Completed Guardian Angel

[Delaney Lennox]

Kristen was enjoying telling Delaney about Amelia and Delaney was enjoying listening. Kristen was a bundle of happiness and positivity all the time. Maybe that is what Delaney needed in her life and she just hadn't known it. It made her wish for the first time that she had not killed her sister because she wondered if she could have had the type of life that Kristen was speaking of.

Hopes and dreams that would never exist.

"If Amelia taught you kindness than she must be an amazing woman," Delaney said with a smile and closed her eyes again.

"Kristen, you were not wrong...this feels so nice. I could fall asleep right now."

This feeling of relaxation and trust was so outside of Delaney's norm yet here she was in the hands of the most inexperienced Dreadlord Initiate.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"She is," Kristen agreed. Oh, by Aionus, all of this was beginning to make her feel rather homesick! Nonetheless, she kept up her brushing in rhythmic fashion. "When last I received a letter from her, she had mentioned that she would at long last be returning to Vel Anir. I do not yet know if she has made it back."

Kristen giggled quietly when Delaney said she could've fallen asleep in the chair. Such was the comfort and relaxation in so simple an act as brushing another's hair.

"Oh, it will be shame when tomorrow, or some other day not so far from now, training messes up both your hair and mine! Sometimes I envy the boys. There's hardly a thing they need to do to fix their hair after it falls into some woeful state!"

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

"Hopefully she will come visit you soon, Kristen," Delaney was genuine in that hope. She liked Kristen and wanted her to be happy. Seeing family would perhaps help this terrible place seem slightly better.

A low, sardonic laugh escaped the Initiates lips. "Boys complain about everything too. They think they have it so difficult when, in reality, they need women or they would die."

Delaney looked forward to the day that she would meet other people than the ones she had lived with her entire life.

"I think we should feign illness so we can get out of having to train for a few days," she laughed out. That would never work. They would just get pushed harder. They were better nowadays but they were still terrible.

"So besides reading and brushing hair, what else do you enjoy?"

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen laughed in tandem with Delaney. Feign illness. Oh, if only it were so easy. The Proctors seemed to unanimously despise the "free periods" that the Academy had introduced, so anything short of being bedridden in the infirmary they discarded as sufficient reason to have a day off.

Kristen tucked some of Delaney's hair behind her ear, and brushed at the sides of her head.

What else do you enjoy?

"Oh!" The thought jumped right into mind. "Perhaps this is a stretch to ask, what with the Academy having scarce time for anything but classes and training, but...have you ever tried dance, Delaney?"

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney let out a very genuine laugh at Kristen's next question. This girl had the strangest questions this evening. Although, they might be the kind of questions that Kristen asked all her friends.

"No, I have never danced, Kristen. I have been told that sword fighting is a dance but I doubt it is the same." She smiled at the thought of a bunch of swordsman in a ballroom attempting to dance the way they were trained. It was quite entertaining.

"I am guessing that you have plenty of experience with dancing?"

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

It was a stretch to ask, but Kristen didn't mind Delaney's laughter. The most Initiates of the Academy had been allowed to experience of dance would be through the metaphor Delaney had been told.

Kristen, however, did not know that in a short enough time, one Captain Grealish of the Anirian Guard would pitch the idea of the First Annual Solstice Ball.

"I do have a wealth of experience in dance! On a fair number of occasions, I've been called a budding socialite, what with how readily I took to the galas and parties hosted in House or elsewhere. Dances were always my favorite part of such events."

She sighed blissfully. Sparing a glance toward the book laying on her desk, The Romance of House Black.

"Were it that I could have been mature enough to dance with suitors! Mayhap I've enjoyed one too many of those stories there, imagining myself as the Heiress Black or whomever the heroine happened to be, but, I confess, I am indeed enchanted by the fantasy of being swept off of my feet by a dashing young man at just such a dance."

A breath through her nose. Back down to reality.

"A sword-fight may well be a sort of dance, but I suppose I should focus more heavily on the former and relegate the latter to storybook tales."

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

"Maybe the Academy will see fit to host a dance now that they have changed." She said sarcastically. Nothing like that would ever happen! "I think with the changes, you will be able to go to dances even after you graduate, Kristen."

She slowly turned to look at Kristen with a smile on her face. "Do you," Delaney was almost sheepish. "Do you want me to brush your hair? I can braid it too..."

