8th of Zi'da 718
“Nightingale? Is that what you’re going by these days?”
“I… suppose so,” Navyri rose to her tiptoes to reach upwards, fingers barely scraping the edge of the worn bookshelf. Dust trickled downward and tickled her nose, making her face contort as she fought off a sneeze, “It was given to me, after all.”
Adelina continued her sweeping, smirking, “By Delroth.”
Navyri spared a glance over her shoulder at the other woman, measuring the woman’s tone, “Yes.”
“I still can’t believe you know him. Have you been to his shrine yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Ooh, you better. I’m sure he’d be upset if you didn’t pay your respects.” There was teasing on her tongue. The Naer hesitated, brow furrowed. Upset, indeed.
“When I get enough to pay him, I will,” Navyri reflected back on the past seasons, the sound of the broom swishing across the wooden floor playing in the background, “Things have been a little chaotic since I’ve arrived.” From attending dances, to getting locked in impossible mazes, to searching for the fountain of youth, all the way to flying up the mountain to an ancient vault, there was always something to do in Scalvoris. Plenty of trouble to participate in. How could she resist? “You’re a literary… Is there…” Navyri rearranged the books, dusting with an old rag as she went, “Is there any meaning behind it? The name? Nightingale?”
Adelina laughed, “Oh, quite. It’s so funny you mentioned it. I brought a book about symbolism in literature. I was reading it for my class at the university, but I’m sure it’s got something!” the woman set aside the broom and waltzed from the room, leaving Navyri alone in the old study. She continued to organize the old collection left by the past owners, reading the titles as she cleaned.
The Adventures of Cassion
How to Start a Fire and Other Survival Skills
The Chemistry of Baking
Magical Artifacts and Where to Find Them
Better Gnomes and Gardens
Dangerous Temptations
The last one made the dark haired woman pause and she smirked, idly flipping through the pages, brows raising as a mischievous grin spread across her lips.
The silky chocolate fabric I wore seemed to garner my desired effect. Dathan’s strong hands began to glide up and down my back, across my ribcage, and finally to my chest. He hesitated, as if still at war within himself, and gently cupped one breast.
Finally. To finally feel Dathan touch me like the woman he wanted. I could barely contain the excitement I felt inside.
That thin layer of silk was all that separated his hand from-
“Navyri!”
The shadow woman jumped, nearly falling from her step stool, a wing flapping to keep her balance. She slapped the book closed and hurriedly put it back on the shelf, a blush rising, “Hm?”
“What were you reading?”
“Just… some cookbook.” She waved her hand, the imagery still laughing in her mind, “A recipe for chocolate dessert.”
“Uh-huh… Well, I’ve got your answer.” Adelina had a book of her own open, its spine balanced on her forearm, “Nightingale.”
Eager to change topics, Navyri jumped down from where she stood, moving to the desk and pulling herself upon it, sitting so that when her company walked over, she could read over her shoulder. Adelina’s finger lifted to trace under the text, reading aloud:
It all comes down to a small, secretive, solitary songbird that goes on singing late into the night. It begins—and ends, too—with an unseen bird that continues to trill and whistle in the darkness long after the other birds have quieted for the evening. Its voice breaks the stillness. The nightingale is a common Old World bird with an uncommon sound: rich, loud, mellow, melodious. It has stamina and sings with an eerie natural beauty that reverberates like a chord through Idalosian poetry.
Adelina looked up at Navyri, who in turn was still absorbed in the text. When their eyes met, Adelina spoke, “You don’t think… Delroth fancies you, do you?”
She blanched, “What? You're jesting.”
"But why! In every work I've read the nightingale has been a symbol of love and sorrow. And look," Adeline lifted the book, "a secretive songbird, singing into the night. Darkness!" her brows might as well have been touching the crown of her head for how high they were, "Natural beauty? If that's not poetry for a Naer, I'm not sure what is..."
"Why does everyone always say this?" Everyone being one other person in Etzos, but it seemed like the world to Navyri, "Immortals don't care for mortals. It's like... a-a..." She struggled to think of an analogy that could fit.
"Even Faldrun loved once."
"So?"
"SO! How long have you been marked?"
Navyri shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable, "Forty... Forty one arcs or so? I don't remember."
"Forty one arcs, Delroth has known you. Watched you. In all that time you've shared a bond, and you don't think you could have pulled his interest in the slightest? Clearly he finds you lovely. You're clever, you're exciting..."
She trailed off and Navyri grew quiet, but shattered it quickly with a shake of her head, "No, no." He wouldn't have put her in the Miasma if he cared about her well-being. She was a means to an end. Nothing more, "Stop this, or you''ll get us both cursed."
"You're longer lived than any human. You clearly hold some favor-"
"Enough!" Navyri's voice echoed in the silent room, and she pushed off from the desk, clearly upset, "I don't want to hear this. I'm a tool for him... a token. I owe a debt and that's it. Delroth keeps me around because he has something Audrae doesn't. I'm worth nothing."
"Navyri-"
"Don't!" The Naer spun around, furious, "I trust facts! Evidence! I do what he wants and I get the job done, that's it."
"If you didn't want to know, you wouldn't have asked."
"I asked because.." Why did she ask? She remembered Delroth's flawless face watching her on the ship. He had been handsome, hauntingly so, but many men were. That meant very little, "I asked because words hold power. I should know the meaning of my name."
Navyri's mood dropped quickly and she went to the window, leaning against the yellowed wallpaper and staring at the icy garden, looking, but not seeing.
"You're worth so much more," Adelina's gentle hand rested on her shoulder and the Naer heaved a great sigh, burying her cheek against her shoulder.
"No... No, I'm not."
Outside, the snow began to fall.
