Private Tales Hummingbirds and Flutterbyes

[Orissa]

"I feel that I understand your way of thinking." Orissa smeared a soft cheese on one cracker, topping it with a thin shaved slice of a salty meat before reaching for a fig and tearing a piece to top it all off. "Nasri is the current Heir, but any of us can stand to inherit the throne. I do that... I may lose some freedoms I do have as just as a Princess," Orissa smiled up at him, "and there surely would be too many meetings if I were to become Queen."

But her brothers never made her feel pressured to take up the title, but they each have tried to poke and prod an answer from her about which brother she would support.

The loaded cracker was placed in her mouth in it's entirety, savouring the symphony of flavours washing over her mouth. She hummed with delight, slowly chewing through it and using the poured bubbles to help wash it down. "I still have much to learn as a Princess... I still want to serve Thanasis however I can, whether that be educating others in dragon health and healing, war tactics... strategy... something to be of use. At least you are trusted to serve in the Thunder... can do your part even for a year or two..."

 

[Jensen]

Jensen's heart nearly damn well stopped as she brought up the very real possibility she could one day be Queen. He had spent the last few days truly wrapping his head around the fact that he was to be a Prince but a King? It made him feel physically sick. To make himself feel better he quickly stuffed a whole wedge of cheese in his mouth and chewed it with a nervous passion.

"But... you are of use, Orissa. All of us - well - those of us who were conscious saw what exactly you did for the injured during the Syzgy. If you hadn't be there me and Valathor wouldn't be here now, and countless others," his lips pressed into a thin line. There was something that got beneath his skin at the thought she did not see the wonder in what it was she already did.

"Not everything in Thanasis needs to be about war. I think... we could actually do with thinking on that more often," theirs was a society of blood and magic, that Jensen knew, but when he passed the poor and sick he did wonder if they could accomplish great things for their people - all of their people - if they turned just a fraction of their passion for war into a passion for caring.

 

[Orissa]

Orissa stared at the platter prepared before them, plucking different assortments closer to her and taking her time to construct a small serving. He was right, and she knew that for a fact since she too told anyone interested in healing the same. So why could she not believe her own words?

"Those two days were awful." It had been a week and a half already, but she still felt guilt for her part. It was hours after, when she had gone to follow Jensen and Draxton inside the vortex, that word came back of Thanasis. The culling of the Moon Dragons had made her sick to the stomach, guilty that she had left in the first place to play nurse. If she had stayed, she could have done the best she could to defend a protected species of dragons. Much like the Ransas, Moon Dragons were rare, and for such an important celestial event that saw their numbers soar...

She was no close friend of Eira Malennis, but she had done her job as Princess and extended her condolences for the passing of her father. Another life she could have saved...

But if she had not flown out to that beach that day, she would have not been there to save Jensen's life. Having met his family, his younger siblings... it had made her feel better about being there to keep him alive.

"I do not... know what made me fight for you." She began, ripping the sliced ham into tiny pieces atop the slice of cheese and cracker. "You were dead. Valathor was not doing well... but still, I felt so strongly that I needed to see you alive. Draxton..." She shook her head. "If I had not spoken, had not interfered... perhaps Valathor's wings would not have been damaged as much as they were." But the beautiful tsonye was perfectly healed now. After Valimir sorted her own dragon out, she had been back to help care for Thor while Orissa brought Jensen back to life.