abraxaslogs | [Open] Light Atop the Tower

It is. [She had lived without guards once before, so it's not so wild a concept for her to be without them now. Yet it had been so long that she had to remember this feeling. The guards not at her side, able to come and go as she pleased, able to ride as long as she wished.

The man seemed familiar enough with their surroundings, as well as in the saddle. It might be rude to initiate the conversation, but it was nice to see someone else with a possibly similar upbringing.]

Though, if it was raining, I would still appreciate the day. It is a bit overwhelming inside the castle.

[While he hardly looks like a prince in the unembellished clothes he favors, there's something in his carriage that, to an eye trained in the minutiae of manners, suggests a noble upbringing. Man, by the way, is a generous appellation for someone still growing out of the puppyish look of boyhood.]

Fair enough.

[Figuring it would be rude to rebuff her conversation and company, Wilhelm guides his horse into an easy pace alongside her. In just the minute that they've crossed paths, Alicent has dropped a few hints that help him piece together an understanding of who she is. The nonchalant way she describes the tense atmosphere of the castle, heedless of the suppression that characterizes Thornean politics these days, tells him that she must be Summoned. He knows a new crop of them has been harvested recently. The way she perches sideways on her saddle tells him that she must come from somewhere — somewhen? — old-fashioned.]

You must be new around here?

Edited (grammar oops) 2022-12-14 00:27 (UTC)

[She spent her life at court, the daughter of the most powerful man in the realm. Nobility was instinctual for her. Both to recognize as well to carry for herself. It didn't matter if he seemed unassuming or wore something simple (after all, she was the same at the moment), she could see it in his stance and the way he held himself.

A small detail, but clear for a woman who spent her life observing.]

I only just arrived.

[It's ridiculous she should feel shy about that, but she was already out of place and out of her depths with magic and mages. It left her head spinning a bit.]

They told me enough for me to understand our reason for being here and comforts available. It is a bit hard to simply sit around after that.

[But she may be chattering too much.]

I am Alicent Hightower.

[If anyone around here can understand the feeling of being in over your head, it's him. Arriving in Abraxas had been like plunging into the ocean without knowing the first thing about swimming. Everyone else Wilhelm has met here came in equipped with magic or combat training or some other prized skill. Then there was him, who has never been exceptional in anything.]

Wilhelm. [He gives her a little smile. No last name.] It's nice to meet you, Alicent.

[In an attempt to be welcoming and reassuring, he offers:]

It takes some time to adjust to, well, everything, but eventually...

[Eyes wandering to the branches arching over the path, he tucks his hair back behind his ear, then returns his hand to the reins. Eventually what? Half a year later, he's not sure that he's adjusted to it.]

Eventually, you figure it out.

[His analogy was correct. The current was uproarious and it felt like all she could do to keep her feet on the riverbed. One misstep and she might be pulled under, drowning under the weight of information or altercations that she did not fully understand. Swimming was good for a start, but it would help little with the sharp tide.]

Do you believe that?

[Others seemed at ease, but it felt as if there was never a sense of being at ease or figuring all of this out. There was only going through the motions, which might be comforting.]

It is disturbing to think that we might be here for enough time that we have a handle on this world.

[Wilhelm nods sympathetically. He won't mention that while people do leave sometimes — vanishing not just from the castle, but from the Horizon too — no concrete evidence proves that they've returned home. If you can slip out of one world and into another, who's to say where the hell you might end up?]

The first couple of days I was here, I kept thinking I'd wake up and be in my bed back home.

[His chuckle here is the awkward kind that's supposed to make you think the preceding statement is a joke when it's really not.]

All this stuff about magic and a war — it was like something out of a movie. [A glance in her direction, followed by a correction:] Um, book. After a while, I guess, almost anything can become normal. You stop being so...surprised by it all.

[There had been mentions of those that disappear or leave this world. Nothing in depth enough to disturb her. It seemed to simply be a fact. There was no talk of where they went or what happened to them. Only that they were gone.]

It does feel akin to a dream.

[She knows it's not a jape. That is a level of awkwardness that she recognizes.]

That in itself is frightening.

The war, the magic, it is a reality for me, as if I were home.

[There's a pause, filled with the rhythm of their horses' hooves on the path, in which Wilhelm tries to think of something encouraging to say. He hasn't got much talent for it, though.]

It's not all bad. I've met some cool people here.

[Which is just about the only thing that keeps him treading water. His grip tightens on the reins.]

Once you get used to the idea of it, learning magic is pretty cool too.

[Well, until you accidentally light a very important spell component on fire and a man explodes because of it. But he'd rather not get into that. And only he could manage to fuck up that badly, he's sure.]

Do you have magic in your world?

[She was curious about it, especially since it was encouraged heavily by the mages. She could well feel the same, if she stopped to think about it, that she was near sinking, barely treading water. A project like magic would be similar to meet various people.]

Have you started to learn it as well?

[He should have expected that. The first question is easy to answer with a shake of his head.]

Nope, no magic where I'm from.

[The second question, though...for a yes-or-no question, it's complicated, because that's what anxiety does: it takes something simple and ties it into knots. Wilhelm buys a bit of time by checking on his horse before answering.]

I've...learned a little bit here. Just some basics with fire.

[Fire magic was a bit...off putting for her. Too close to dragon fire. She'd rather something a little more elegant.]

That is reassuring to know. So many others have or possess magic already. I had yet to meet someone that is as unfamiliar with the concept as I am.

Do you learn from the Mages?

[He didn't choose fire; it chose him. And he wishes it hadn't. If Wilhelm had any say in the matter, he would pull that power right out of him. Cut it out with a knife.]

The mages didn't teach me. I just...had it, all of a sudden. One of the other Summoned taught me how to control it better.

[With...mixed results.]

Does that happen often?

[That's a horrifying thought. A sudden burst of magic that you have no idea how to control.]

[Sensing the spike in her worry, he hastily reassures:]

Only sometimes.

[As far as he knows. The Summoned soak up new magical abilities all the time, thanks to their connection to the Singularity, but he doesn't know of anyone else who's had such disastrous results as him.]

Hey, maybe you'll get lucky.

[Open] Light Atop the Tower

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