(tagged for minute mentions and for the encouragement/help to write this. Warning: Long)
@telidraedarkbane I @handmaidenoftheempress I @favrielle-emberdusk I @ryssa-ravensdawn I @whimsicallyart as always, tagging not working
The soft breeze rustled through the vineyards, bringing with it the sweet scent of night blossoms and shade fruits. Beneath it, however came the caress of fel to the senses, a soft under touch of the demons that tainted the air like a terrible aftertaste. They were not his demons as they had been banished since he had left the Eastern Kingdoms weeks ago. No, this was the stench of the Legion.
Suramar had become his home in the past several weeks, an expanse of beauty, history, and power that had lured him the moment his last tie to the Eastern Kingdoms had been severed. The warning from Favrielle had been well placed. That she had reached out to him at all had been endearing but he had never acknowledged her warning. He had deemed it fit that they had already spoken in regards to foreboding feelings. A proper gentleman would have returned her letter but his manners had faltered in the recent years. He was far removed from being a respectable professor.
He stood with his back to the sitting room, looking out into the harbor. A goblet half full of arcwine was settled in his left hand. The delightful taste of it upon his lips had done much to lift his spirits. His research had brought him here to study the very leylines that ran beneath Suramar. At least, that was the front. His employer was no one but himself and what he offered the Shal’dorei was far more than this research. His power and connection to the Void were also being discussed at length with select dissenters and supporters of the Grand Magistrix herself. Once more, he was playing into a very precarious situation. Nothing new there.
It was easier to pass amongst the Shal’dorei of Suramar for Theron than it was to move among the Sin’dorei of Silvermoon City. At least here, he could drop the façade and let more of his true being come forth. The slight tinge of purple to his skin, his otherwise violet eyes, his naturally silver hair, and his half-Kaldorei appearance were allowed to slip so that he placed less illusion magic on his being. It was both a freeing and foolish mistake.
“You have come a long way from teaching.” The voice was soft and silky, the type of voice that would make most pause if not for curiosity but for the allure the owner might possess. “Though I have many other tales of what you have become, Kael’deryn. One could only hope you were not such a fool.”
Theron’s eyes narrowed slightly but he took another long drink of his goblet before he turned in the direction that her voice had come from, the look of apprehension flashing momentarily on his face.
Ryssa Ravensdawn stood in the foyer, her face still shadowed by the hood she wore. Her figure was hidden by the cloak but he knew her to be armed and likely dangerous. A dark pewter Ravensdawn sigil stood out at her throat, one he thought had died with the near extinction of the high elves. The mere sight of it made his lips curl back in a sardonic smile.
“And you have changed little. You still bear that sigil as if you were proud of it.” He hissed scathingly, passing by her to refill his goblet. “Tell me, do you enjoy knowing that our line was an inbred, incestuous group of idiots that believed they would bring glory back to their own family through the sacrifice of others?”
It took a moment for Ryssa to take in his words. The Ravensdawn had been a proud people, boasting many arcanists, magi of all sorts, and priestesses of peculiar and immense power. Of course, their prominence extended into trade and politics as well. They were the elite, proud of their magical blood and forefathers. They were a large family, boasting many houses in servitude to them. It was not unknown for Ravensdawns to marry on the basis of political reason alone or within the family itself.
Ryssa’s words were slow, eyeing him with some incredulity. “The Ravensdawn were our family. You came from them and you betrayed them. You betrayed me.” She paused, reining her emotions in. When she spoke once more, her voice quavered. “You ran the moment you had a chance. You disappeared. You did not write. You said nothing! You ran from your wife and your daughter. You ran from us!”
It was his turn to regard her carefully, speaking only after a long drawn silence had lingered. “It was in everyone’s best interest.”
“It was in everyone’s best interest?” Ryssa’s voice lilted upwards in disbelief. The anger she had suppressed up until now leaked out with each word she spoke. “You erased your daughter’s memory. You tampered with Telidrae’s memories. You turned that very magic against me. Aquillus told me what you did. How many times have I actually caught you? How many times have you meddled with my mind?”
The news that Aquillus, the scaled wonder, had told Ryssa that her mind was often tampered with every time she came into contact with him was enough to make his lips curl in a grimace. Taking a long drink from the goblet, he settled his gaze on a point over her shoulder. “Your mind will mend. Though if anything is truly lost then perhaps it was not of much value in the first place.” He shrugged as if it settled the argument.
A soft croon of bird suddenly emitted from underneath Ryssa’s cloak. She shifted slightly, her shoulders rolling though he could not see underneath her cloak. He knew her to be most likely armed though there was some relief that she was not wielding the twin scythes. The enchantment of the blades always made his skin crawl and he swore that they had a mind of their own.
“How dare you.” She hissed through clenched teeth. “Who are you to say what is best,” she emphasized the word, “for anyone? You are not-“
“Amarhys?” He interrupted her, a severe look on his face. “Not Mother dearest who knew what was best for everyone?” Theron rounded on Ryssa, eyes flitting over her face, his words barely above a whisper. “I did it to myself just as I had done it to you, to my daughter, and to my so-called wife. It was better for everyone that everyone forgot who I was … even myself.” He stated flatly. “I let the Ravensdawns die at the hands of the Scourge. You should have too.”
