Ashes of Lost Love

Heresy with a Hedonist

              Sheltered from the hustle and bustle of court, Rhea was seated once more in the library, now dressed in an apple green gown that was far more comfortable than what she had donned on the day of the ball. Ever since the arrival of the audacious newcomer, all the young noblewomen saw her as a threat to them, and thus dressed with even more care than usual, which only invoked Rhea's scorn at their fallacious vanity. Lady Carthenn dressed as she usually did, not deigning to follow the flighty whims of the women at court.They really thought that they could prove themselves better than her by methods of dressing, and treating Lady Alys with the most chilling sangfroid the young ladies could muster. Rhea found that behaviour rather hypocritical, seeing as they were bubbling with curiosity about he and from whence she had came. Of course, they were hasty in denouncing her manners  as crass and unwomanly, yet they inwardly  marvelled at the backbone she displayed in her discourse with the royals. Lady Alys seemed fearless, a glib barbarian, yes, but her steel was quite something to the flock of hens at court.

        She surreptitiously turned a page over, occasionally glancing behind her shoulder to check for intruders. It would not do to be caught like this. The library was the only place that she could mayhaps read this in peace, she had feigned a headache to a chary Ivette, who departed for the Queen Mother's suite with an assemblage of Rhea's murmuring attendants. Rhea allowed a flicker of a smile to be imparted on her countenance as she recalled how after making sure the coast was clear, she had sped away to her safe haven to voraciously peruse her new book. She stroked it lovingly, in a similar manner in which her peers would undoubtably caress their fine fabrics. It was a fresh copy of yet another one of the books Rhea adored, though branded 'heretical' and 'blasphemous' by an indignant Ivette. The tome had been smuggled into Raylea by a well paid smuggler, and Rhea was determined not to let this one fall into the hands of Ivette, who would no doubt burn it, and escort her Lady to Aleirity to atone. She was nearly halfway through it, going over a thought provoking treatise as to how and why the myths of deities were disseminated to the general public, all the while mercilessly dissecting the fables the pious clung to so stringently, completely engrossed that she did not notice an entrance.

       With a light, almost cat like manner, a  young man who was none other than Adalius Falerion languidly made his way into the library. His pupils dilated to adjust to the  darkness that engulfed the room, the curtains had been drawn, despite it being the middle of the day. Quickly, the gears in his brain began to work, the servants surely would not be so indolent as to neglect this fundamental part of their job, they knew better than that. His keen hearing alerted him to the sound of the rustling of a page. Someone was here, he could feel it. And they didn't want to be found. A devilish smirk spread on his face. Too bad for them, because he intended to find just who it was that sought to elude other people by hiding in the library of all places.

   Noiselessly, his feet glided expertly on the floor, his movements adroit as he deftly manoeuvred himself in a manner that would cause his quarry to be completely unaware of his presence. It was a rather stark juxtaposition to his usual overwhelming young lord's presence, but he made the most of this remarkable ability of his. His amber eyes glowed eerily in the dark, almost catlike, really, as he prowled the perimeter.

     Rhea was not one with heightened senses, she hadn't Adalius' advantage of having her senses honed by being on the hunt or other such activities, nonchalantly turning a page, unaware of what was to come. The lord king managed to discern a shadowy figure, though his tiger eyes resembled that of a feline's, he did not possess the laudable vision of cats, but it was enough to go off on for Falerion. 

When he stepped closer to this figure, he caught a whiff of almost imperceptible perfume, which both nonplussed him, as most ladies of the court had a penchant for dousing themselves in Alynthian perfumes, to the point that they became repugnant instead of alluring as the perfume bottles claimed they would be. In comparison, this fragrance was far more appealing, and didn't threaten to block off his nostrils like that one time with a Cohanythian whore and her inordinate use of perfume, but that was a tale for another time.So this was definitely a woman, for her perfume was still able to be scented, but she was probably rather eccentric. An oddity, he mockingly thought to himself. Who could it possibly be?