Her voice trailed off as a little bit of color flowed into her pale cheeks. She felt so weird asking such a question but Kristen had been so kind to her and she felt like she needed to repay the favor.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

I think with the changes, you will be able to go to dances even after you graduate, Kristen.

A wonderful notion! What a dreary life it would have been to always be so otherwise engaged in House affairs or what have you. Not to say that every Dreadlord was like Evangeline, but Kristen did spy her at some of the galas hosted by House Pirian. She'd not quite glimpsed her taking part in any dances, though. Mayhap she was just skillfully surreptitiously about it, though!

Then came an offer most surprising from Delaney. Honestly, Kristen would have thought this all to be a curious dream, had she not woken up to use the privy and hence start it all.

"I would be delighted, Delaney!" Kristen giggled. Delighted Delaney. "Oh, I confess that I adore a dash of alliteration."

She handed the brush over, undid her ponytail, and traded places with Delaney in the chair. She sat with her knees and heels together, hands folded neatly down in her lap. The silver starlight outside her window drew the shadow of the two girls on the floor, the wall. Kristen didn't know how many more hours of night/morning they had, but this was all such a welcome respite from tribulations of the Academy. What a sorrowful disappointment it would be when it came to an end.

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney just shook her head when Kristen joked about alliteration. Of course Kristen was a nerd. "Who doesn't adore alliteration?" Delaney asked as she took the brush from Kristen and changed seats with her. Kristen even sat like a proper lady. Did she ever relax? A question she could ask as she brought the brush smoothly through the nobles hair.

"Do you ever relax, Kristen? Like really relax? Even now you are sitting like a proper lady."

Delaney didn't mean to sound snippy if she did. Kristen was also so on everyday. Delaney never had a childhood but she knew how to act human. Kristen seemed like she had missed out on any fun or humanness as a noble. Was it worth the trade, Delaney wondered.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen glanced down at her own sitting form, a touch puzzled. Even with someone's pointing it out, it could be difficult to recognize what came as second nature.

"Oh but I am relaxed, Delaney. My toes really ought to be touching and--oh!--I've allowed for my shoulders to roll forward and slouch." She let out the most polite giggle Delaney might possibly have heard. "Such poor posture would've seen the back of my hand smartly disciplined with a ruler!"

Kristen melted into the comforting sensation of having her hair brushed, the old and familiar warm tingling in the back of her neck rising once more. It wasn't as if her hair had ceased being brushed once Amelia departed Vel Anir, no, but it simply was not the same when a servant did it. Peculiar as the idea would have been as early as yesterday, with Delaney that warm feeling had returned.

"You must be glad for the Revolution," Kristen said. "In these times, at least now you have the choice to depart from Vel Anir. You needn't even swear fealty to a House, though I suppose if someone did have such an intention it might prove difficult. Regardless, into the Guard most shall go, and from what I understand you've that option to be what they're calling a 'reservist.'"

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney had thought about her future many times over the last year. Everything had changed. Everything.

Kristen was right, of course, she could do anything now. She could stay or she could go. There was nothing tying her here and she really wanted to travel the world while spreading darkness and chaos.

"Hmmm..." She mused. "I do not plan to stay in Vel Anir. I never wanted to be a Dreadlord but I didn't have much of a choice," she chuckled. "Now I have a choice. The first one that I have ever had in my life."

Delaney's tendrils had started to swirl around her feet at her restless thoughts. Hungry little shits. "Do you want me to braid it, Kristen?"

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

It pained Kristen to hear that. I didn't have much of a choice. Meanwhile, it was House Pirian's wealth and standing that shielded Kristen from such compulsory admission to the Academy. Could she been given over willingly by her parents at the age when her magic was first discovered, as it had been with Ralene, Liliana, Beatrix, and Alistair? Possibly. But yet it stood that those Anirians who lacked the extravagant means of a noble House were all but destined to lose their children should so much as a wisp of the arcane was displayed by them.

What luxuries Kristen had enjoyed! What luxuries she took for granted.

Do you want me to braid it, Kristen?

"Yes, please! If only I'd a proper mirror, I could see how such a style looks on me." She laughed off the lack of one. And she wondered briefly if anyone tomorrow, in classes or elsewhere, would notice the change? Someone like Sable or Dorian, perhaps. Though she'd yet to speak, let alone make good acquaintances with, either of them or any of the other boys for that matter.

