Heating the Iron (Afina)

[Ebiris]

Whyyyyyy?

"I think Crystal would be a better source of advice than I, your Majesty," she says, keeping her expression placid as she puts her apple slice back on its plate uneaten. "Of course I recall the many times I followed my Queen's wise advice when it came to my own courtships in the past." Said advice unanimously boiling down to 'kill this traitor' more elegantly stated, which she executed each time.

[Anastasia]

Ilsenine frowns slightly, "I know." There's a pause after this, "I understand you, Afina. I know you. I...." She looks down for a short time and then looks up, face compose. "Your points are well made."

[Ebiris]

It takes out all the satisfaction when Ilsenine just meekly accepts it, for all that Afina's had this bottled up for many mortal lifetimes. "You do understand me, my Queen. Better than any, for you moulded me into what I am," she explains. "Only since Lifasa's fall have I been exposed to other influences, and you haven't been as severe since your liberation from Hell. I've changed in that time, but still there's a lop-sided history between us that encompasses almost my entire life."

Now she does pick up that tempting piece of apple, popping it into her mouth and chewing it up before swallowing. "If you must have them, my opinion as a Baroness is that it doesn't matter. Moore is powerful and possesses high equivalent rank in Celestia that there's no scandal in the courtship. As a woman, I don't quite perceive the same qualities that you see in him. He's too eager to seek direction and guidance from others rather than following his own impulses. Too quick to offer compromise instead of standing firm. But if those qualities appeal to you, I can't see any objection standing in the path of the two of you."

[Anastasia]

Ilsenine's silent throughout it, fiddling with the same few berries. "I know..." she murmurs, "Sometimes I feel as if I'm a different person every day, with everything that has happened and all the changes I've gone through."

More silence after that, Ilsenine finally eating one of the berries. "Perhaps our ancient heritage can't be suppressed now that we know and change is inevitable."

[Ebiris]

"We're a privileged few to know what we know, though our Queen doesn't seem to think it should change how we behave," Afina says as they're drawn back to that subject, pausing to take a sip of her milk and then eat a berry. "It's given me a great comfort in terms of having left the cycle behind, but that decision was long since made regardless."

[Anastasia]

"Perhaps..." The words die in Ilsenine's mouth. "Change is not easy, is it not?" she finally says.

[Ebiris]

"I'm not so sure," Afina says, taking a sip of her milk. "The eladrin, chaos on the planar scale, that's emblematic of change isn't it?" she asks. "It should be in our nature. For all that the circumstances have been awful, I feel like I've adapted and even thrived in facing the challenges since Lifasa fell. Having to survive and make decisions on my own, figuring out how to lead, dealing with non-fey and making friends of them, learning how to make artifacts and magical wonders, even becoming a creature of fire and then the other elements beyond. Easy might not be the right word, but natural could be."

[Anastasia]

Ilsenine's quiet about that, thinking. She's silent a time, until you're tempted to speak up. It's only then that she speaks up, a vague look of discontent stewing on her face.

"I fear too much of my change was poisoned by the devils and the reason why I struggle. I know I cannot be the same queen I was before. I tire of death, Afina."

Another pause, stretching out a good ways.

"I suppose I fumble for an end. Do I want you as my servant or as my friend? Do I wish to take things further with Moore? Do I wish to do more to aid Aurora or focus on the court? I fumble for decisiveness in my heart."

[Ebiris]

"You never had difficulty being decisive in the past, your Majesty," Afina observes. "You say you cannot be as you were, but do you really want to subordinate yourself to another?"

[Anastasia]

"You're right," Queen Ilsenine murmurs. "Perhaps...it's been one revelation after another, and now a relationship. Perhaps I am uncertain because I have not had time to adapt to it all. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps."

Queen Ilsenine meets your eyes at that, and then smiles ever so slightly. "I think there's something to that. A chance to refresh myself, away from all of this, even Moore. That may be what I need, for when one loses their way, a chance to refocus is key."

[Ebiris]

"You're going to take a trip somewhere?" Afina asks. "To the Sylvan Realms, or Arborea? Or elsewhere?"

[Anastasia]

"I took a trip to the Sylvan Realms before, but now...perhaps it is time to see the other side of the coin," Ilsenine says. "The Court of Stars." She smiles slightly, "I trust Her Majesty, no matter what name she uses, will guide me to what I need."

[Ebiris]

"I've enjoyed my previous visits," Afina agrees. "Even when I thought they were degenerate and deluded offshoots of the fey, it was charming and the people fine company."

[Anastasia]

"I would invite you, if I knew you were not otherwise spoken for," Ilsenine admits, "Yes, I think I will leave soon."

[Ebiris]

"It's perhaps better that you're free of distractions or ties to your past in this case anyway, your Majesty," Afina volunteers.