As the Ashes Cool

*Raisa* · 02-16-2014, 06:49 PM

Insurmountable pride swelled with Raisa's chest as she watched her followers appear from across the landscape. They heeded her call swiftly, and each with a smile on their face and a glowing light in their eyes. It was the queen's dearest wish that she could kindle this glow into a roaring blaze of unity and determination. Oh, how grand they would become... She turned her eyes first to Fugue and offered him a warm, sincere smile. Koros sat at his side and looked positively arrogant, so thrilled was he. The two males had been with her from the beginning, and she knew she had done well by them. Kaliska came next, bearing news of the other lands. Raisa smiled and chuckled. "Kaliska, it is good to see you looking well. This is a beginning indeed, one the land will quake with. Better for us that our neighbors see discord." Raisa smiled and sent the woman a wink, knowing that she shared the same fiery spirit, and would likely find amusement in the situation at hand.

Flirtatious Fili came next, followed soon by the dark, peaceful Kaala. The tan male's spirit blazed in his words, even if the jokes were absent. She knew she had been wise in extending her offer. "Thank you, Fili, for your faith in me. I will be certain it is well deserved." To Kaala, the fae who had taught the might queen to fish, Raisa gave a special smile. Kaala had been the first to see Raisa as she was, purely wolf without her titles. It had been a refreshing, peaceful afternoon. She caught site of her glance towards the tan male and wondered if they had met previously. Finally, the Godling appeared. Raisa broke into a full-fledged grin and chuckled. "Glad to see you heeded my invitation, Godling." Raisa looked over her followers, all so verdant of spirit and drive. Yes, these five would surely be the foundation she had prayed for. Each was uniquely diverse, intensely driven, and already very precious to the ebon royal. That they had placed such blind faith in her... It was a display she would never forget, and a debt she would never be able to repay.

She took a deep breath and addressed them as a whole for the very first time. "Welcome to Ebony," she said, voice sanguine and strong. A summer breeze caught her, and amidst her swirling fur she was surrounded by the unique scents of their new homeland. "Each of you sit before me today because you have placed your faith in me. For that, I am eternally grateful. Today, this very moment, is the start of something unimaginably grand." Her voice swelled with power and desire. "The cornerstones we lay today will propel us into a future that will shake the realm down to it's roots." Raisa stood then, and descended languidly from her perch. She moved to address the wolves of Ebony on a more personal level. "We must always act as one, with the interest of the whole superseding that of the few. The faith we will be able to place in the love we bear one another will make us strong, and steady. Our strengths and weaknesses will interlock, and braces us against any strain." She had thought long and hard on this, laying awake many a night to consider just how this conversation might go.

"There will two orders I would like you to dedicate yourself to, each of equal importance and standing. The Ebon Knights will govern our needs in hunting and battle, defense and offense, all things physical. The Sola Knights will hone and harbor Ebony's greatest minds. Those with gifts for herbology, philosophy, diplomacy, and theology will find their calling within those ranks. I would ask each of you which you would prefer, with the knowledge that you will be first and foremost in the mortar and stone of our new home. If you are uncertain, you might choose to remain a commoner, unsorted, to be trained and added into the ranks at a later time." She let her words settle over them, a smile on her mouth, eyes keen and bright. The details they could discuss later. This starting point, pushing off from the shore of the past, filled her bones with a golden light. Raisa had never felt more at peace, or in her element. She had a family once again.

"Talk" "You" Think

Login
Username:
Password:	Lost Password?
	Remember me