“Nightingale? Is that what you’re going by these days?”
“I… suppose so,” Navyri rose to her tiptoes to reach upwards, fingers barely scraping the edge of the worn bookshelf. Dust trickled downward and tickled her nose, making her face contort as she fought off a sneeze, “It was given to me, after all.”
Adelina continued her sweeping, smirking, “By Delroth.”
Navyri spared a glance over her shoulder at the other woman, measuring the woman’s tone, “Yes.”
“I still can’t believe you know him. Have you been to his shrine yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“Ooh, you better. I’m sure he’d be upset if you didn’t pay your respects.” There was teasing on her tongue. The Naer hesitated, brow furrowed. Upset, indeed.
“When I get enough to pay him, I will,” Navyri reflected back on the past seasons, the sound of the broom swishing across the wooden floor playing in the background, “Things have been a little chaotic since I’ve arrived.” From attending dances, to getting locked in impossible mazes, to searching for the fountain of youth, all the way to flying up the mountain to an ancient vault, there was always something to do in Scalvoris. Plenty of trouble to participate in. How could she resist? “You’re a literary… Is there…” Navyri rearranged the books, dusting with an old rag as she went, “Is there any meaning behind it? The name? Nightingale?”
Adelina laughed, “Oh, quite. It’s so funny you mentioned it. I brought a book about symbolism in literature. I was reading it for my class at the university, but I’m sure it’s got something!” the woman set aside the broom and waltzed from the room, leaving Navyri alone in the old study. She continued to organize the old collection left by the past owners, reading the titles as she cleaned.
The Adventures of Cassion
How to Start a Fire and Other Survival Skills
The Chemistry of Baking
Magical Artifacts and Where to Find Them
Better Gnomes and Gardens
Dangerous Temptations
The last one made the dark haired woman pause and she smirked, idly flipping through the pages, brows raising as a mischievous grin spread across her lips.
The silky chocolate fabric I wore seemed to garner my desired effect. Dathan’s strong hands began to glide up and down my back, across my ribcage, and finally to my chest. He hesitated, as if still at war within himself, and gently cupped one breast.
Finally. To finally feel Dathan touch me like the woman he wanted. I could barely contain the excitement I felt inside.
That thin layer of silk was all that separated his hand from-
“Navyri!”
The shadow woman jumped, nearly falling from her step stool, a wing flapping to keep her balance. She slapped the book closed and hurriedly put it back on the shelf, a blush rising, “Hm?”
“What were you reading?”
“Just… some cookbook.” She waved her hand, the imagery still laughing in her mind, “A recipe for chocolate dessert.”
“Uh-huh… Well, I’ve got your answer.” Adelina had a book of her own open, its spine balanced on her forearm, “Nightingale.”
Eager to change topics, Navyri jumped down from where she stood, moving to the desk and pulling herself upon it, sitting so that when her company walked over, she could read over her shoulder. Adelina’s finger lifted to trace under the text, reading aloud:
It all comes down to a small, secretive, solitary songbird that goes on singing late into the night. It begins—and ends, too—with an unseen bird that continues to trill and whistle in the darkness long after the other birds have quieted for the evening. Its voice breaks the stillness. The nightingale is a common Old World bird with an uncommon sound: rich, loud, mellow, melodious. It has stamina and sings with an eerie natural beauty that reverberates like a chord through Idalosian poetry.
Adelina looked up at Navyri, who in turn was still absorbed in the text. When their eyes met, Adelina spoke, “You don’t think… Delroth fancies you, do you?”
She blanched, “What? You're jesting.”
"But why! In every work I've read the nightingale has been a symbol of love and sorrow. And look," Adeline lifted the book, "a secretive songbird, singing into the night. Darkness!" her brows might as well have been touching the crown of her head for how high they were, "Natural beauty? If that's not poetry for a Naer, I'm not sure what is..."
"Why does everyone always say this?" Everyone being one other person in Etzos, but it seemed like the world to Navyri, "Immortals don't care for mortals. It's like... a-a..." She struggled to think of an analogy that could fit.
"Even Faldrun loved once."
"So?"
"SO! How long have you been marked?"
Navyri shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable, "Forty... Forty one arcs or so? I don't remember."
"Forty one arcs, Delroth has known you. Watched you. In all that time you've shared a bond, and you don't think you could have pulled his interest in the slightest? Clearly he finds you lovely. You're clever, you're exciting..."
She trailed off and Navyri grew quiet, but shattered it quickly with a shake of her head, "No, no." He wouldn't have put her in the Miasma if he cared about her well-being. She was a means to an end. Nothing more, "Stop this, or you''ll get us both cursed."
"You're longer lived than any human. You clearly hold some favor-"
"Enough!" Navyri's voice echoed in the silent room, and she pushed off from the desk, clearly upset, "I don't want to hear this. I'm a tool for him... a token. I owe a debt and that's it. Delroth keeps me around because he has something Audrae doesn't. I'm worth nothing."
"Navyri-"
"Don't!" The Naer spun around, furious, "I trust facts! Evidence! I do what he wants and I get the job done, that's it."
"If you didn't want to know, you wouldn't have asked."
"I asked because.." Why did she ask? She remembered Delroth's flawless face watching her on the ship. He had been handsome, hauntingly so, but many men were. That meant very little, "I asked because words hold power. I should know the meaning of my name."
Navyri's mood dropped quickly and she went to the window, leaning against the yellowed wallpaper and staring at the icy garden, looking, but not seeing.
"You're worth so much more," Adelina's gentle hand rested on her shoulder and the Naer heaved a great sigh, burying her cheek against her shoulder.
"No... No, I'm not."
Outside, the snow began to fall.
