A Penitent Poesy or The King's Memory (Giselle)

[Magnus Starshine]

The grass was the rich green of emeralds and soft as a feather mattress beneath his weight, and the sunlight fell rich and warm as fresh honey, setting off the subtle shimmer of Magnus' golden skin as he sat in the gardens. His long fingers were gently plucking various flowers and herbs to weave into a wreath that he would be taking to the Fissure. It was something that he did every year on the anniversary of the rupture, to commemorate the loss of life on all sides.

At the delicate snapping of each stem Magnus murmured a soft apology to the plant, assuring it that its sacrifice was not in vain. His calloused and oft broken fingers were surprisingly deft at this delicate weaving. Rosemary for remembrance, Zinnias for thoughts of absent friends and constancy. Sunflowers for pride and yellow lilies for gratitude, he wove each plant into the wreath with a soft prayer of mourning and gratitude for the sacrifice that was made on that day.

The gardens were one of the very few places the king could go anymore without some kind of guard trailing him. As it was, he could feel their presences though they were scattered to give him an illusion of privacy. A little half-smile twisted up one side of his mouth at that. Rank may not have changed him personally, but it had changed his lifestyle so he'd learned to be a bit sneakier. Which was a trait that did not come naturally to the Light fey. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make in order to avoid knocking someone's head off when he just wanted to be alone.

Perhaps he was too much of that lately.

A shrug of his broad shoulders dismissed that thought. There wasn't exactly a great deal of time to be chasing after romance, particularly with the Dark Courts beginning to move again.

He added camellia, amaryllis, and acorn to the wreath as well and bound the ends with bachelor's button and forget-me-not, a wide satisfied smile gracing his mouth. Surely the spirits at the Fissure would appreciate such a thing.

[Giselle]

Lying in the long grasses not far off from where the King was creating his wreath she could feel it coming together. Each blossom and herb that was picked was felt through her body, through their screams. Though the noises were silent the druid like fey woman could feel it all. This was what she got for having such a connection to the earth; all plants, animals and trees that belonged to it as well. For a moment it was easy enough to ignore, nothing beyond the usual things from children wanting to give flowers to their mothers or running rampant and crushing some of the poor buds into the earth from whence it came.

After awhile though it was obvious that this was going to continue on, in the same fashion, from some person who had decided to continually pluck upon the poor flowers and herbs like they owned them. It angered her and spurned her into action. With an authority she did not have in his kingdom yet wore about her small shoulders like a mantle meant for her, she stalked out of the grasses and toward the felonious flower filcher.

There he was. Tall and rather muscular despite being a fey. Did fey even come that heavily muscled? Her footfalls were silent yet she was not fooled into thinking he was unaware of her presence. Giselle stalked to him and stood right in front of where he was, looking down with a scowl on her pale face. Striking eyes flashing with her inner fire she stabbed at him in the chest with one dainty digit.

“What do you think you are doing uprooting so many of these poor living things? Grabbing them like you are about to choke them and then snapping their roots as you sever them from their lifeline!” It was obvious the tiny Earth Warrior was angry, and she rarely ever came out of hiding for anything. But this was not just anything, this was an outrage and her tattoos curled and curved about her scantily clad and heavily curvaceous body with the vehemence of her words.

[Magnus Starshine]

A long suffering sigh arose in Magnus' chest at the very hurried and authoritative footfalls , headed in his direction, thumped through the ground and into his ears. Likely there was some problem happening somewhere that he would have to tend to, cutting short what little genuine free time he had anymore.

The sigh was cut short as well, dying a swift death at the hands of surprise when a pair of small, bare feet planted themselves in front of him. The tiny dagger of a finger prodding at well muscled flesh killed off any last vestiges of sighing that might have been lingering as Magnus looked up to see a short, curvaceous Earth fey glaring down at him and accusing him of nothing short of murder.

Golden brows lifted in genuine surprise, and Magnus fought down the urge to rise to his feet as was only proper when in the presence of a lady. However he was more concerned with bowling the small fey over and so stayed where he was.

The King simply stared at the red haired woman for a moment, taking in the sight of that nigh living tattoo and the flashing eyes, as he tried to gather his thoughts to reply properly to such an accusation.

"Ah, forgive me Lady, but my intent was no such thing. I have a warrior's hands, so my fingers are thick and clumsy, but I have apologized to each of these blossoms as profusely as possible." Magnus lifted the wreath in both hands to show the young woman his handiwork. "I was creating a wreath for the fallen fey at the Fissure. It is something I do every year, to try and offer up some small measure of beauty in the face of all the death and destruction. Now my dear Lady, might I inquire as to who you are to speak to me so boldly?"

The words carried a subtle mixture of good humor and authority as the tall king rose to his feet, stretching a little bit after sitting so long and laying the wreath carefully over his shoulder for carrying purposes. Lapis colored eyes focused on the young woman as he waited for his answer, their gaze taking in every inch of her in more of a calculated regard than pleasurable assessment. Though she was lovely and Magnus did enjoy looking at her, he'd met too many deadly women in his time to disregard one just because she was pretty. In addition it would be indescribably rude to leer down at her, gorgeous figure or not.

[Giselle]

Getting a better look at his face she saw he was not beautiful. In fact the male looked older, which was odd among the fey. He also had scars, though fine, running along his face that her fingertips itched to trace. Giselle did not think him unattractive, just that he was not beautiful like most of the male fey were. This made two fey of the male variety that she had seen lately who were not all that common in the looks department. Both of them seemed to be Light fey too as it were.

