spring fever//open
May 11, 2023: Dryad Day
Location: Mistwood Grove
Matteo was trying to pretend as if their presence in the Spring Revelry was completely normal. As if there was any reason for the merfolk monarch to be here, specifically on Dryad Day. Honestly, had his schedule allowed him, he would have been around far more often, like a lost puppy.
He kept telling people it was to build a good political relationship with the new royal family. He even believed it himself for the first five minutes. However, it was hard to keep up that pretext when his head was whipping around every few seconds, searching for... well, who really?
He briefly thought of abalone shells and then shook the thought away. No, he was getting ahead of himself. "Can someone tell me where the sapling planting is taking place?"
even to his ears, the laughter that bubbled up from his chest sounded kind. a deep rumble of sound that worked its way through his lips like the first flow of water breaking the surface to form a new spring. the monarch of the merfolk was wandering nymph lands. his lands, so comfortably. was this what it would be like under the rule of dryad? foreign dignitaries and supportive imposter come to see how the spirit folk of nature lived? it was sicking. the rage in him burned, and like a gyser he could feel the build of pressure, the steam backing up to force and explosion; and yet his face was so kind and welcoming. a bright, serene spread of his lips, eyes crinkled their quicksilver hued seeming to sparkle like sun on water in the light.
"i hate to tell you this, but you're going the complete wrong direction." his current path did not put him in the direction of the deep forest, or the carefully picked places where the new saplings were destined to exist. no, as if called by the depths of the pool itself this silly monarch was heading towards the naiad pool, not a particularly safe place, even for their own kind. there was a restlessness among them. a distaste for the current state of things, and oh how lovely it might be to mix a little blood in the water? now was no time for such thoughts, so siwoo tucked them away, gave a polite bow of greeting, ever the dignitary. ever the gentleman.
"i will guide you, if you like. i suspect this is your first time witnessing such an event?" he had seen many over his long life. as the former crown prince of the raom dynasty it was simply his duty. now he wondered how things like have been different if he had just poised the soil when he wandered freely without scruitnity. if his birthright might still be assured. "can't have you missing such a fated moment."











