love when I've only been stealing [chao li, bran]

[Amaris Silvershade]

love when i've only been stealing

[attr="class","box1a"] For someone who tasted authority like blood in her mouth, Amaris knew a thing or two about keeping prisoners.  You didn't need chains. Some fae would sit held down by steel and be free as zephyr. Some could spend their lives running and yet be tethered to the moon as surely as the tides. It didn't matter how much she cut or broke or burned. She'd chewed her paw off and was somehow still in the trap. Where had the loop closed? What else did she have to lose to get free? It was like she was chasing her tail and couldn't leave the circle. She would hurt as many times as she had to to get free, but what use was it when she didn't know where to bite? She was awkwardly curled, all elbows and angles, on some posh reclining lounge in the house of one Chao Li Fen. To the unknowing eye, she was unbound, but Amaris knew better. It had been a full cycle since he'd cornered her in the wilds of what was once her home Court, stripping her of her isolation, her one remaining skill, and she'd been under his watchful eye ever since. Not always under his roof, but when her strength waned to its least or waxed beyond her control, he made sure to keep her close.  It felt like the watch of a parent, many years too late, in a way that made her jaw clench. Amaris looked up towards the doorway, wondering when her supposed host would make an appearance. She summoned the effort to lift her head. Of course he preferred the beast collared and lashed to the emptiness of the sky. There was nothing left in her. The anger was enough only to keep her alive.  And this was fae anger, a magic in itself. She may have abandoned her Court and abandoned Wolfsbane after, but she was still a daughter of the earth, blood of those it encased. She was born under the scarlet leaves of perpetual change in the Court of warnings. It wouldn't always be like this. Bran Viola , @moonflower [newclass=.box1a]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box1a::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box1a::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #4d221a;[/newclass]

Music Word count: 352 Notes:

credit to Laura of Adox + SeaJem

[Bran Viola]

The sound of the window torn open, as though by a sudden gale, was not a subtle one. The latch that held the window shut had shot off its perch like a startled bird, to crash into the wall across the room. Through the portal of the broken window perched in its place, was a mortal shape, perched only for a moment before a long black leg stretched from the windowsill, the stranger unfolding into a more comfortable posture with an unseemly ease. What followed was a sullen face with dark eyes, mouth and nose obscured by iron scaffolding that mantled a dark cloth filter. The eyes flicked in Amaris’ direction.



“Evening. You look comfortable for a murderer.”



Bran glanced to the velvet that seemed to burn this creature worse than his tools ever could.



“Or maybe not.”



The stranger came down from the window fully and circled the room to the doorway, speaking to Amaris as he did so.



“Wolfsbane didn’t kill that noble. You did. Enlighten me. If I like your answer you might be owed a favor.”



Bran chose to relieve her of the odd pressure that had kept her in her seat as he’d crossed the room, and drew the perpetrator across the door in a thick wet line. St. Johns Wort, if she was any good at identifying plants. Seven steps. Seven within the door, seven without. She’d still have plenty of free space. Fae liked spacious rooms.



“If you’d rather not say anything, I’m sure your group would be happy for me to clean up their loose ends for them.”

Tags-Amaris Silvershade,

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Amaris Silvershade  | Bran Viola

404 words

Music

this song really suits them

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Wise men once Read fake news [break]
And they believed it

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Chao Li had expected a lot of things. He had prepped himself for a lot of disasters. She wasn't going to like being chained down. No one did. So she would fight and it would be a mess. He was ready for that. His whole life was cleaning up messes. 

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He was not ready for this, the scene he walked in on, the mortal man-- child, really-- standing in the main room of his safe house. Some sort of plant pinned to the wall. St. John's wort, it seemed. Iron weapons.

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Chao Li smirked. A mortal. A mortal, unaware, thinking he was another fae fool to be toyed with. It was like when he was young and fae tried to trick him into bargains. It was like when he was young and his mother's friends thought he didn't understand lies. He had the weaknesses of neither world. He belonged to neither, after all, but everything had a price. For this child, the price would be pain.

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He didn't know who had sent him and he didn't care. Chao Li had an aim and he would meet it squarely, with honor. He would reach his goal. He would face his fears. He would cross the gulf and ford the river. He would do what needed to be done. Doing this was easy. Fighting was easy.

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It was the bargaining and balancing and scheming that was hard. Things that lacked clear direction. It was the managing and watching and listening that was hard. It was the leaving. 


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He drew back a small knife, pure iron, the one he had stabbed the girl with some months ago. Cleaned to a shine, like all sins and stains might be cleaned off that easily. Justice was not so blind, or he wasn't. Sometimes he felt like the last and only line of defense. But so long as it was purpose, he thought he could bear it all.

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He stopped outside the window of the safehouse. He was behind the boy. The window was torn open. It was simple. Aim and throw. Hand back, hand forward. The boy speared through like a fish, like the prey he had made himself. If he liked iron so much, he should like getting impaled by it.

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This was the simple part. Hopefully she would duck. Chao Li did not let it slow or worry him. He raised his hand. He threw the knife. 



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[Bran Viola]


Cleaned to shine. The sudden flash from his knife was nearly blinding. Idiot. Bran fell towards the ground, and slammed his shoulder into the coffee table, carrying his momentum across it to prevent it from breaking. He came out of the roll on the other side of the table, and stepped in line with Amaris and her keeper, placing her in between them again. She wouldn’t be able to touch him either, not with his floral seal up, but it did limit his mobility if he wanted to kill this man. She was a prisoner. Maybe he could force him outside and return once they were done. He’d fought a fae knight before.



“Are you blind? You could’ve hit your pet.”



Was that iron? Even more dangerous for the mans captive. Bran really wished he had more time in private with Amaris, but this might end up being just as productive, if he could get the knight to hold a conversation with him.



“Ah- You aren’t full-blooded. Is that why you’re the one guarding her? Iron is a good thing when you’re keeping a fae terrorist in your living room.”



Bran took in his adversary’s features, more carefully this time. His countenance was carved, but smooth and slender, like pale, wet marble. Maybe he was half fae? His more asiatic look could be the product of an undersea parent, though it could also be from a human progenitor. He recognized him, the same way he recognized the wolfsbane defect, from the revel. Maybe this wasn’t assigned to him. Maybe the knights involvement was a product of circumstance. He was fairly sure he belonged to the high court though. Probably. Bran had been so focused on gathering as much information as he could in this glance that he’d overlooked the way the man was staring at him. He likely never boasted, his bearing itself was vanglorious enough to account for that need. Did he even care about his hostage? Silent self righteousness. This man was an agent of justice and the hunter was a monster to be slain. Fighting back against someone who could barely see would be pretty cut and dry. Hopefully they could talk for a second, Bran didn’t want to leave any bodies if he could manage.



“I don’t need to tell you that I can kill her from where I’m standing, right?”


tags- Amaris Silvershade,@moonflower,