who: @dastan-allyrion when and where: the markets of godsgrace, following dorne's return from the verdant concord, myriam allyrion routes herself and her two daughters to stay within godsgrace for a few weeks to visit her side of the family. context: somethings been on myri's mind and she hasn't been sure how to bring it up.
steps were in unison as the two children of godsgrace dwindled through the bustling labryinth of the marketplace, having to speak in volumes louder than their usual in order to be heard over the sounds of the others surrounding them - still, it were as though their legs did the thinking for them as they walked through detours and short cuts to get to the final destination of their journey. it was not rare they needed to push themselves through some others washing being hung to dry before the sandstorm to the east kicked back up in their own region, or route themselves through a family's open courtyard in order to escape the alleyway of open animals for sale, all for the sake of pandering to myriam's phobia of lizards and frogs which she could not even bare to be in close vicinity of, let alone holding for the sake of performative tricks by salesmen and women.
"yes, i know this isn't a shortcut, but…" she trailed off, her hands raising as if to indicate she had nothing more to say as they turned onto a downhill residential street, sand coloured buildings towering on either side of them as they side stepped around cow dung and whatever else was on the floor within the dairy quarter of their crowded settlement. she would not openly admit to still being afraid of such animals, at least not openly with her own mouth - it was futile, considering her insistence on a diversion gave it away. "we'll go this way, this is quicker, no?" she commented, her tone being what she would call naturally authoritative and strengthening a sense of leadership; what others would no doubt call bossy and strained. a part of her wished to prove she still remembered the best routes in and around this market - for the sake of avoiding reptiles.
"and what happened last month? did they not accidentally leave the door to the cages open?" myriam asked her brother as they walked side by side, steps in perfect unison despite a clear height difference between them and the length of dastan's legs compared to her own; her tone was defensive but in a playful manner, as he no doubt muttered to her whether this route was needed - ophelia had told her that the sellers had accidentally left the animals run to wild amongst the market, spoiling produce and resulting in quite the large amount of petitions to dastan himself insisting on some sort of compensation. "you should make them sell outside the city gate." it was then myriam paused to look down their intended route - a sharp, downhill decline that went on and on, and her eyes went down to the sandy cobbles that were slippery and wet due to the residents throwing down whatever they needed to get rid of.
she would not admit defeat now, seeing multiple dry patches - and so, she began to walk down, putting her bejewelled ankles at an angle as she began to slowly go down. this would take a while, she realised, as she let her hands touch the side of the buildings as it only got steeper and steeper. and perhaps she should have let dastan go first, because he was already right behind her. "wait, go in front of me." she suddenly paused, whipping her head around to the point her hair almost came straight into contact with her brother and she let out an apologetic laugh, moving the cascade to one side as she reached for him, wordlessly holding onto his side and guiding him to step around, and then in front of her.
"i don't understand why ma insisted on handing the silks to be tailored over to auntie today? i know the she can't travel up to the keep because she's broken…whatever it was, but why the rush? ophelia's birthday is still some time away." she asked, trying to find a way to shift her wrong reroute she insisted upon on their mother - but they both knew all too well how and why they found themselves avoiding slipping on their face. "and on the day the servants have off too." did she suddenly think herself too good for the markets? for doing her mother a quick favour, as she had always done? as they had always done? that sounded so incredibly starfall of her; she pulled a slight face at herself as she continued to slowly edge downhill, still at an angle to keep her footing and stop herself from being sent flying forwards on her face. she looked back at dastan with a knowing look, as though she silently admitted this was her doing but that was the most he would get from her.
"anyway, if we get this done in time we can catch sunset on top of pavo's pottery guild?" she offered, offering one of his favourite viewpoints as a peace treaty for this mad goosechase she had him on.