VOIDMERC / PROTECTOR.
@raventhread.
‘ your mother would gut me like a hagfish if she knew i was helping you with this, lady emily. ‘
there’s steel in daud’s voice – there always has been, gruff and low, but dangerous. when speaking to the princess, however, it seems muted, like he’s gripping the sharp edge of his own blade, as to not hurt her. he carries a fondness for the girl: her indomitable, but unsoiled, spirit is inspiring. she hasn’t lost her innocence, but she’s simultaneously becoming aware of the world. he hopes it doesn’t cut it out of her.
gentle, daud hoists her up onto his shoulders to give her the height she needs to reach the ledge. ‘ please be careful. ‘ he can only imagine jessamine’s rage, were emily to hurt herself.
the thought pulls a giggle from the little empress --- mother, GUT SOMEONE !! if only, that’d be far more interesting to see than the taxes and pleasantries she usually busies herself with --- like something out of a bedtime story, where ROYAL GIRLS get up to FANTASTIC ADVENTURES, and all manner of beasts die on their swords !! other royal girls, never her, no, she sits at a tall table with her cheek in her hand and kicks her feet while the royal spymaster DRONES ON AND ON AND ON maybe mother should gut him like a hagfish.
“ don’t be silly. no, she wouldn’t. we’re JUST HAVING FUN !! ” she balances herself with hands pushed down on the crown of daud’s skull, gets to her feet atop his shoulders, the heels of LITTLE BLACK SHOES wedged against the buttons of his jacket’s epaulettes. “ besides, i’m not going to TELL HER if you don’t. ” a note of teasing in her voice, like there always is --- it’s much more fun for him than for corvo, who laughs with her and spins her around. daud presses up his face and grumbles. it makes her smile, to see him TRY TO PRETEND HE DOESN’T LIKE HER.
soft little fingers find the ledge, and she grunts with the effort of hauling herself upward, her shoes scuffling, feet FRUITLESS AND UNCOORDINATED, against the wall --- but she’s got her elbows up now, that’s good, and now she can pull her body up and flop forward, roll sideways onto the raised surface. she thinks she FEELS HER HEEL CONNECT with his ear as she brings her legs up, and she laughs. “ sorry, daud. ”











