Private Tales To Eclipse Them All

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
When Eira smiled, genuinely, it warmed her entire expression. She supposed it took a lot to render the likes of Leovold speechless, but she had bared plenty to him in just one hallway. The presentation of the gift was her way of changing the subject, afraid he would ask too many questions about where her heart may be... but Eira's smile began to falter.

"Let this mark a strengthening to our friendship." Her voice was soft again, her eyes averting from his to look at the dagger handsomely fashioned with him in mind. "Perhaps one day, we should discuss what marriage will look like, but I always find allies and then friends is always a good basis of any relationship."

She held out her hand, an invitation for him to take it and lead her to where it was he had in mind. It had been important to tell him, to give him the gift for this was the first time they were alone without any other eyes on them. And should there be ears listening, then they both had not said anything too inflammatory.
 
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A wistful puff of air escaped Leovold as he allowed himself a lighthearted smile. After a moment he pocketed the dagger and took Eira's offered hand, pulling her to his side as the two of them approached an ornate set of double doors, high in the central most portion of the Solherre estate.

"I agree. Which is why I shall give my response here," Leovold replied simply as he pushed the doors open and led Eira inside.

Within was a chamber that looked almost like it belonged in a cathedral. Stained glass depictions of men and dragons circled the room high above, and great, gothic pillars held high arches aloft. The floor was carved stone, bearing pristine carvings of astral bodies and the patterns they hewed across the sky, and tapestries and banners bearing depictions of various Solherres and the house's insignia hung about tastefully.

By far what drew the eye most, however, was the dais at the center of the room, upon which rested a gemstone the size of a small child. The stone radiated a soft warmth and a comforting golden glow, and seemed to constantly hum a pleasant tone. Speckles of light were cast about the room by the stone, as though the sun itself was shining on a large prism.

"This is the Dawnstone. The ancient artifact which was created to symbolize the genesis of House Solherre, and the pact that we forged with the sun dragon brood, long, long ago," Leovold introduced, closing the doors behind as he let Eira's hand free.
 
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Eira took a few steps inside to take in the entirety of the room. The stained glass held her gaze captive, transfixed on the sundrenched depictions of Leovold's ancestors and their sun dragons. The light washed over her, colouring her in warmth and the occasional cool toned glass. "This is beautiful."

The Malennis' did not have a room like this. If the Solherre's had their sunlit room, the Malennis' had a moonlit garden room.

Turning her head, she spied the stone Leovold spoke of. It's glow was as brilliant as the sun, but the warmth it gave to the room was something that felt natural upon her skin. As if they were stood out under the rays of the sun that had now lowered beneath the horizon.

"It is always a blessing to see a physical manifestation of the promise between our ancestors and the dragons that chose to bond with them." It was the very history of Thanasis. To this day, it is remembered and honoured. Eira found herself smiling slightly. "I used to admire the sun dragons before my own moon dragon had chosen me."

There was some mischief in her gaze as she slowly wandered closer to tje Dawnstone. She always ensured to keep a good few feet away, but she merely wished to witness more of it's brilliance. "I suppose our dragons will produce a mixed breed. I do hope they inherit the luminosity of the sun dragons."
 
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Something resembling a thoughtful grin stretched its way across Leovold's lips as he followed Eira closer to the stone.
"My father still believes it to be little more than a sparkling rock, but I know better. It is a bringer of beginnings. A spark that grants light and life where there is none," he explained, his gaze sliding from Eira to the stone. Pride and recollection shimmered across his features as he spoke. "I bathed Iralux' egg in its radiance, and from a still shell came the mightiest sun dragon Thanasis has seen in generations. When Tyafainne lays her first egg, I shall do the same again. Their lineage will be strong."

Leovold's eyes seemed to glow brighter than normal in the Dawnstone's presence, and he looked back to his bride to be.

"Our bond shall be as well," he told Eira, reaching behind his neck to undo a clasp. Shortly after, a length of silver chain was brought up, and an object was held firmly within Leovold's hand, obscured from sight.

