EVE'S HEART

[aprettygirl]

A dark veil slips over you, obscuring your vision; it’s cool and clinging, and blocks out all outside sensation. You drift downward . . . as you do, you grow more and more aware of the pulse of your own heartbeat, until it’s a ringing, unpleasant throb in your ears.

. . . after some time, it’s interrupted by a soft splash, and you feel solid rock underfoot.

((Please join #fleshbloodbone. All your character’s skills are on and uncapped; they will also have access to any items they carry normally!))

Comments

a hard place

[aprettygirl]

flesh (court of veils)

[aprettygirl]

Lush is the first word that comes to mind, when you enter this area. You appear to be in the strangest bedroom you’ve ever seen: you’re in a clearing surrounded by what looks like lush, broad forest, but you can see walls in the far distance that enclose the space. This room is without a ceiling, open to the air, though the sky overhead is strange: the sunlight has a dimmed, rippling quality. You can hear the songs and buzzing of various types of birds and insects, and a good number of them are flying around the area, perfectly visible. There’s even a dark, liquid eye peering at you from the foliage at the edge of the clearing: a small deer?

The clearing itself is clean and more clearly manmade, the ground tiled in shining green with golden inlays. There’s a low, decorated tea table with a full tea service upon it, as well as a set of papers in black folders; a fancy chair; and a thronelike couch with the back fashioned into the shape of a stylized lotus flower.

A slender girl with Eve’s build is on the couch, sitting up but slumped to the side, apparently fast asleep. She’s dressed quite elaborately. There is a gauzy, pale-green veil draped over her, obscuring her features.

The air smells fresh and green, but there’s a disturbing hint of blood underneath.

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[rebells]

[hmm

glances around him, and finally heading over to check out that tea table]

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[aprettygirl]

There's tea in the pot and a bold thrush trying to help itself to a biscuit.

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[rebells]

[c-cute]

You don't talk, do you?

[it wouldn't surprise me, okay]

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[aprettygirl]

It chirps at you helpfully.

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[rebells]

I suppose not.

[pouring himself a cup of tea, then, and let's look through those papers]

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[aprettygirl]

The writing in the first appears illegible at first, some sort of foreign script, but after a moment it shifts to something readable.

Countess Shahrazad al-Rahman, implicated in the late Duke Suleyman's plot to assassinate the Empress and assume the throne, was confirmed to have left the Empire and escaped pursuit by the royal guard, along with her Terran attendants. She resurfaced in Istavan and kidnapped the Lady Saint Esther Blanchett at a public speech made by the Saint. They evaded capture for some days, but the Countess was killed by Esther Blanchett after a second attempt to take a high-ranking member of the Church hostage -- this time the Pope himself.

It should be noted that Archbishop D'Annunzio of Istavan was arrested immediately concurrent with Lady Sharazad's death, and the Countess's attendants have not been sighted in Istavan at all. Observation will continue.

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[rebells]

Politics and conspiracy . . . .

[keeps going?]

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[aprettygirl]

The second contains only a scrap of paper. . .when you touch it, you get one of Eve's memories: sitting in a hospital room, explaining something to a girl named Esther.

(This page up until page 4 of the next chapter!)

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[rebells]

[oh, that explains a few things; pauses on that for a moment, frowning, before continuing on]

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[aprettygirl]

The last one contains a blurry candid photograph of a woman and a thin piece of vellum that says, in Eve's handwriting, Our messenger has been sent. We await the news they bring.

. . . you feel a faint, tired, cautious hope when you touch either of them.

Re: flesh (court of veils)

[rebells]

. . . a change in the situation, perhaps.

[turns the photograph over in his hands, checking to see if there's anything on the other side]

blood (court of chains)

[aprettygirl]

Some things have changed.

The forest around you has been replaced with a thicket of green and gold curtains, velvety-thick. The smell of blood is very strong now, and it feels like your senses have sharpened. You can hear the heartbeats of every living thing in this enclosure -- even though the forest has changed, the animals are still here.

The girl on the throne does not have a heartbeat.

Her veil has disappeared. She looks quite like Eve, but there is a ceramic, artificial quality to her skin, you can see faint seams in her skin, and her eyes have been replaced with silver mirrors -- she’s a beautifully-made, jointed doll. Fine gold chains attached to her wrists, ankles, and the back of her neck are now visible; they lead up somewhere out of sight.

Re: blood (court of chains)

[rebells]

[o-oh

oh, that's sad :(

grips her hand more tightly for a moment, an involuntary reaction, not saying anything just yet]

Re: blood (court of chains)

[aprettygirl]

...she bows her head.

Re: blood (court of chains)

[rebells]

[:((]

. . . is this how you see yourself?

Re: blood (court of chains)

[aprettygirl]

"This is 'Empress Augusta Vradica.'

. . . I am 'one who rules' but I do not rule the heart."

Re: blood (court of chains)

[rebells]

. . . I'd be pretty concerned if you did, honestly. You don't seem very happy.

[keeping ahold of that hand]

Re: blood (court of chains)

[aprettygirl]

"I would prefer not to be necessary."

Re: blood (court of chains)

[rebells]

I don't blame you.

[glances down, melancholy]

. . . I'm not sure I was sent to the right place. I don't have much advice to offer for someone who's struggling under the weight of a responsibility they can't abdicate.

Re: blood (court of chains)

[aprettygirl]

". . . you have helped to ease that ache."

Re: blood (court of chains)

[rebells]

[oh]

--I'm glad, then.

Re: blood (court of chains)

[aprettygirl]

She leans a little sideways on him.

Re: blood (court of chains)

[rebells]

[ . . . shifting a little to accommodate her, without letting go of her hand]