Speaking of his hands she looked down to them and her eyes went wide. They were indeed messy, as that was the best way to refer to them. Fingers gnarled and heavily scarred yet trying from what she could tell at least to be gentle to the flowers. Her lips set into a thin line, which was somewhat difficult considering their fullness, and she continued to glare at him. Just because he was being nice to them did not mean she could so easily forgive such transgressions.

When he explained just what it was he was creating and why she could feel the anger leave her with a whoosh of breath. She had been there, had fought and had seen many fall in the line of duty. So many had died some easily and some in ways she was never able to forget. “Your reasoning is commendable and therefore I cannot be angry with you anymore over it.”

Giselle watched the well built Light fey get to his feet and only then was it noticeable just how much larger he was then her. Yes she was muscular, her body was both curvy but not all that soft. He however was heavily muscled and incredibly tall. The scowl had changed to a frown as she arched her neck to look up at him from her close positioning. “You are entirely too large for me being so close.”

“I am Giselle, Warrior of Earth. I speak to whoever I wish whatever way I wish and am known for such. I care little for politics and keeping my thoughts to myself.” Stepping back just slightly she continued to hold his gaze, her passionate and fiery inner nature flashing in her eyes. The tattoos had calmed finally and were just lazily undulating along her flesh, touching her in places most men wished they had the courage to.

[Magnus Starshine]

The tall king couldn't help the amusement that crept into his luminous blue eyes as the little Earth warrior magnanimously almost forgave him. Whatever ground he had managed to gain with her was demolished as soon as he had stood up, towering over her slight pale figure. "Ah, again you must forgive me Lady. It's all this light and open space. It does things to a body."

The amusement made his eyes glow warmly, a soft flourish of light playing over his burnished skin as scarred, sculptured lips split into a wide smile. One hand to his chest, Magnus bent at the waist, according Giselle all the dignity of her station. Except that thoroughly amused smile naturally undermined the gravity of the gesture.

"Thank you, Giselle, Warrior of the Earth for both your gracious pardon and your presence here in the gardens, nay in Lilianthor itself. The kingdom will rest easier from great to small knowing that it has such a fierce champion."

Perhaps he was teasing her just a trifle, even though he knew he shouldn't, but he meant every word. She was the Warrior, the champion of one his court's strongest allies. He couldn't afford to alienate her, or to show any sort of disrespect. "The king himself expresses his gratitude for the depth of your dedication and regard," he continued on, straightening up from the bow. Those blue eyes continued to glow and twinkle down at her, watching the strange vine tattoo that twisted along her body, the smile on his face toned down just a trifle from the easy teasing it had shown earlier. Magnus still, even after sitting on the throne for so long, had to forcibly remind himself that he couldn't be as casual with other fey as he once was.

"A very refreshing attitude, particularly since our kind are so prone to secret keeping. I would that more of our folk thought as you do." That last sounded just slightly wistful. Magnus was about to say more, but just then the guards had finally reached the small area of the garden where the two fey were, having been drawn by Giselle's voice raised in ire.

"Majesty, all is well here," the young male asked, one hand resting easily on the hilt of his sword, a golden brow arched in question.

"Yes lad, all is well," Magnus sighed, waving the young guard off. The lad nodded and saluted, eyeing Giselle with a mixture of wariness and very masculine approval before turning on his heel and walking off in the direction he'd come from. Who knew what stories he would tell his friends about the king meeting lovely young women in the garden. The thought made a little smile quirk up one corner of his mouth as he turned back to Giselle to see just how "not interested in politics" she was. "May I offer you some sort of refreshment, compensation for any of my crimes?"

[Giselle]

If it was all the light and open space that made him as he is then her being underneath the canopy of trees in darkness most of the time explained things. Though she took an appreciative note of his figure she was more concerned with how best to look at him without hurting her neck or backing off like she might be afraid. So she compromised with herself and exerted just the slightest bit of will so that the ground underneath her rose up and she could be nearly eye to eye with the large Light fey. “Hmm that is much better.”

There was something about him. Giselle was unsure of what it was but she was charmed for sure. Her cheeks were pinker at the way he spoke to her and how mischievous he seemed to be. She was enjoying his company a great deal and would definitely like to take it further, but felt that approaching that right now may not be the best of ideas. “You flatter me so much, thank you. If anything arises I shall do my best, and not just because of the alliance here, to protect everyone. I am the type that whether I care for a person or not, I cannot just stand by and let something bad happen to them.”

One brow quirked up at him mentioning the King. How would this fey know how the king felt, unless of course he had the light fey rulers ear. Maybe he was someone in the inner court or just a friend then. It made her curious now, there were a good deal of questions and none of them had any answers. The idea of him being so close to the king helped bank the fires that had been stoking themselves in her lower abdomen. It would not be a good idea to dally with someone like that, the rumors would be atrocious and she would not want to cause the king to be the subject of even more then he probably already was.

Giselle balked. When the guard came in and referred to this tall and gorgeous to her fey as Majesty she knew why he could so easily refer to the kings feelings. He was the King! The Warrior hardly took note of being eyed lustily by the guard, she was in a bit of shock about the King. He would see that she was affected by this news for sure, but true to her word she threw it all away and smiled back up at him. Even the lust was returning, how could it not? He was magnificent and…she would not say no that is for sure!

“I will take refreshment yes. Are you always practically spied upon like that? It must make it difficult when you wish to have pleasures of the flesh.” It was an offhand comment with more meaning to it then a comment like that should have.