly, making it warm and comforting. Mare would sigh and lean into me. 

“What is it?” I asked, setting down the wrench and looking at her. I knew she had something on her mind. We had gotten to know each other like the back of our hands. Funny how it can go from hardly knowing someone to fighting with them, to loving them more than your own life. She was my earth now. I think she might have always been, I just didn’t know it. 

“It’s just, Farley had a girl and she didn’t get to name her after him. So I was thinking, If it is a boy, Shade.” She said and I nodded. Of course if I could take back his death and replace it with my own I would. She loved him so much, and it broke her. If bringing him back and me going could fix her completely, I would do it in a heartbeat. I felt such pain when I thought of my attitude towards her, how people treated her when he died. I didn’t even go to his funeral, and I should have. I should have been there for her, she needed me. 

“Of course. Of course we should name him after Shade.” I said and she smiled at me. “But what about a girl?” I asked and she smiled.

“Corinne, Corinne Sara Calore.” She said and I nodded, feeling my love for her soar. “And we could name a boy Shade Julian Barrow.” She said and I nodded. We continued painting and eventually ate. 

I held her hand while we walked back to our bedroom. She wobbled, not able to walk with the beach ball in front of her. As we approached she gasped, and I looked at her with wide eyes. A puddle soaked through her and she looked panicked. I knew this meant that the baby was coming, and we needed to get to Sara. I picked her up bridal style and raced her towards Julian and Sara’s room on the other side of the castle, telling the guards to get a bed ready asap. 

Sara and Julian came running and Julian yelled for things, being able to read Sara the best since she couldn’t talk. Mare contorted in pain and I could tell she wanted to scream. “Baby, just let it out.” I said, holding onto her hand. She was sweating bullets and let out a few groans and whimpers. I put a hand on her forehead to wipe out her brown locks from her face. She batted my hand away, whimpering.

“Tiberius, get your damn hand out of my face. You’re making me even hotter.” She said with gritted teeth. I stopped immediately and she let out a holler. Julian grabbed my shoulders and escorted me out. 

“Sara needs you to let her work. She says this is going to be a challenging birth, and she needs full concentration.” Julian said and i looked at him with a horrified expression. 

“Challenging?” I said, and he nodded. I started to freak out. He sat me down, and grabbed my hand. 

“You know, the last time I was present when a child was born, it was your birth.” He said, and I looked at him. 

“Yes, I can distinctly remember comforting your father. He was so worried. Corinne was not having an easy birth, and he was terrified. It was their first living child, and unfortunately, her only. And you came, a bouncing child who was full of smiles. Your father held you tight, and it was the only time he ever cried in front of me. He kept strong through her death, but your birth made him weep like a child. She held you in her arms, and smiled when you laughed. She used to say you smelt like honeysuckle and paradise. You were always loved, still are.” he finished and I felt a tear start to fall. 

“Thank you uncle Julian.” I said and he squeezed my hand. I heard a scream and footsteps and looked over to see Gisa and Mare’s mother running towards us. “Is she delivering?” Her mother asked and I nodded. She smiled at me and rushed in. Gisa looked at me and leaped into my arms. I held her close. 

“You’re going to be a dad. I’m going to have another niece. A princess or prince. Oh my. I never even guessed.” she said and looked at me. “I always thought I would have a child before her. Mare wanted nothing to do with babies.” She said and I laughed alittle. 

Her brothers followed with their wives and finally, her father. He smiled at me. “You got that right. Mare and Shade were the most difficult for her mother. I think it’s the ability’s they have.” He said and I nodded. Then I heard it. The cry.

Her mother emerged and motioned me to come inside. Julian and her father put a hand on my shoulder and I took a deep breath. Mare sat in the bed, tears running down her face and sweat dripping. “It’s a prince.” She said and I gasped. 

“Shade Julian Calore, meet your dad.” Mare cooed and I walked closer to her. I kissed her head and she placed my son in my arms. He had our dark hair (closer to my Mare’s). Light olive skin, and the smell of honeysuckle. I held him gently, too afraid of dropping him. My son, my son. He opened his eyes and stared at me. They were the same color as my own. 

