Steel Guitar Grey #8, Sapphire #16, Isabelline #3

[shadowsong26]

Name: shadowsong26
Story: Timing
'Verse: Feredar
Colors: Steel Guitar Grey #8. My life's a bargain basement, all the good shit's gone, Sapphire #16. quartz, Isabelline #3. Well, I hoped you were a Gemini, but I thought, "well I'll give him a try"
Supplies and Materials: eraser (incest AU), acrylic, feathers (dusty curtains, clear skies), fabric, modeling clay, charcoal, glitter
Word Count: 247
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Tana, Keta
Warnings: References to a planned and presumably violent coup, dehumanization of mages, implied abuse
Notes: Constructive criticism welcome, as always. This takes place immediately after Come Crashing Down



Tana unlocked Sorell's door. "We're leaving, we're going now you need to--"

The room was empty. The window was open, curtains fluttering slightly, sending specks of dust chasing through the moonlight.

"Tana, we need to stop and think, especially since this means a--" Keta had caught up.

"He's gone," Tana said, bewildered. "How can he be gone?" Sorell couldn't leave, he was her son, hers and Kellom's. And she had to put him on the throne now, or it would go to Andrell's half-human brat.

Keta pushed past her, over to the window. "It's not broken. He must have run away."

Tana stared at her. "Why?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

Tana joined her sister at the window. "Then we'll have to go find him before we take the throne back."

Keta sighed, but this time didn't argue. Even she knew they had to find him before anything else happened. "I'll get some supplies together."

Tana stared out the window, straining to see her son in the treeline, some trace of a shadow, cast by the moon in the clear sky. Why did you leave me, right when I need you most? She clenched her fists. You're not supposed to leave. But she'd bring him home, soon enough--not here, home. Keta would actually help, for once, and she'd put bars back on the windows and make sure Sorell would never ever run away from where he was supposed to be again.

Comments

[novel_machinist]

I like how it's quite obvious what Tana and Keta value. It's not that Sorell is in danger, it's about the throne and perhaps the power that goes with it.

[shadowsong26]

Thank you.

...and I started into a novel-length comment about Keta's motivations, which I should write up properly at some point because I think I don't pay her and Sola enough attention, and, unlike the other adult sibling I mostly ignore (Mellir), there's actually stuff to talk about with them. Short version:

Keta values Sorell's safety intrinsically a lot more than Tana does, I think. For a lot of reasons--her own son died when he was around the age Sorell is now, and she knows how extreme Tana is and is almost as afraid of what Tana will do, unchecked, as the idea of Istell/Isselu becoming king. That being said, if she had to choose between Sorell in safe hiding and Sorell put on the throne...she'd put him on the throne.

(And that was still really long, sorry!)

[novel_machinist]

Why did you not finish the novel length comment? XD I have like novel length POSTS on my journal about world building. I LOVE that sort of thing.

[shadowsong26]

Because it's too long for a comment, probably. XD I'll write it up as an actual post, probably on the Feredar story journal, at some point. I need to do a mass character post anyway. I've cast most everyone I write about regularly--Isshiri and his mother and sisters, the Feredar royal family (except Fera and Rema)...so that's not exactly holding me back. I just keep forgetting.

[kay_brooke]

Tana just doesn't care for her son as a person at all, does she? He's just her chance to take back the power she feels was wrongly taken from her/Kellom. Or, actually, is power even the issue at all, or is it just trying to restore Kellom's name? Either way, it's not about Sorell, and I'm glad he got away. I'm not sure he'd survive his mother's machinations.

[shadowsong26]

Thank you.

It's...complicated, how Tana feels about her son. He's very special to her--because of his being Kellom's son and because of that whole Rightful King part. Which comes out on top depends on what's going on around them--especially since she considers him a poor heir to his father's glory. In terms of more traditional maternal feeling...she's extremely possessive of him, because he's her son. She won't let anyone else harm him. But...yeah. Not so much the person/child love there, but there's a certain amount of need mixed up in all this, too.

[clare_dragonfly]

...I want to know where he went! And why! He doesn't want the throne, does he? Ooh, his mama's not going to like that, if she finds him. (Actually I'm not sure how old he is at this point. Did he leave under his own power?)

oh, apparently I missed one XD Hmm, not sure whether I hope they find him or not.

[shadowsong26]

Thank you. ^_^

He's about twelve at this point. And...I actually don't think he really grasps what taking the throne would mean for him. Tana's kept him pretty jealously close, he really only knows her and Keta and a few tutors that have been brought in off and on.

It'll certainly be interesting if they do find him.

[bookblather]

Tana, you are creepy as hell. I like how she never really thinks of Sorrell as her son, just as a tool.

[shadowsong26]

Thank you.

She is, isn't she.