Recent content by Althea

She felt the subtle shift in the air, the way eyes lingered too long. Her spine went rigid, though she forced herself to keep looking ahead, chin level, hands light on the reins just as he’d told her. She tried to act natural. Of course, none of this was natural. A housemaid had absolutely no...

She caught the flicker of frustration in him and gave a quick, crooked smirk that softened it, both amusement and apology. “A wee joke...” she said lightly. Of course she knew what he’d done for her. Of course she was grateful. It wasn't lost on her that the fact she was still breathing was...

“Well, my first choice was to stow away on one of those ships,” she huffed under her breath, eyes flicking toward the distant docks.. “But clearly he thought of that too. Unless you’ve got a better idea tucked away in that very large head of yours…” Her gaze slid back to him as he handled the...

She cleared her throat, eyes flicking toward the house. “Not exactly, no,” she murmured. In the stables, two horses stood out immediately,. One was a black Friesian named Astraeus, massive and glossy, feathers thick around its legs, its massive head held high. The other was a tall, grey...

She nodded once, sharp and decisive, barely sparing him a glance. All she could hear was the chaos behind them. “This way,” she breathed as she caught his wrist and hauled him hard to the right, dragging him into a narrow alley, shoving over some crates as she passed, hoping to slow whomever...

She saw the boy too, and for a heartbeat, she froze. Shit. She ran. Her body went light, her movements clean and fast, feet barely touching the damp planks as she tore down the dockway. Pain flared hot across her back where the stitches pulled, but she shoved it down, breath coming sharp and...

She flinched back a half step as his hand closed around the hammer, blinking at the ease with which he lifted it. The thing looked and felt as heavy as an anvil, and he moved it like it weighed nothing at all. Althea was avariel - light-boned, quick, made for air and flight that had long since...

She stared at him for a long moment after he said her name, after he told her to wake him if she needed anything. It sat strangely with her. She frowned briefly, then waited until his breathing deepened and evened, until she was certain sleep had claimed him before she moved. She set the...

She grimaced as she shifted, a soft sound of discomfort slipping past her teeth, then gave a short, resigned nod at his assessment. “Mh. I’ve had worse,” she murmured. She pushed herself carefully upright and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself against the chill creeping in with the...

Her sleep was deep and heavy and mercifully empty. No dreams, no falling, no knives or hands pinning her down. Her body drank it in greedily, knitting itself together as best it could. She'd needed it, and perahps in some small subconscious place beneath the exhaustion, she was aware that...

Her eyelids were already growing heavy, the sharp edge of adrenaline ebbing away and leaving only exhaustion in its wake. When he spoke of disgraced knights and drink, she nodded and let out a quiet huff of a laugh, dry and humourless. “Figures,” she murmured. “Leoric,” she repeated quietly as...

She shook her head faintly at his apology, a small, dismissive motion. He was helping her and apologising for it. That was new... When he leaned back at last, relief loosened something in her chest and she let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. A quiet, humourless laugh...

Her eyes squeezed shut, forcing tears to drip from her lashes. Her breaths came quick and shallow with pain and panic. The adrenaline had nowhere left to go, it left her shaking, a fine tremor running through her arms and shoulders as the pain finally caught up. When he nicked the skin she...

She went rigid the moment his hand touched her shoulder, every instinct screaming at her to pull away. The blanket felt thin, useless. She hated feeling so vulnerable, and the urge to curl in on herself was almost overwhelming. She swallowed hard, the warmth of his palm sinking into her skin...

“A knight…?” she murmured, the word catching in her throat as the tweezers slipped and bit into her skin. She hissed softly. She listened as he spoke, and with every quiet admission something cold and hollow settled in her chest. Proud once. Faith lost. Punishment. It was uncomfortably...