“My son. My prince. Hello Shade. I love you.” I said and rocked him in my arms. Mare smiled at me and I went to sit on the bed with her. We both cooed over him, the feeling of complete and utter happiness rushing over me. “ I absolutely adore both of you. I said and Mare kissed my hand. Soon enough we were all asleep, the first of many nights with our sleeping boy.

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I hope you all enjoyed it! Ill probably write more soon. Please send in requests if you want something specific.

[lilyharvord]

do u ever think that mare and cal had trouble conceiving? I love the head cannon where they try for awhile but then are convinced that being red and silver it won't work (both obviously very upset but hiding their disappointment to each other) and then finally mare gets pregnant when they've given up. Would u ever write a fic about it?

Okay, so yes, 100% yes. They have trouble. Scientifically, it is entirely possible that they would STRUGGLE with a capitol S to conceive. Here’s my headcanon that will 100% be a fic someday: 

How it starts: Mare is the one to make the decision. It’s the dead of night, closer to 1 in the morningish. She and Cal are not married yet, they are waiting for thing to sort of calm down a bit more before that. But Bree’s wife just had a baby. Julian and Sara had a baby like a year ago. Ruth Barrow is low key side eyeing Mare and keeps dropping little hints that babies come in batches. 

She rolls over and watches Cal for a little bit thinking it over, stressing over whether the decision is really hers of if she is letting outside things influence her. But then she thinks about Clara and how much she loves that munchkin (lets be real, Mare should have spent WAY more time around that baby during Broken Throne? I’m actually incredibly bitter that she didn’t. That is her favorite brother’s daughter.) And she thinks about how much she keeps putting off things in her life because she’s afraid of the future, afraid of what people might do and things that are out of her control. Then she grabs Cal’s arm, scaring the shit out of him, and just says: “I want a baby.” Plain and simple, no real pretext or anything. He’s obviously half asleep so he’s like: uh, okay that’s nice. Then she gives him The Mare Look™️ and he’s like: Oh. Oh you want one like now... like right now? And that’s the first night they try. 

The middle: It does not go well. 6 months later, nothing. 8 months later, nothing. Mare is slowly starting to stress and they haven’t told ANYONE that they’re trying. 1 year later, still nothing. Mare actually starts doing the calendars at this point (for all the younguns in this fandom, ovulation calendars). Like they are on a schedule trying to get pregnant. It’s exhausting, they actually start fighting about it. It’s not going that well. 

The middle still: 1.5 years after that first night, Bree and his wife announce baby number 2. Mare is actually a bitter, jealous gremlin the whole pregnancy. She literally goes into panic mode too, trying desperately to get pregnant. (like she’s on a mission. She’s drinking teas and do all the weird shit she can get her hands on in books) 

Then it happens. 

She comes back from the front lines and actually cries holding the test because she really truly thought it would never happen. 

The middle continued: Spoiler alert...it doesn’t go well. 1 week later, she loses it. It’s no ones fault, but Mare blames herself. Blames the fact that she traveled to the Lakeland front line and came back not knowing she was 2 months pregnant and is convinced she miscarried because she was fighting. She tries to start up the whole process again, and is like “double time efforts, this is going to work. I will make it work because I’m low key a failure if I can’t do this.” (She obviously does not mention the last part, because well... she’s mare) and Cal is just not about the process anymore. He was all for it when he though they were doing it because she wanted a baby, and wanted to start a family with him, but now it’s looking like an obsession and it kinda scares him. They have a massive fight about it, so bad that he goes back to the States for a few weeks and everyone thinks they’re done for the last time (cause remember, they’re not married at this point). When people ask what happened, Mare won’t tell them. When people ask, Cal he won’t tell them. They actually dont talk to each other for a full month. It’s looking really bad. People are very concerned about both of them. 

