SnowRaven-Moonstar

Well beyond the dungeons they found themselves at another flight of stairs. This time though they had to climb rather than descend. There was a long silence as the entire group stood and gazed at the steps as they vanished into the dark beyond. The silence was nearly tangible. It was almost like an entity in itself. Only the sound of breathing or the occasional shuffle of shifting feet drove it back. "Is there no other way, Tiyanna?" she asked. She could only think of the smaller children and their small legs and the blind ones who would find it a struggle. It looked like a long climb and she feared that it would be hard on many of them. Tiy

Runaway pt.2 I am not sure how I feel about this. This a direct contiuation from the runaway prompt. I used the prompt as an opportunity to do some editing, but this is something I've been wary about posting since I wrote it. I am not comfortable with the misfortune of the people El'lissenda enounters here. Of course it's important and necessary to the story just as the death mentioned in the previous prompt is necessary to give El'lia drive. Still...as I said, the fear of being judged remains and is why I don't enjoy writing the darker stuff (though this is no where near as dark as stuff I've read in the pasdt. :XD: ) Anyway...feedback i

El'lissenda closed the door behind her and for a moment leaned her back against it. She stood a minute or so like that staring at the comforts she was used to and felt something in her stomach flip. The entire scene played again in her mind and she forced herself to face each memory squarely without flinching away from them. She could readily picture the emotion on the Anessa's face. She remembered back to when the girl had first come to her for help and how she had struggled to keep her face a mask -- even as El'lissenda had -- despite the harrowing tale she had to tell. The emotions had been easy to read though, nothing like the typical imp

Chapter three El'lissenda Over the next week or so as the empress secretly arranged to have the daimonae child sent off with Margravi Cahnri she had worried that the regent would discover what she was up to and do something to destroy all her efforts. Even now, though Sella was gone and the child with her, she half expected her cousin to come storming up to her and demand the meaning of her latest actions. El'lissenda was slowly growing aware of the regent's concern with power. She did not believe Ver'issa to be power hungry per se but she'd been in power a long while and she had her own ideas about what was right and how things should be d

El'lissenda wasn't sure if Taemar and Sihan were going to be among her best allies or her worst enemies. The brothers were nothing alike, but their reactions to her seemed something they both agreed upon. If Taemar had had his way she was sure she would not leave without first knowing the feelings of every angry Menni in this town. She was sure that if Sihan had his way she would not be leaving at all. Taemar had allowed the white haired, black eyed drakari -- who seemed a constant fixture at his side -- advise him and, unexpected as it had been, Sihan had allowed himself to be lead by his younger bother's example. For now she could breathe,

It was cold in the great hall. It was always cold in the great hall. The ceilings were grand, but too high to allow the fires in the six hearths along the two long walls to properly heat the entire room. The murmuring and rustling never stopped either. Only the Blessed empress-heir and the High Regent sat at the far end of the room. Everyone else had to stand, and for those people who were willing to stand for the four or five hours in which court was in session, it was never easy to stand still and silent for long…or so it seemed. El'lissenda Sa'linda Neriond, Blessed Empress-Heir herself forced herself to maintain composure as she sat

Chapter two The problem of the daimonae child – El'lissenda still refused to think of the creature as anything other than what she appeared to be – nagged at El'lissenda almost constantly no matter how she tried to put it from her mind. She didn't doubt that this child wasn't the only one. It bothered her even more to think that there might be others. It bothered her to think that maybe there were things that her cousin didn't tell her. She didn't like to think that the Regent kept things from her despite the illusions of candour. If that was true though then what else was there that the Regent didn't tell her. How much in her worl

Chapter one Her Most Serene Beneficent Eminence El'lissenda Sa'linda Neriond, Blessed Empress-heir of the great Sarian Empire of the Mother and Father, forced herself to maintain composure as she sat in the Phoenix Throne listening, as she did daily, to the petitions brought before her on which to pass judgement. She was bored and terribly uncomfortable. She had a cramp in her neck and, as usual, she noted that the problem brought before her was one that could easily have been solved if the fool would only take the time to use his own brain and consider the problem himself.  But why should he when he could use her brain to solve it without a

El'lissenda dipped a toe in the water and drew it back. It was cold. Of course it was still spring and the flow was fresh from the mountains but the dust of the road was not exactly pleasant. A few feet away Roran sat on a mossy hummock. He was pulling up strands of grass one at a time, but his large eyes were watching her with his earnest child's gaze. "It's cold, little one," she told the boy. She walked up to him and scooped him up, "but the day is warm. There's no harm in it." She carried him over to the slow flowing river and set him down ankle deep in the water. He looked at her surprised for a moment but then bent over and touched the

El stood on the butte and looked back toward the city. The last stretch of the journey below the city had been shorter than she'd expected. The pigeon cotes had been the ones that stood about halfway between the palace and the south gates, the public cotes. The pigeons Diarmuid had brought with him would not be missed, thankfully. She wondered if the city was on alert yet, if Ver'issa was even now searching for them. They had emerged into the fresh air just as the sun was coming up. It was still blessedly dark still and so the eyes, made sensitive to light from time spent below ground, were saved from the pain that would certainly have occur