#ch. adolin

[tothedevilsshow]

the world around him was unfamiliar. every hall he walked through was unknown to him. and him to the people who passed him by. it was a strange feeling, walking through a place and not being known. not being looked at, bowed to, nodded to. the only looks he received were ones of confusion. a guard, a female guard had stopped him. she wore a sword at her side as well, standing tall and proud she had dragged him to the queen of andor. elayne trakand. he had spent hours trying to explain himself to her. she hadn't looked at him as if he had lost his mind. but she had looked at him as if she had no idea what he was going on about. he had lost the will to go on eventually. and she had had the servants bring him food and drink. eventually he'd have to talk again. but he knew he couldn't go off about spren and radiants. he wasn't sure what people here did to mad men. he was not mad. he knew that. but the feeling was a heavy one, pressing on his mind. he wasn't sure how to get her to listen. but she seemed patient enough. willing to listen.

he lifts his eyes to meets her's across the small table. she looked faintly troubled, a furrow between her blonde brows. her eyes are soft on him inspite of her confusion. she's a beautiful woman, she wears the crown atop her golden curls well. she looks every inch what a queen ought to be. more regal than some kings he had witnessed. but that thought brings a bit of a shade, does it not? there was so much disaster with kings and the past. "you maybe in danger, this whole world…" he finally starts, certain that this was the way to go about the whole thing. that a queen would jump to defend her people faster than she would hear some random man speak nonsense about things she clearly knew nothing about. "odium destroyed my world. and he might very well be planning on doing the same to your's." - @agoldenlily

[tothedevilsshow]

they've seated themselves at a small table in the corner of the room. it's just the two of them now, after everyone's left them. and he's already told dalinar the details of what had happened when he was in shadesmar. maybe he made it sound somewhat more streamlined. he didn't want too many questions, he wanted to only present the outcome. that was waht mattered, wasn't it? at the end of it all was that he had managed it, in some way he had managed to do something that should've been impossible. perhaps that meant that he was not useless at all, perhaps a prince trained in diplomatic and politics could be useful even in this world of radiants. the visit had left him hopeful in some ways, that he could still help this war, that he could be more than a sword. he wanted to be more.

he had never felt that more than he did now, sitting across from his father. dalinar kholin, the blackthorn, the bondsmith. a man that very few could ever live up to the statue of. takes a drink from his wine, studying his father for a moment. is that anger still there? the one that had come when he had heard the talk of his book, of what it said. his book, that was something that he was still trying to wrap his head around. he thought often of what dalinar had confessed on those pages, the things that did not fail to come to mind whenever they were together. it drove something of a wedge between them. and now more than ever he feels the heaviness of expectation, as if his very self is a disappointment to his father. and yet, his father's eyes don't seem to disdain him just then. he wonders if that's a swell of pride. he knew what that looked like. his father being proud of him. and in spite of everything that has happened that's still something he reaches for. "they really did agree to it." he says with a small nod of his head. "we've changed some of their minds, the honorspren…." and he lets out a breath of disbelief. who would've thought that was even possible? - @xradiant

[tothedevilsshow]

he runs his hands over the blue fabric of his coat, smoothing out the any wrinkles the carriage might've given him. straightens his shoulders where he stands before he moves to knock on the door. something about the day feels entirely different, doesn't it? none of his dates that he's called upon have been like this. shallan davar is not only a mystery to him but something beyond the ordinary. he finds himself enchanted when he talked to her, hanging on her every word. had he ever thought like that before? usually things started with an attraction and then fell void suddenly. how many times had that happened? he couldn't count. but there was this oddly comforting feeling when he took shallan out, even under the heavily watchful eyes of their chaperone. he finds himself always wanting to see her, thinking of her at times when he's aware he shouldn't be. is it too soon? he thinks that it has to be terribly too soon to say that he is in love with her.

but then the door opens and as unconventional as ever it's shallan standing there in front of him. her red hair pulled back from her face, her bright blue eyes staring up at him with the light of her smile in them. shallan davar had opened her own door, with a satchel over her shoulder, looking like she was ready to go sketch. she had been expecting him. but her eagerness leaves him breathless, even if he can't understand why. she is without a doubt the most interesting woman he has ever met. being the most eligible bachelor in the city grants him some leeway, he thinks, about what he looks for in a woman. he had never wanted to be bolted down in the confines of marriage. so he had come up with a list, things that he would prefer in a wife, things that without a doubt would make him fall in love. something he had thought that he wouldn't really take it serious. and yet shallan seemed to be everything that the list said he wanted, that he hadn't known he really wanted until she was standing there right in front of him."i see you're ready for our walk.." he says with a bright smile as he offers her his arm. eager to whisk her away and have a moment alone with her. - @xradiant