Spoiler alert again: Cal comes back (cause he always does). They have another long talk, and Cal finally gets her to tell him what she’s feeling. Obviously he feels horrible that he left without getting this out of her, but then again, Mare would not have told him at that point because she was just not ready to tell him. But after their month apart she is ready to sort her feelings and ideas with him. *Insert low key tearful hug where they’re holding each other super tight*. 

The end of the middle: Mare goes to Sara and finally talks to her about it. Sara talks to Julian who talks to his buddies studying the whole Silver, Ardent, Red phenomena. They finally find someone who has been studying this stuff. He feels horrible telling them that because of genetics, how their different mutations operate, etc. they may never be able to conceive, but there is of course always a small chance they might. But it would have to be the perfect combination of their genetics and that may never happen. 

Mare is obviously pretty upset. She’s quiet for a couple days, just sort of sorting through things. She finally tells her family, tells them that it will most likely never happen, and that they don’t want to talk about it. Everyone is probably more supportive than necessary, but it’s Mare’s family, they’re low key too supportive for their own good. 

The End: Things go “back to normal”. Mare and Cal get married finally. And the whole time the two of them are looking into adopting. It’s obviously not an easy process either, and people aren’t too keen to let them adopt because they’re both running around the front lines at different times and thats just... not the best thing ever. Anyway, they start fucking around again (literally and figuratively). No expectations, nothing, just doing it for the fun of it. 

Spoiler alert: it ends up being okay. (: Mare doesn't find out until 4 months in, but as soon as she does, low key gets a little PTSD and walks on egg shells for a few weeks, waiting for it to all fall apart. She doesn’t tell Cal, she doesn’t tell anyone. It’s Farley that figures it out. (; And when Mare tells Cal you can bet he just wraps his arms around her, picks her up and spins her around (i cannot resist this concept, he’s so much taller than her and the image of him wrapping his arms around her legs and lifting her up while she laughs is just too wonderful). Then they walk on eggs shells for another month, but at that point Mare pops and there is just no hiding the fact, and they’re so nervous and then before they know it, she's in labor and baby Barrow Calore #1 is born. Mare refuses to let go of her for almost two hours when she gets to hold her, but when she does it’s to let Cal hold her, and he actually gets really emotional holding her. And they’re just so happy, and it’s so heart warming, and anyway I’m done. 

So that was long as shit and I practically told everyone the whole fic, but that’s my headcanon in a very large nutshell. XD 

[lilyharvord]

OKAY WAIT I LOVE YOUR CORIANE THOUGHTS!! i never really put much thought into marecal kids besides reading the epilogue or fanfics and being like okay cute. but your headcannon about the political impact of calore children with red blood is so interesting and i 100% agree with you. if you have any further ideas or writing i would love to hear it! the way the world world and silver succession would adjust/react to cal’s abdication and marecal’s relationship post broken throne is so fascinating to me.

🥺 NONNIE, I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED.

First of all, Cal's abdication is the biggest slap in the face to the Silver Secession (particularly Larentia who I headcanon leads the whole thing like a shadow puppeteer. Her husband died trying to keep that Calore brat on the throne, you can bet she's got two bones to pick with him even though she wants him on that non-existent throne just so they can go back to the "old ways"). They took him abdicating personally. They send him letters almost weekly, and they are all super passive aggressive comments about his birthright, and how denying it is akin to spitting on his father's grave, and later akin to pissing on it when Cal just burns all the letters and refuses to reply.

Anyway, the political impact of Cal and Mare's marriage. Ho boi, that one is a dousy. There's a reason they have a small wedding with only their very close family and friends. They try to keep it hush hush, for a little while, but of course the Silver Secession finds out because they find out everything. They bother the living hell out of Anabel until she sends one very threatening letter back after which the letters come far and few between (she never tells Cal what she put in that letter but she always gets a wicked gleam in her eye when he asks). But the political impact of their marriage is heard round the continent. Lets be real here: Cal is no longer a prince, but he is still a very high profile figure in the Nortan government (now the States). Mare is both a prominent Scarlet Guard figure and Montfort one. There are very LOUD whispers saying that Montfort forced them to marry to create a permanent bridge between the two countries. That Montfort is using Mare as a leash on Cal and the States to dictate how they function etc. (Which may or may not be the actual truth)

