[fleabittengray]

Hey come in
And let me get under your skin, your skin
You started something you can't win, can't win
I am your church these are your sins, your sins
Now don't you wish you could take em back cause

He had been stolen, not for the first time, and probably not for the last. At least this steal he had seen coming, had suspected it would happen from the moment Belial had escaped. He hoped that sweet Mariposa would not blame herself for this. The poor girl was going through enough as it was! And anyway, Sanctio did not blame her. This was what fate wanted to happen. This was destined to happen, from the moment he had met Thomasin in the Free Lands. She had aligned herself with the Underworld, and Sanctio was aligned to Utopia. He had taken her guard, kidnapping him, dragged him back to Desolate Earth and succeeded in keeping him captive for several weeks, if not months. He wondered why she had never come looking for him. Wondered why she was reacting now, when it seemed she hadn't truly cared in the past. What was this strange connection between Belial and Thomasin? He was morbidly curious about the Dark Queen.

He arrived at the borders of The Howling Keep just before noon, his feather pillars carrying him forward with confidence and ease. It did not take long for a guard to spot him, trumpeting an alarm that he was sure would be heard through all of the Keep. Sanctio grinned, handsome and calm, and dipped his head to the guard. "Hello, your Queen has summoned me. Best not to keep her waiting, no?" He laughed then, seeming entirely at ease despite his situation. The guard gave him a look, one of confusion and wariness, but then motioned for Sanctio to follow them. The Clydesdale did so without complaints, without arguments, keeping enough distance between them that the guard would not be able to easily strike out at him. His gaze was casual as it looked around, taking in the woods around him. It was beautiful here, a sort of haunting beauty that was typical in the Dark Kingdom.


Tagged: A z z y w/ Thomasin
Words: 324
Character: Sanctio
Notes: This will be interesting
Timeline: 9 years 6 months, late summer, late morning, before Belial's Coronation

[A z z y]

A distant whinny on the wind caught her attention, the witch queen raising her crown from the herbs she was gathering deep within the forest. Her brow furrowed gently, until realisation dawned - her captive had arrived. It had truly surprised the witch queen to learn of what had happened to Belial. His absence was louder than his presence, the peace she had felt whilst he was wherever he had disappeared to was spellbinding. Comforting. She allowed her mind to wander whilst he had been absent; she believed Belial to have been enraptured with Harlan, retreating to a hole so cavernous and deep that even she lacked the will to bring him back. Let him fester in the embrace of the enemy, let him lose it all, all that he had tried to carve away at. Alas, she had been wrong, Belial had been ambushed, spirited away and held captive in the lands that had caused her so much strife, so much loss. Whilst this agony had not been caused directly by Sanctio, he inhabited the home of Underoath, he lived with his family, he knew of the crimes he had committed, or so she believed. So when Belial returned, battered and broken, regaining his tale of enslavement in the lands of Desolate Earth, Thomasin knew that she could not allow such an injustice to slip freely by.

The witch queen meandered through the woodland in contemplative silence, following the sound of the call, her gilded eyes focused on the rabbit path worn through the blades as she mulled over what had happened, and what was yet to come to pass. The death of her first born babes, Cersei and Jaime, at the hands of a mare she had only met once before, plagued her. If it had not been for the assault from Julius and Albion, her children would still be alive. Her spawn would be almost two. The Dark regent swallowed, her throat dry as she looked to the treeline ahead, Marduk perched upon the limb of an ash tree. The canopy was beginning to change, from the lush emerald hue of summer to the ochre, claret and mahogany shades of autumn, her favourite time of the year. The sound of hooves upon blades caught her attention, and there through the militant rows of trees, she saw them. Members of the guard leading the bay Clydesdale she had met but once before. Tension ate at her gut, indecision dissolving her usually steadfast decisions - what pained her more? The fact he had taken from her what did not belong to him, or he had let it escape so freely?

Donning a regal facade of stoicism, she pushed through the undergrowth, her nape held in soft arch, her features beautiful yet seemingly vacant. With so much emotion brewing within her, keeping it under wraps grew harder everyday, yet she persevered. Intercepting the throng of equines, she subtly inclined her crown as they did to her, their statures solidifying as she cast her critical gaze over them and the target of her ire. Thank you, she began cordially, her steady gaze then falling upon Sanctio with a flick of her obsidian cords. You are dismissed, and they dispersed like dandelion seeds blown to the wind, out of sight, but not out of earshot. Her beautiful countenance turned to face him then, obsidian tresses framing her features as she looked to him with a wry smile. Hola, she uttered, remembering the tongue he had used to address her and turning it upon himself, even if that was the limit of her memory. I assume you know why you're here? She queried, her tones eerily light as she gestured with her crown to follow him, the citadel upon the hill looming in the distance. He was no fool, that much she was sure of, but the conversation had to start somewhere…

fleabittengray and this is why you shouldn't do posts after a couple of whiskeys


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