horology | the darkling

harbinger

glitter and gold - barns courtney

do you walk in the valley of kings?
do you walk in the shadow of men
who sold their lives to a dream?
do you ponder the manner of things
in the dark?

/

'my existence is a scandal' - oscar wilde

-

seraphina

Genya blinked and they were gone. Black veins, red eyes. Seraphina looked... normal. Dazed and thinner but she looked fine. She turned to Konstantin, bewilderment in her eyes, asking him if he saw the same. The look he gave her was enough. His baby blue eyes radiated fear. Konstantin was normally fearless; he found the dark appealing and death peaceful. Genya wondered if it was because of his childhood. She knew his long and ruthless history with Irina but she couldn't help but feel that Konstantin had been broken before he met the bitch.

Seraphina stepped across the threshold of her room, hesitating a little at the door frame. Both the Grisha parted, giving her space but subconsciously retreating away from the raven haired girl. Her gown was thin; it fluttered gracefully in the wind that had suddenly picked up pace. A group of Heartrenders walked by, boots slapping on the marble floor. Seraphina didn't stop walking. Their leader came a stop and gave a hand signal to the soldiers behind him, clearly flustered at Seraphina's white dress, eyes darting rapidly between Genya and Konstantin. Murmuring started form the others, keftas rustling. It wasn't everyday they saw their first female Lieutenant General dressed in barely more than a sheet. Genya twitched the hem of her own kefta and whistled at the group. They snapped her heads in her direction; Seraphina didn't flinch. She had made it to the other end of the corridor.

'By the saints, don't you have training to get to?'

A few muttered soft apologies but most just glared. The battalion leader clicked his thick soled shoes together and started walking. The rest followed suit but gave Genya dirty looks as they glided past her. Konstantin rolled his eyes at the departing group, cursing quietly. It wasn't polite to stare. The Squaller sent a gust of roaring wind at the back of the group as they rounded the corner. A string of 'saints!' the dull thuds were heard as the wind ran through, knocking them over like bowling pins. Genya's lips curved into a smile of mischief. But it didn't last long.

Seraphina had acquired her kefta. It seemed to have just appeared out of thin air. The red head and the boy exchanged looks; objects couldn't just be summoned from nothing. That was a magic much stronger than Grishas could perform. The red, white and black fabric fit her every curve perfectly, hair cascading down in her back in delicate hazel tangles.

Seraphina looked straight ahead, feeling the worry of her friends on her back. But emotions seemed distant, buried between memories of her childhood and the shame of being herself. She had pushed them deep into her mind. Now, she thought, now, she would be the master of her own fate. She couldn't feel Time at all; it was as if the goddess had grown quiet or fallen back in her seat to watch the spectacle that Seraphina would bring. The black veins in her arms were twitching and whispering. She was gazing off into seemingly nothing but she had her mind set on the chaos she would unleash. She was staring directly at the palace walls, the residence of the Lantsov family through one of their windows. She could see the king shouting something at his courtiers. Serphina's face twisted into something of a smile but it wasn't quite human.

*

That night, she dreamed of Time. The goddess sat upon a throne made of shadowy bones and looked down on her, looking bored and disgusted. Her arms were crossed around her cosmic body and she looked down on Seraphina like she had disappointed her.

'The Lantsov king'

Seraphina couldn't feel her toes on the ground. She seemed to be floating in the folds of space, drawn to the gravitational pull of TIme's presence.

'What?'

'The Lantsov King. You've done nothing?'

Seraphina crossed her arms. Se looked down at them, they seemed translucent and glittery in the light.

'No, what am I supposed to have done. If I recall, my fate doesn't revolve around destroying the Lantsov bloodline.'

Time laughed a short shimmery burst of radiance. It cut through the vacuum of stars like a whetted shrapnel through butter. Seraphina drummed her fingers on her arm, waiting for Time's answer.

'I never told you to kill the Lantsov king, my dear Time Turner. You just need to....convince them'

The girl raised an eyebrow before the goddess. Time never shifted. She just stared straight ahead, staring coldly into the distance. Seraphina wonder when the last time the goddess had smiled.

'Manipulate them? Is that what you want?'

Time shifted in her throne, uneasy. Nervousness crossed her unmoving black eyes. Seraphina reminded her too much of herself; her intelligence and those unyielding eyes. Spoilt children; never giving in, always asking for more.

'Perhaps it is. Or perhaps that was what was destined for you all along'

Seraphina chuckled, a dry sound emerging from the back of her throat.

'Murder? Genocide?'

'No, Seraphina. Greatness. Power'

There was a pause. Seraphina spun on her heels away from Time. There was something unnerving in the goddess's posture. When Time, who had never felt any emotion in her eternal life, started looking for a way out is when things truly are going to shit.

'What if I don't want it?'

Seraphina did want it. She wanted it badly. She could feel the ache in her bones and stomach, consuming her like black vines from within. She wanted it more than love, more than empathy, more than to be understood. The energy surging through her veins made her crave it like a drug.

'I see past your lies, time turner. We both know you do'

Seraphina didn't have a chance to reply.

'Meet the Lantsov king, my dearest tyrant. You'll know what to do when you are in his presence'

Seraphina coughed violently. She looked down. Her hands were covered in crimson; it looked like blood. The girl wiped her hands but the blood stubbornly clung to her hand. She held it up to the light. The blood shifted in and out like an illusion. She wondered if there was anything real or if everything Time touched was just a trick of the light.

She didn't realise she that she had fallen asleep but she must have because she didn't remember coming back to her room, or getting into her dressing gown. She also didn't remember a red hand wrapped box tied with exquisite golden thread perching on the edge of her bed.