They dont want kids at first. Cal's a little heartbroken about it of course. He wants kids, has always wanted them. But Mare is right, and their children would be in danger from the moment Mare conceives. Then Mare says fuck it, I want a baby. They try and she gets pregnant. The Silver Secession finds out. Those letters that stopped coming for a while come back, but with a fury from hell. It gets so bad (after Mare is actually almost kidnapped at one point) that they have to go underground and hide until the baby is born. Dane and Carmadon offer the cabin in Paradise valley because it's location is actually incredibly secret and isolated and safe. So they go there, and Coriane is born a few months later. Cal cries in relief because her blood is Red. There is no way the Silver Secession will come after her now, but they try and it is the most hellish three years of Mare and Cal's life. It puts them off from having any more children. There are eleven kidnapping attempts before Coriane is even a year old (one for every month she is alive and breathing air)

Then they just stop. The letters stop coming, the kidnappings stop. Mare and Cal walk on egg shells, Coriane toddles along, growing by leaps and bounds and making them proud every second of every day. She's loud and proud and walks around saying: My name is Coriane BARROW Calore. When people try to call her Coriane Calore. They find out that the Silver Secession is not happy with Coriane being Red. And People whisper when they go to the States. Some people who are not exactly part of the Silver Secession but who still whisper "Long Live Tiberias the Seventh" when Cal passes in the street with Coriane on his shoulders and Mare at his side are not happy either. They sneer at the giggling toddler at his side reaching to touch the pretty things in the market. They jeer at her Red blood when she laughs so hard her cheeks burn bright, cherry apple red. They frown when they see Mare nuzzle her neck and press kisses all over her face. They especially dont like when Cal glares at them until they pull back into their stalls or shops or go back to their coffees and newspapers. Around this time, (In my headcanons) Coriane meets Nikolas Samos (second born to Wren and Ptolemus) and they become instant friends. A dangerous thing of course... for obvious dynasty reasons, and this fuels the Silver Secession for a little while.

Then Mare gets pregnant again. Shade is the definition of a Whoopsie! Baby. They immediately go into hiding this time. They take Coriane, Cal takes a leave of absence, Mare takes one too, and they dont tell ANYONE where they are going. The reason? The nurse who did mare's check up told someone it was a boy, and that person had some nefarious connections to a certain Silver Political group that was running on fumes up until that moment. The first letter that arrives at their little house in Ascendant is written in beautiful court handwriting (Larentia's unmistakable tact in every word of that letter) and swears fealty to Tiberias Calore the Eighth who isn't even born yet. Cal torches that letter with his bare hand before Mare can even read it. Coriane doesn't like being taken away from her cousins and her grandma and grandpa and her aunt Farley, but they go in the dead of night and don't look back.

Shade is born in the middle of a storm like Clara, and Sara is the only person to see Mare or Cal in six months. They come back to Ascendant two months after Shade is born with a healthy baby boy, and everyone looses their minds. There are six kidnapping attempts in two months. Mare and Cal dont sleep for weeks, there is one dead Silver Secession member who got halfway down the street before Mare used Brain Lightning for the first time and liquified his insides. She is so horrified by it she cries herself to sleep for three nights because Coriane saw her do it, saw what her mother could do, and won't come near her out of fear.