"Have you been pouring through the geographical tomes in the library, trying to decide on where your journey might take you? Alas, if I was more widely traveled, I could have been of some use in your deliberation."

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney smiled as she started to pull strands of Kristen's hair into French braid. Each strand slid through her nimble fingers as she put them in their proper place. Pull, cross, pull, cross, tuck, repeat.

"I have looked some but I am just trying to make it to graduation. I figure I can always start in Alliria. There is plenty to do and see in a huge merchant city. I will find something of interest there or I will find something that leads me to something else, somewhere else."

Delaney shrugged as she continued to braid. "Kristen, you are a Lady. You are a Pirian. Are you really going to enjoy working for with the Guard?" That was essentially what the Dreadlord graduates were now...a part of the Anirian Guard.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Alliria! The center of the world, some do so call it. Yes, I agree, if there were any place on Arethil where you might find guidance, it would be the very city which constitutes the bridge between Liadain and Epressa."

It simply could not be understated how safe Kristen felt in the present moment. Even as early as a few hours ago, Kristen would have been as scared as a newborn fawn coming face to face with Delaney. She had been, briefly, even after Bull had been thoroughly reprimanded by her. But now, having her hair braided, the comforting feel of slender fingers threading through the strands of it, Kristen felt as though she'd entered a kind of sanctuary in Delaney's presence, sheltered for an ephemeral pocket of time from the harsh realities of the Academy. And she had at last what she desired since the first day she set foot into the Academy: a friend.

Are you really going to enjoy working for the Guard?

"Heavens no!" Kristen thought about it for a moment, then said, "Oh, that was...imprecise of me. Allow me to rephrase and clarify. It is not that I would dislike working in the Anirian Guard, but rather that I am far more keen on pledging to my House. I should like to follow in the footsteps of Evangel--oh, Proctor D'Amour. Yes, I should like to follow in the footsteps of Proctor D'Amour and serve House Pirian not only as a faithful daughter thereof but as a Dreadlord as well."

She sighed. A touch anxious.

"Though...I understand that this might be difficult to do, even with my family's influence. The Republic has placed severe limitations upon the Houses concerning the amount of Dreadlords that may serve them. I do hope that this doesn't..."

Kristen trailed off. Worried.

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney let out a hmmm as she continued to braid. "I hope so too, Kristen. You deserve to be happy especially after this place."

"What does your sister think of you going to the Academy? I can imagine she wasn't too pleased to find out about this." She was almost done now. When she got to the end of the strands, she used a small ring to secure the end. "Now you'll have to find a mirror because your hair looks beautiful like this," she smiled at her work. She did do an excellent job.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

You deserve to be happy.

That was such a heartwarming thing for Delaney to say, Kristen felt as though she might just melt and go sliding off of the chair. "Ooohh, you too, Delaney. Especially you." Her time here paled before Delaney's own, and Delaney's was of such a horrendous caliber that even Kristen's singular year of the new Academy withered away to insignificance by comparison.

This, of course, dovetailed into what she asked next.

"You would imagine correctly. In my last correspondence with her, she was in equal measure mortified and furious. I understand her feelings on the matter, and yet...my admission to the Academy is more complicated than she might think." There was, indeed, some thorough explaining for Kristen to do on her part.

Kristen reached back and pulled the braid over her shoulder to get a look at it, smiling, turning it this way and that to admire Delaney's work.

"But I did hear some rumors amongst our peers that the Academy might host a 'family day,' and that would be the perfect time for my sis--"

She caught herself, realizing just then the self-stated status of Delaney's own family. Her own sister.

Horribly abashed, Kristen said looked back and up to her, and said "Oh Delaney, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..."

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney half laughed at Kristen saying that she deserved happiness. Delaney was not sure if she agreed. Her shadows were needy and they would always make sure that she did their bidding. Happiness wasn't a thing they knew or cared about.

"Don't apologize, Kristen. It was many years ago. I hope your sister can come and see you. Maybe your parents too. Perhaps I can meet Amelia?" She wasn't really sure why she had said that but Kristen clearly loved her sister and Delaney wanted to see what that love was like. What she could have had.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

What a relief that she hadn't stumbled into a grievous faux pas! So many of the other Initiates feared Delaney, a-and perhaps rightfully so, why, Kristen had very much been the same prior to this night, but yet, if only they could see the side of Delaney that Kristen had the pleasure of witnessing now, such fears would well be assuaged. It was almost an outright tragedy that so few of their peers knew how forgiving and kind Delaney could be.

