Testing The Wyrdmarks Pt4 ||Night Court||
Category: Uncategorized

Closing the curtain Lysandra smiled at her daughter who sat completely in her seat now she couldn't see clearly through the gauzy drapery. "We need to finish this breakfast so we can set you to reading and I can talk to the ladies when they arrive." Evangeline nodded her head, her golden hair still tangled from sleep. Motioning the girl up Lysandra smiled more genuinely this time as Evie stood and let her mother finger comb her hair, braiding it back from her scarred cheeks. Patting her shoulder then she motioned to the bowel on the table. "You mix that, while I start frying these," and she pointed to the plate before her. This was their typical morning since coming to Velaris. After a night of nightmares for one or both of them Lysandra made sure that Evangleine was fed and then set her to studying, much like she did at home though at home her daughter had tutors. But she set the lessons now, she had Evie do reading, some math though Lysandra was rubbish with more complicated math herself, and then they had lessons on the history of their country. It wasn't clear that they would ever see that country again, but Lysandra wouldn't stop the only stability that her child had in her life. So the pair cooked, and they spoke in low tones and shared smiles. And when all the food had been prepared Lysandra sat down to eat with her child. They had a solid hour before the knock on the door made them both tense. 

Lysandra had cleaned up the borrowed kitchen and had since set the borrowed books in front of her child before she went to answer the door. "I just need a moment," she called before letting in the two women Adeluna had told her would be arriving to speak with her today. She knew that one was her hosts cousin, the other her sister in law. It helped they were both women, as Evie was always more comfortable around women, a cruel irony. Her husband was the exception to that rule, and thinking of Aedion made her heart ache so she shut down that train of thought before her eyes started to brim. Dusting her hands on her skirt Lysandra let down her hair as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the golden curls on her daughters head. "I'm going to speak with the women now. Ill be just out on the balcony so our voices don't bother you. If you need me im just there." Lysandra waited for the nod from Evangeline and then smiled heading back out to the apartments living room. She offered a short tight smile to the women before pointing to the balcony doors leading the way. "Adeluna left me some books for my daughter to study so if you don't mind id rather talk out here..." She trailed off not finishing the thought until they were outside and the door was slid shut behind them. "Our story isn't a happy one and id rather not have her hear it if we can avoid it." The balcony had plants of all shapes and sizes perches on ledges and in pots or baskets. Lysandra took a single chair, leaving a double seat of curled iron for the other two women.

Sitting down beside one another they were striking in their differences. Both beautiful one had pale golden hair and large eyes that were shrewd but not unkind. The brunette smiled wider but also looked to be the more intense of the two. And it was this one who spoke, "I know Luna warned you we would be stopping by. Typically it would be Rhys who handled this but given the circumstances and that we dont want to crowd you two right now we all thought our faces might be more welcome. Plus we take up less space, those Illyrian wings tend to get in the way." Herdis was all smiles and soft but almost playful tones. She had seen enough uncomfortable meetings back home, her family was pretty constantly in turmoil so it wasn't hard for her to default into trying to be a soothing force here and now. After a moment Mor spoke from beside her, "We only want to hear your story. You know the basics of how we think you got here. But if there is some factor from your own home, be that about you and your powers or your country or world at large, that information might be useful to setting this to rights. So when you are ready just talk, we will listen and together we will try and figure this out." If Herdis was friendly bubbly energy then Mor was a soothing calm that got a nod from Lysandra. She had taken down her hair so it covered her face when she looked down for a moment steeling her nerves and then she began to speak.