But that too passes after a few years, because it gets around that Shade is a Red baby that looks more like Mare and her dead brother than Cal. Then it's back to Coriane, who by now is old enough to begin to understand what is going on around her. She starts to notice the whispers, the pointing, the stares when she goes out with her dad to train. (She accidentally set her bedsheet on fire after a nightmare, and that is where the trouble begins again). The letters start coming again, but they're addressed to her instead. She's only ten, so when she gets the first one with her name on it in pretty writing, she opens it before Mare or Cal notice, and is so confused by what is in it that she shows them it for clarification. Mare takes it and rips it to pieces, and Coriane cries about it, because that was HER letter. They have to sit her down with a very young Shade then and tell her a story about brothers, crowns, and mutations, death, war, and pain, and sorrow, and love. Then she understands. She's eleven when she does her first broadcast to denounce a throne that doesn't even exist anymore. She shakes with nerves in front of a camera, and has to hold a notecard with what she has to say on it. She mispronounces five words, and almost cries when she stumbles over a phrase she doesn't even understand, something about ever and always and crowns being broken. Cal stands behind her the whole time, squeezing her shoulders in reassurance. The nightmares begin after that for him, because there is a letter sent telling him of a distant Calore relative who is very interested in Coriane and would like to meet her. When Cal looks into him, he finds out he's 45 years old. And when I tell you he packed a bag the moment he finished that letter and drove to the airfield to take an air jet himself and kill the man, I tell you that Mare stopped him by standing in the middle of the runway and refusing to let him take off without going through her. "You give them what they want if you go after him." she tells him when he breaks down and kneels before her while she sits on their bed holding his head against her stomach. They NEVER tell Coriane about that, but there is two more letters that come like it.

Coriane and Nik becomes very close, dangerously close. There is one fic I will write at some point where both of them are taken and they actually get them away from Montfort and to a secondary location. There is man hunt led by Cal and Ptolemus and they do not keep those children for long. There is no record of what happened at that dilated mansion in the middle of the woods in the upper States, but Cal comes back with Silver blood under his nails and Coriane in his arms four days later.

When she gets older, much much older, into her later twenties, three different people send requests for her hand in marriage. She burns those letters and doesn't even deign them a response. Shade gets similar requests, and he throws the letters away. The Silver Secession goes out with a whimper, and eventually Coriane and Shade are safe. But inbetween their childhood and those years, people start whispering different things. "The word is changing, it's really changing" they whisper, and then say, "A Calore had two children, both Red, and they are kind."

[nessiancalore]

evangeline is Coriane’s funny aunt

[theincorrectbookquotes]

Cal: What are you doing?

Mare, standing on the table: I’m practically the backbone of this damn revolution. I stand where I want, when I want.

Cal:

Cal: Just tell me where the spider is

Mare: It’s under the couch please kill it please-

[bookish-mind]

Just thinking about how “Thief” “Obviously” is literally the most iconic first encounter out there, marecal stays superior

[sirencholia]

Farley: im cold

Shade: here, take my jacket

Mare: im cold too

Cal: well damn mare, I can’t control the weather

Mare: you can literally make fire

[lilyharvord]

How come you wrote about a silver Barrow Calore baby? I think. Coriane would be a silver because she is a burner. But I don’t think that she is a Ardent burner. Please put a silver baby I think she would be so cute.

I actually really like the idea of both Mare and Cal's kids being Ardent. I'm honestly married to the idea. And I think the main reason is because there would be so much TALK. I mean come on, Cal may no longer be a king, but he's still got the blood hundreds of years of silver breeding in him. The Silver Secession is also apparently a very big part of things (I headcanon there are double digit kidnapping attempt on both children) and they are very much so of the mindset that Silver blood is superior, Red blood is inferior. No matter that the children are Ardent, Silver and Red and stronger than both. They are still Red.

Imagine the WHISPERS and the SNEERING, just the absolute INCONCEIVABILITY of it, when both of his children are born Red as the dawn. ESPECIALLY Coriane, who I headcanon looks like a female version of her father with her mother's mess of curls. "She looks like a Calore" they would all whisper. "But she's Red." Always follows with a sneer of disgust when she walks by. Even when she is a toddler there are whispers and comments. The Silver Secession doesn't bother with her at first, because well, it's just unnatural they all hiss. Then Shade is born and they're all after him until they realize he's Red too. Then its back to Coriane because well, you can always paint a Red girl Silver if need be. She's the first born, a Burner by some small miracle they all whisper. But she's still Red. And that Red blood is the only thing that saved her. Because if she were Silver, she would have been stolen from her bassinet in the dead of night and Mare and Cal's throats would have been slit for good measure. She would have been sold off a like a prized sow to hopefully produce a male Silver heir. They would have found some Burner somewhere in the world, some Calore cousin, or descendent of that line and breed her like a dog in a backyard until she gave them what they wanted. Then, they would have killed her too.

