The Garden Party {mass thread}

[Talia Avedon]

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Gemini Enigma , Nikolai Hugh-Sokolov

287 Words

Music

Outfit

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Brokeness is a work of art [break]

Is this my masterpiece?

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Talia blinked. She knew that he must be some sort of Prince; that much was obvious just from the clear Enigma qualities of his appearance, but she didn't know more than that. She decided not to say that. He had to be referring to the hunts-- that was the only thing that made sense. 



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"Of course. Were you too terribly injured?" she asked, hoping it didn't make her sound too naive. She really didn't know how he had participated in the hunt. She hadn't been there. Bloodshed was not for her. She had considered it, for a moment, to do a painting in the baroque style, but even she could not romanticize that kind of gruesome pursuit. Dragons of deer, they were just creatures destined to die. 


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A bit like mortals in that respect.


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"My name is Talia Avedon," she said with all the grace she could muster, like she was some low-level gentry and not some bastard from nowhere. "I am an artisan of the East. But you couldn't address me with too low a rank. I do not have one."


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She was avoiding his title. Your highness? You Majesty? She had called Nikolai
'Your Grace' for a bit, but that had been dropped fairly quickly. It didn't sound right to her anymore. He was not a duke to her. He was just Nikolai. he was only a duke to everyone else, and that was the problem. 

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She did not blush when he kissed her hand. A month ago she would have. A year ago she would have flinched. Now she just smiled respectfully. She had learned her courtly manners, too little, too late. 






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[Nikolai Hugh-Sokolov]

    They were both watching the Enigma Prince, it appeared, and for two entirely different reasons. The girl beside him, also an Enigma, looked on with a curious, child-like, gaze. The Prince moved with an unnatural, calculated grace. Nikolai had once moved like that too. The boy’s dark curls wreathed his ivory face, and before he could process what was even happening, the boy bent into a bow, lowering his lips to brush across Talia’s knuckles. His jaw twitched. It was not safe for Talia to be here, and it was nowhere near safe for her to engage with someone with whom Nikolai shared a mutual enemy. He wanted to stomp over and interject, but he knew he could not manage to do so without looking like a whining child. All that was required of him tonight was his presence. All that he required of himself was to look busy and stay under the radar of everyone important. Inserting himself into the conversation of the Crown Prince was doing the exact opposite of that.

    He turned back to the girl. “I see.” He looked down as she did, to the odd creature rubbing against her legs. It appeared to be a mechanical creation, fashioned in the shape of a deer, it certainly moved like one. “Rhea? What a lovely name. And she is lovely. My compliments to the craftswoman.” Nikolai could not help but be fascinated by the simplicity of their conversation. Their words were simple and plain, not twisting riddles hiding various meanings and various interpretations. “I was never allowed to have pets. It is quite unfortunate.” As a child, he’d been given everything he’d ever wanted, but the issue of a pet had caused many a temper tantrum that his nannies had not been prepared to deal with. Nikolai met the girls gaze. He really, really, she was not one of his father’s progeny. “It is funny, I know your deer’s name, but I do not know yours.”

TAGS: Talia Avedon , Nyra Charlotte Enigma
Mentioned: Gemini Enigma , Jin-Hwa Mei

★fai

If no one else will save me, I must save myself.