Her confession of the murder of her sister seemed a thing more properly suited to someone else, someone whose heart truly was cold. To Kristen, it was as if Delaney had admitted to someone else's guilt.

Perhaps I can meet Amelia?

"Of course! Amelia would be naught but delighted to be so introduced to a friend of mine! I'm certain she's spent many a night and day fretting over my well-being here at the Academy. And though these concerns are not without warrant, it would doubtless assuage her worries to see that I've a friend in you, Delaney."

Kristen stood, smiled with nothing save genuine joy, and pulled Delaney into a warm embrace. Her cheek beside Delaney's own, tears rimmed the edges of her eyes and these were joyous too, her affection in that moment, her thankfulness, powerful almost to the point of being overwhelming.

"I am so very glad that this is not all some fleeting dream."

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney stiffened in Kristen's embrace at first but she quickly relaxed. Kristen was the only person she had ever let her guard down around. She had told her shadows to fuck right off and they had actually listened. They had let her be because they liked Kristen too. That was rare. Usually they tolerated people like she did but with a lot less patience.

"I am too," she said as she pulled back to look at Kristen. She leaned back in and kissed the Initiate softly on the lips. A moment later she realized what she had done and blushed. "I am...I shouldn't have done that..."

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Before Kristen truly knew it, her lips were touching Delaney's. In the absence of thought that came with the suddenness of it all, impressions: of the striking softness of the other girl's lips, the warm and intimate feel of breath whispering out through her nose and onto Kristen's cheek.

They parted.

Then the alarm came. Oh no! What had she done? Wait, had it been her, or had it been Delaney? Honestly, in the flux of this particular moment, Kristen could not remember. Oh. She blushed. Delaney blushed. Said she shouldn't have done that. It was Delaney. Or was she merely shouldering the responsibility for Kristen's sake? By Aionus, it was warm in here. What was she to do now? So many things harried her mind, vying for her attention! The pressure of her family, the expectations of a noblewoman, the wonderfulness of the kiss after the awfulness of the Academy, her curiosity about the gesture and how different it would feel with a male suitor, pondering on whether or not she had returned the kiss with any degree of innate skill and if more hushed practice wasn't such a bad thing, fretting about possibly offending her only friend here at the Academy, and seemingly a myriad of other things.

Surprisingly, a measure of composure stayed her tongue from tripping all over itself as it usually did. "No, no, it's okay, Delaney. Truly."

Kristen didn't dislike what they had shared, no. Hopefully Delaney could read it in her eyes, her cordial smile, that she was neither appalled nor repulsed by it despite, however, being momentarily alarmed. Hopefully she could read also that Kristen was reluctant to escalate beyond a simple, innocent kiss.

Hopefully. Or her tongue might well start tripping over itself in a rush to try and explain her feelings whilst simultaneously unraveling the tangle of them in her mind.

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney still felt foolish as she sat again and rubbed her face. "It was inappropriate," she muttered but she did notice that Kristen wasn't upset and that made her feel a little better. She couldn't believe she had done that. Her first real friend here and she had fucking kissed her. She was truly a disaster.

"Really, Kristen, thank you for tonight. I should probably go though. I don't want to keep you up..."

She was speaking so quickly now that some of the words were probably running together.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen was quick to come to Delaney's side in the chair, touching her arm with a reassuring and gentle hand.

"Thank you, Delaney, for helping me with Bull. And for this lovely braiding of my hair."

She smiled. The last thing she wanted was for Delaney to leave here tonight feeling distraught. Had she not suffered enough in the old ways of the Academy? Was one brief night constituting a fleeting reprieve truly so much to ask? Kristen thought not.

"May we speak again sometime?"

Delaney Lennox

 

[Delaney Lennox]

Delaney smiled and stood up. She pulled Kristen in one last hug before she headed to the door.

"You will never get rid of me now. I do not have any true friends besides you," she smiled once more and disappeared out the door to return to her own room down the hall.

She would protect Kristen from anyone who came for her.

/End Thread