[ though she made no verbal promise to him, she keeps her word, and the castle's secrets, and speaks nothing of them.
her arrival in town is timely indeed, for to her horror it is her home at the center of the blaze, the home she shared with her brother a crackling, hungry inferno. thank the gods he has escaped it, but her things are gone, her memories burned away - but alphinaud overjoyed to simply see her safe. he had tried to rally the village to her cause again and again, to convince them to storm the woods in her defense, and each time he had been laughed out of taverns or homes or halls until at last the townsfolk began to find him more wearisome than entertaining. he was raving mad, going on about monsters in castles and enchanted furniture, and it was only a matter of time before someone found him more dangerous than amusing, and attempted to take matters into their own hands. clearly he must have killed his own sister, his own twin, and family. what else would have led to her vanishing? and his unbelievable story?
alisaie's sudden reappearance certainly throws a spanner in the works, and her defense of her brother is adamant, but how can she verify his wild claims about an enchanted castle without placing prompto in jeopardy? it grows more and more difficult not to shout the truth in their spiteful faces, and in time it becomes clear that they are no longer as welcome here as they once were. she will give them no explanation as to where she has been, no reason for her prolonged disappearance; how can they trust her?
but where could they go? must they start all over again? and can she leave this town behind, knowing who else she must leave behind with it..?
she must visit, even if it is the only time, even if she must soon leave - she cannot simply vanish from his life - their lives - forever, without an explanation. and so one morning she sets out early, when the frosty dew still clings to the grass, and she rides back to the castle, picking her way down the secret paths that seem to open themselves up to her without challenge as if the very woods remember her presence and welcome her.
at last alisaie draws up to the gates, and the castle towers above her again, silent and dark and sad. even in the few weeks she has been gone the gardens seem to have overgrown, the many windows that had twinkled with light now mostly dark. her throat constricts. she should have offered them a better explanation, but there had been no time..
alisaie does not hear the men behind her, men in dark clothes and cloaks and soft, soundless boots, men who had followed her. she rests a hand to the gates, pushing them open before her, and then she sees no more.
they have seen the castle, now, its dark spires and far reaching gardens, its high windows lit with a presence. the boy's wild ravings were true all along. they have seen the castle, and now.. they will come. ]
no subject
her arrival in town is timely indeed, for to her horror it is her home at the center of the blaze, the home she shared with her brother a crackling, hungry inferno. thank the gods he has escaped it, but her things are gone, her memories burned away - but alphinaud overjoyed to simply see her safe. he had tried to rally the village to her cause again and again, to convince them to storm the woods in her defense, and each time he had been laughed out of taverns or homes or halls until at last the townsfolk began to find him more wearisome than entertaining. he was raving mad, going on about monsters in castles and enchanted furniture, and it was only a matter of time before someone found him more dangerous than amusing, and attempted to take matters into their own hands. clearly he must have killed his own sister, his own twin, and family. what else would have led to her vanishing? and his unbelievable story?
alisaie's sudden reappearance certainly throws a spanner in the works, and her defense of her brother is adamant, but how can she verify his wild claims about an enchanted castle without placing prompto in jeopardy? it grows more and more difficult not to shout the truth in their spiteful faces, and in time it becomes clear that they are no longer as welcome here as they once were. she will give them no explanation as to where she has been, no reason for her prolonged disappearance; how can they trust her?
but where could they go? must they start all over again? and can she leave this town behind, knowing who else she must leave behind with it..?
she must visit, even if it is the only time, even if she must soon leave - she cannot simply vanish from his life - their lives - forever, without an explanation. and so one morning she sets out early, when the frosty dew still clings to the grass, and she rides back to the castle, picking her way down the secret paths that seem to open themselves up to her without challenge as if the very woods remember her presence and welcome her.
at last alisaie draws up to the gates, and the castle towers above her again, silent and dark and sad. even in the few weeks she has been gone the gardens seem to have overgrown, the many windows that had twinkled with light now mostly dark. her throat constricts. she should have offered them a better explanation, but there had been no time..
alisaie does not hear the men behind her, men in dark clothes and cloaks and soft, soundless boots, men who had followed her. she rests a hand to the gates, pushing them open before her, and then she sees no more.
they have seen the castle, now, its dark spires and far reaching gardens, its high windows lit with a presence. the boy's wild ravings were true all along. they have seen the castle, and now.. they will come. ]