frost on a crimson flower
Oct. 26th, 2025 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
backstreetbardIt is, perhaps, some form of cosmic irony that the grand cathedral that once served as the seat of the Church of Seiros is one of the few structures in Fhirdiad that suffered no damage from the fires that raged for a time on the day Rhea set the city ablaze. It's only natural, then, that it would serve today as the venue for a wedding, although one would be forgiven for mistaking the event for a funeral, given the maudlin atmosphere.
The hallowed hall is decorated in colorful banners and flowers imported from much warmer climes, and though the guests are all dressed in their finest attire, many of them wear grim expressions. The Blue Lions are assembled--at least, those who survived the war. Notably, Sylvain isn't standing with them, counted instead among the personal entourage of Emperor Edelgard, unable to meet the eyes of any of his old friends. Certainly not Dimitri's, where he stands at the head of the hall near the altar near the nervous-looking officiant Count Varley.
Edelgard orchestrated this entire scene, of course. Well, Hubert helped with the logistics, but this had been her idea. The Kingdom could have been incorporated back into the Adrestian Empire just as easily as the Alliance was after Claude fled back to Almyra, but something stayed her hand at that decisive moment when she could have--and perhaps should have--killed him. Now, everyone who survived this bloody war will have to live with the ramifications of her choice, though perhaps no one will have to pay so dearly as...
All eyes turn to the hall's entrance as the small orchestra begins to play a bridal procession. Dorothea Arnault appears in the arching doorway dressed in a royal blue dress richly adorned with beads and embroidery, though for all she looks every bit the bride, her expression is somber. She might as well be marching towards the gallows.
The hallowed hall is decorated in colorful banners and flowers imported from much warmer climes, and though the guests are all dressed in their finest attire, many of them wear grim expressions. The Blue Lions are assembled--at least, those who survived the war. Notably, Sylvain isn't standing with them, counted instead among the personal entourage of Emperor Edelgard, unable to meet the eyes of any of his old friends. Certainly not Dimitri's, where he stands at the head of the hall near the altar near the nervous-looking officiant Count Varley.
Edelgard orchestrated this entire scene, of course. Well, Hubert helped with the logistics, but this had been her idea. The Kingdom could have been incorporated back into the Adrestian Empire just as easily as the Alliance was after Claude fled back to Almyra, but something stayed her hand at that decisive moment when she could have--and perhaps should have--killed him. Now, everyone who survived this bloody war will have to live with the ramifications of her choice, though perhaps no one will have to pay so dearly as...
All eyes turn to the hall's entrance as the small orchestra begins to play a bridal procession. Dorothea Arnault appears in the arching doorway dressed in a royal blue dress richly adorned with beads and embroidery, though for all she looks every bit the bride, her expression is somber. She might as well be marching towards the gallows.
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Date: 2025-11-11 03:05 am (UTC)It was still a wound.
He glanced at her after another moment, examined the curve of her back and her neck.
"...I don't know. Sometimes I think it would have been better if she had simply executed me."
He sounded a touch morose.
"But that is a selfish thing, isn't it? To wish for death."