The Solherre heir took Eira's hand in his own and placed the object into her palm: a fragment of the Dawnstone set into a simple necklace.
 
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Eira felt something at his voiced intentions.

After all she had been through, this promise to her had struck her the deepest. Perhaps it was the kindness and courtesy extended to her bonded dragon, or the strong look he passed her way. Leovold Solherre was not one to speak of empty promises, and Eira knew he would treat her as his equal.

Her eyes dropped down to their hands, where he took her own and deposited the gift into her palm. The metal chain was warm, his doing, but the fragment that mirrored the Dawnstone was a different source of hear. Eira's breath hitched when she realised what he had given her, and with incredulous eyes, looked up to meet his gaze. "This... this you should keep, Leovold."

Something so precious to his family's lineage... she almost forgot that this alliance between them, this marriage, was real.

There was no way out of this, not in any way that Eira felt she should. What Leovold offered her in terms of her future was more freedom than any other noble son would extend to her.

Andso her fingers curled over the stone, and Eira gave him a genuine smile. "Will you help me with the clasp?" One hand went to brush the long waterfall of her hair aside to aide in securing the chain around her neck.
 
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For a moment it seemed that Eira wanted to refuse the stone, and Leovold was prepared to insist. However, that reluctance gave way to acceptance after only a few moments. This much earned another smile from Leovold.

With a nod, he rounded her side and took each end of the chain in his fingers and fastened the clasp behind her. The close proximity between the two of them was not lost on him, but Leo remained respectful.

The young noble could see Eira's reflection faintly in the facets of the Dawnstone, and the fragment that now hung from her neck scintillated gently .

"It looks much better on you than it ever has on me," Leovold commented with a soft chuckle.
 
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Eira placed her hand over the fragment, feeling the warmth against her skin. She noted how soft his fingers were when they brushed at the back of her neck, a precision to his movements with within seconds she felt the warm chain fall against her. She turned to him, smiling, to show him how it now hung around her neck.

His words elicited a loud burst of laughter, a hint of her nerves for it struck her that they were both together in this surprise of an arrangement. "I must say it certainly is quite the statement piece I have ever worn." It felt more grounded, more Thanasis in history than all the other fashions she was known to wear.

She was used to being dressed in silvers, in blues, and purples. To always reflect the colours moon dragons liked best in the night, and that black attire never looked like mourning colours on a Malennis.


"I adore it, Leovold." Eira's hand returned to lightly clutch the fragment. "Thank you."

There could have been worse men to be betrothed with, and yet despite her wanting to be against this marriage purely to spite her brother's choice, she knew she was lucky to have made a friend of Leovold Solherre. He was in this for the advantage, and so was she. These gifts solidified their promise to each other.
 
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Eira's laugh caught Leovold off guard, but he melted into laughter of his own after only a moment. The solar rune on his forehead and his irises flared a moment as he made his next jest.
"We Solherres have never been ones for discretion, I fear. Sun dragon magic doesn't much allow for things like subtlety...or muted colors."

As his laughter died down he returned to a neutral smile, his eyes looking downward to see the shard in her hand, then back up to meet her gaze.

"I'm glad. It's my honor to have you wear it," he concluded. It occurred to him thereafter that he didn't really know how to proceed. This was all unfamiliar territory to him, despite being in his own home. "Well...shall we continue the tour? Or, was there something else you wanted to discuss? We won't get much better privacy than in here."
 
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She wondered perhaps if Leovold had thought of someone else wearing such an heirloom of his family's. So quickly came the thoughts of not wanting to part with this gift, and her reasoning came to be that there was no moonslight without the sun's brilliance. Leovold was not wrong in that the Solherres echoed this ever burning presence.

"We continue on." She decided. If they stayed too long in places, Eira did not want to give the staff reason to gossip untruths.

"Is it true you have the prettiest library this side of the Palace Quarter?" Of course, society events often took place in homes of the rich and the nobility, but nothing beyond parlour rooms and ballrooms. She had heard only of gossip and information being passed around, but never seen any of it with her own eyes. "I... like to read when I do find the time. Sometimes I merely wish to be in a quiet room."
 
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