Location: the Divine Forest, During the Tricks & Treats Potions Party
Open Starter @lumenouastarters
River hadn’t fully read the label on the potion bottle before she upturned it towards her lips and drank it all. That was her first mistake. Normally, the faerie Princess was more careful. Especially since her cousin, Rowan, would be out of commission as Southland’s Queen soon. River’s cousin was pregnant with her first child, after all. Thus, in hindsight, River surmised that her disregard of observation skills were her fault. The blissful sense of content seemed to drain from River’s being, akin to a leaky faucet, and before she knew it... a shroud of fear, dense and stifling, wrapped about her in its stead. The Princess’ second mistake, it seemed, was drinking the entirety of a fear potion at the party.
Faintly, she could hear the voice of Royce, her deceased father, mocking her instant impulse to leave. ...A real Hartwell stood their ground. Assessed their environments. Deduced the weaknesses of any and all threats. At least, that was how he’d raised her. At the sound of another’s voice close by, River jumped in obvious surprise at the sight of the person’s presence. “...I’m sorry.” She ignored the Royce’s hiss in her head about how she should never apologize. Never ask for permission, only forgiveness. If she must. River’s own voice caught in her throat. “Pardon me,” She reworded. “I don’t think that I saw you. I-” Her dark brown eyes struggled to stay on the person’s face.
River’s gaze landed, eventually, onto the floor beneath them. She jumped again, unknowingly moving closer to the other person’s as a result. “Shit! Did you see that? What? What in the seven suns is that?” River pointed down, the tip of her manicured index finger directed towards the pair’s shadows. The Princess felt fear in its truest sense. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