She started from the beginning of her personal tale, being born a shifter, which was unknown to her mother as her father was the shifter and hadn't stayed with them long enough to warn her mother. When she was six she had shifted in front of her mother, which panicked the woman who put out the dog that had taken the place of her child. Lysandra had very little control of her powers then, but being on the streets she had nothing but time to practice. When she had some control of it she would shift not only into animals to hide from people but when she needed to beg money she shifted into adorable children with golden ringlets who pulled at peoples heart strings. When she was roughly 8 magic was wiped out of her world and she was stuck without her abilities to survive with. "We didn't know it at the time, but Erilea, that's our continent, was being systemically taken over by a mad king. Some countries had more magic then others so he wiped out magic through nefarious purposes and then opted to wipe out the resistance with his very large mercenary army. So anyway, I was left without the means to protect myself. Slave trading was on the rise and I was picked up during a patrol and sold to a whore house in the mad kings capital city. This establishment was very high end. So they took younger kids, between the ages of 8 and 12, and trained them up. They auctioned off my virginity if you need to understand the people who held power back then. But you could pay off the debt of being bought and then raised up and buy your freedom. I was very close to buying my freedom when the madam brought Evangeline." Lysandra nodded her head to the doors keeping their voices from the child inside. "She was terrified and had no way out. Her debt was double what mine had been and we knew the madam would sell her earlier then she had me because of her high cost. So I asked her if she wanted a way out, the scars on her cheeks were of my doing. Without the perception of her beauty she was of no value to the madam. I took on her debts as punishment though so I wasn't free of the city. It was unlikely I would ever pay it off to be frank."

Lysandra tossed back her hair looking at the leaves hanging behind the two other women, not focusing on their faces or she knew she wouldn't be able to get through the story. "It was during this time that I connected with a rebellion fighting to free us of the mad kings reign. I had an old friend," and she smiled then imagining what Aelin would think hearing them referred to as old friends back then. "She was the intended queen of a rival nation and she was amassing an army to fight the king. So I took up with her. Her cousin was also her general and we worked closely together trying to keep the resistance alive despite attacks on all sides. Aedion, that's my husband, had many times an entire countries survival on his back but despite that we managed to find one another. And to fight for Terrasen which is where my home is now. Or was?" she offered lowering her eyes to the women. She added on vague details about her home, nothing that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. She explained her court and how her family now lived. But she didn't give then important details. Despite how nice they were she didn't trust these people with the secrets of her family. Not knowing if they would ever be able to get back, those were better left unsaid. "In the end we freed the lock the mad king had on magic and evened the playing field. I've seen some of the books that Adeluna was working with, those markings, I cant translate them but I can confirm some things she suspects about them."

The brunette motioned for her to continue and Lysandra nodded her head. "Aelin, my queen, uncovered them when we were looking for something to beat the mad king. He was using them to suppress magic in our lands. They are very very dangerous. They can create and destroy in equal measure. And the portals they open cant always be closed without immense sacrifice." This last bit was said with a certainty that told the other women Lysandra had seen that kind of sacrifice come into play first hand. "Only one person in our lands had been alive long enough to understand them entirely and she was no friend to us. Its a magic so old and dark that if allowed it will blot out your sun and ruin your world. Id avoid them at all costs if I were you." She watched the women share a look and nodded, "I know that could mean not getting home. Never seeing my family again. But if there's even a little risk of returning us opening portals that could end my world... well then living in exile with my child is preferable to my greed for home killing my husband." And her face wore an expression of such complete sadness Herdis only nodded her agreement, but committed to nothing. As the women stood a while later after all their questions had been answered Lysandra saw them out watching their backs as they retreated. They hadn't sneered at her upon learning she had been a whore. And they hadn't looked down on Evangeline when they had said goodbye despite knowing she was adopted and had almost suffered the same fate. Of all the places for them to land her anger was less present knowing it was a place that wouldn't harm or judge her daughter for the things from their past. "Mama, I finished those pages," Evie called out from the other room and as Lysandra locked the door she smiled calling over her shoulder, "You are getting faster and faster by the day." She swiped at her eyes, because every time she thought of her husband and not getting home it brought her emotions so close to the surface. But she had to be strong for the little girl now chattering in the other room, and Lysandra went to her with a face clear of the anguish she felt, sporting a bright smile for her little girl. 

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