Cal's darkest nightmares are about that. About his tiny daughter being in a cell in a high tower where they can't find her, crying for them to rescue her, being bred like the girls he remembered from court and chained down like them too until she was no longer of use. Then he would dream about finding her body in a shallow grave on the sands of Harbor Bay, where he almost died years before.

Coriane being a Red is where I stand, because not only is there just an irony to it, but there is so much more power in it too. The world really is equal if she is born Red and Shade too.

[wrxthswitch]

Cal: why is there blood everywhere?

Mare: I may have aggressively poked someone with a knife

Cal: YOU STABBED SOMEONE?

Mare, calmly: no, I aggressively poked them with a knife

[lilyharvord]

Do you think they get a dog 🐕?

I don't know tbh🤔. Maybe they should get a dog. I have a feeling Coriane picks up a scrawny little thing the size of a terrier from off the street with half its fur missing, and holds it up to Mare when she gets home with it and says: Shade and I are keeping this one. And Shade is missing half his teeth behind her and gives Mare his biggest widest smile. And Mare looks at the ugly thing with fleas actually falling off of it onto the floor, with one of its eyes missing, half its teeth gone, all its ribs countable. She grimaces and says: are you sure.... you-you don't want a different one darlings? This one looks... um... challenging.

And Cori just shakes her head and says: nope, his name is Smudge and we're keeping him. And Shade just throws his hands in the air and laughing says: YAY SMUDGE!

They keep the ugly ass dog, and Cal comes home from whatever he's doing and Cori and Shade run by him chasing the dog who escaped the bathtub and is soaked, leaving puddles all over the floor, barking his head off. He just stands in the doorway, looks at Mare who gives him this like hidden suffering look. He catches the dog on its second pass and looks it over before looking down at Coriane who gives him her biggest, PLEEEEEAAASSSSEEEE eyes. And he tries to smile buts it more of a pained look, puts the dog and down and says: he has to stay off the couch, okay?

He sleeps in Cori's bed, and a week later is on the couch. It takes four baths, and six bottles of soap for him to not smell like the garbage bins outside. His hair at least grows back in the patches that are missing, but Coriane refuses to take him to a healer to get the eye to grow back. "It gives him character." She always says. He follows her everywhere, and lets Shade pat his head a little too hard with his pudgy toddler hands. He likes to sleep in Cal's lap while he's sitting at his desk doing work, and even though he doesn't really like Mare all that much at first, he warms up to her, and will sit by her feet in the kitchen and she'll hand him little scraps of food to eat. When Mare comes home from especially hard days, he will sit by her feet on the couch and watch her with very serious eyes until she pats her lap and lets him climb into it to lick her chin softly and then settle down to take a nap. But Coriane and Shade are his charge, and he loves them both.

Smudge the dog is the goodest boy ever, and stands up to a kidnaping attempt to protect Coriane and Shade. They're hiding behind him in a closet and he barks his head off at the Silver standing there (it's his barking that alerts a neighbor that something is wrong because Mare and Cal are at the Premier's estate for the night on political business and the babysitter is currently unconscious at the bottom of the stairs). It's the night when Smudge goes down swinging too. The Silver grabs Coriane and Shade out of the closet, after sort of kicking Smudge to the side. Smudge gets up and bites the leg of that Silver so hard he tears the man's Achilles to pieces so that he drops Coriane and Shade. He gets kicked against a wall after that and is lost. But he buys enough time for help to come. Mare and Cal come home in a panic an find Coriane holding him and sobbing inconsolably, while Shade cries with her. Coriane and Shade refuse to get another dog after him, so they don't get another dog.

[wrxthswitch]

marecal baby: y-y

cal: yeah? what are you trying to say? yellow?

marecal baby: yo-you

cal: go on

marecal baby: you have your crown

cal:

cal: MARE

[paragon-of-anxiety]

As always Eve takes centre stage