It was her turn to be quiet, the silence only penetrated by the soft croon of a bird. The sound made Theron shift his gaze to the window, obviously expecting Rose. When she did not appear, his eyes flickered back to Ryssa, realizing she was not backing down.
“The Scourge did us a favor, Kael. They cleansed the Ravensdawns of the weak, the cowardly, and the corrupted. We have been left to carry on the name and it is time to claim what is properly ours. Amarhys no longer stands as the matriarch and we are free to rebuild. Please, Kael …”
“No.” His answered quickly. He did not want to return to the Manse where Amarhys Ravensdawn had lived, where memories of an old life were still stored. He did not want to remember the horrors that woman had been capable of even if Ryssa believed Amarhys to be a woman of morals. “I have no time to waste on ancient prophecies and secrets hidden beneath the earth.”
“Kael” She murmured, a warning flowing in that simple utterance of his name.
“Tch, Ryssa. She was your mother. If it is so important, take it for yourself. Go to the Manse and you will find nothing but a decrepit home, rotting floorboards, and rats. Amarhys was selfish, she was arrogant, and she was a b-“ He had not even seen her move but the blow had come quickly. His left cheek throbbed from the slap, a sudden fury unfurling in his violet eyes.
“She was our mother.” She hissed but there was a surprised sound of a chittering bird coming from underneath Ryssa’s cloak. “She gave you life. She sent you to Dalaran to study. She had your best interests in mind. And how did you repay her? You eloped. You married and refused to introduce your wife to us. You had a daughter and Mother never met her. You grew distant, you severed ties. You and I are the last remaining Ravensdawns, Kael’deryn. Reclaim your name and stop fucking around.”
At this, a cynical smile painted Theron’s lips. The mention of his wife made the still recent wound bleed once more. His once happy marriage to Telidrae Darkbane had long been on tenterhooks. That he had abandoned her and their daughter for their own good had been a hard choice to make but he stood by it, wrong as it may have been.
“My wife” He spat poisonously, “is no longer my concern. She ran from me. She shrank from my sacrifices. Telidrae can go fuck that flea-bitten mongrel of a lover and I will keep watch on my daughter from the shadows.” Cheek still smarting, he turned and tilted the arcwine bottle up to his lips. “What is under your cloak?”
She ignored his question and glared at him. “You are so proud of yourself … erasing your presence from the memories of those that loved you; re-inventing yourself and taking on a new identity.” Her voice broke and she looked down to her boots. “I want us to be as close as we once were … I want you to stop running from me.”
“How did you find me?” Theron queried rather suspiciously, dismissing this long awaited reunion that Ryssa was longing for. He had no intention of reclaiming his name. Not after what he had done to himself … It was best to watch from afar now. “Ryssa, what are you hiding?”
From underneath her cloak, Ryssa produced a giant black raven. Rose was swaddled snuggly in a piece of mooncloth. The raven’s eyes were violet as she turned to look at Theron, a weak sound escaping her though they were sounds he had never heard Rose make.
“You send this creature to spy for you. I caught sight of it in Silvermoon once. Mother used to have one just like it. I saw this one several times in my travels, obviously checking in on me. I am afraid I was a little too rough in capturing her but she led me back to you.”
Theron made a threatening move towards Ryssa but she pulled back, one hand reaching to her hip for a dagger undoubtedly. For a moment, they both stared at each other before he extended his hand to take Rose from Ryssa’s hands.
“It would be best if you left now.” He muttered as he unbound his bird. Rose’s wing hung at an odd angle and she could not even perch on his hand. Once more, Rose cawed weakly and Theron turned angry eyes at Ryssa. “You have hurt my Rose.” He accused before bringing the bird up to his ear. Rose made a few chittering sounds once she was close to her Master’s ear, reporting first and foremost, the death of Zaladrissa Veloce.
“I tried to be gentle but she struggled. It was an accident, Kael. She will-“ But Theron had placed the raven on the table, turning his attention fully to Ryssa. She refused to stand down as he once more closed the space between them. This close, she could smell the scent of brimstone and the undertone of …
She almost had no time to react as he reached for her and she instinctively reacted. Both his hands had come to her shoulders and she had thrown the cloak open, twin daggers in her hands. The upward slices she had calculated had cut into both of Theron’s forearms. “Kael …” Her tone held a plea and a warning.
“Leave.” He hissed. “Leave and tell Aquillus that is the last time he flaps his gums about my business.”
“Kael’deryn.” She said carefully, stepping back.
“I will skin him if I see him again.” Violet eyes settled on Ryssa, a quiet fury hiding there. The scent of blood was predominant as he stalked towards her. “I have no interest in the Ravensdawn legacy, Ryssa. Take it if you think it so important. The house and everything in it has always been yours.”
Ryssa frowned, about to speak when a voice came from the hall. “Lord Tanethryl?”
“I am not above throwing my sister into prison…” He said softly. Ryssa gave him one last glare before she darted out to the balcony, crouching before looking back.
“This discussion is not over, Kael’deryn.” She hissed, disappearing into the incoming shadows of the evening.
“A thief was scared away, Zeran. Call the healer, hold my dinner and clear my night. I am in no mood for company tonight.” Going back to Rose, he listened to weeks’ worth of news that she had been unable to deliver.
