SWINGING BY MY NECK FROM THE FAMILY TREE,
Cloudy
Dawn
Summer
fate was a funny thing.
Carefully she takes the crown from her brow-- newly won and yet already so brittle with age-- and holds it in her hands. Turning it over, looking at it from every angle. It might have fit her but it's not right. Gossamer eyes turn to @Apollinaire, staring easily upon the apparition. She remembers the pinky-promise they'd made: ils ne vous arrêteront plus jamais -- they will never stop you again. perhaps she should-- could-- be merciful: she'd done exactly what she'd set out to do. Take the crown from louve and force her mother into the matriarchal role she so desperately wished to play. Lazare herself had no interest in leadership, in wolfbron or familial matters alike. Surely there were others here who could shoulder that burden. @Elaine, most likely, or perhaps one of her wayward sisters. But elaine already shouldered so much of the past-- their past-- and keeping wolfbron would only be keeping those shackles.
non, lazare knows what she needs to do, and she knows she's right to do it. Her father, when given the freedom of a second chance at life, had finally broken free from the cage of familial obligation. Of course, He'd done so by trying to kill ludivine..... but it was still his decision to make. His alone and done only for himself. The others had claimed him mad for it but lazare knew the truth. He was free, and now... now they'd all be free.
All of you, she says-- pitching her voice loud enough to be heard. Even by those hidden in the shadows, for she knows there were many watchful eyes here. Leave. This is no longer your pride. Her first decree as queen would be to unleash them all, every last one of them. The dieudonne lived in the bluffs no more-- no one did. They'd lived here for years and years but wolfbron was not a home, it was a cage. Here they were safe and the dieudonne were never meant to be safe. they needed to be pushed-- kicked-- from the nest, or else they would always be here. Withering away in the red rocks just like the garden she'd tried so hard to cultivate. For years and years she'd coaxed some life back to it, but it was not enough.
It was never enough.
It is not cruelty that spurred her actions, for she had every confidence they would find a new home and a new path forward. Her family name would mean something again, her blood would be feared again-- or maybe it wouldn't. That was not her decision to make. But here, she would force them to try. And maybe once @Louve awoke, she would (finally ) fulfill her own duties as matriarch and lead them forward. And if not..... well. Lazare had beaten death once already. Surely she could do it again.
Another sweeping glance through the crowd before her eyes turn once again upon the crumpled form of the matriarch at her feet. Louve looks so small, here: a beaten rogue in a kingdom that no longer belonged to her. Though if there are any healers here, I would appreciate your time. Her piebald chin jerks in louve's direction-- it's clear who she's requesting aid for. A kindness, one that her mother certainly does not deserve, and nor would she ever be thanked for. After all, louve had said it herself: Le pouvoir exploité pour l’amour et le devoir n’a pas de prix -- Power harnessed for love and duty has no price.
What would the dieudonne be without power?
( non, what could they be...? )
A problem for later. For now... maintenant : allez, chassez, vivez. now: go, hunt, live-- she says, somehow without a sneer in her voice even though it's an exact mimic of louve's own words. Back when @Amara had gathered them together to argue her own innocence, back when @Ludivine and @Léontine had proven, once and for all, just how selfish lazare's branch of the family tree was. Perhaps she was just as bad as them, now. After all, in her own way, lazare was doing exactly what amara thought she was doing: protecting the family from itself.
But-- she had won. She had won, and she was tired of asking and getting no answers.
And so, she would make hwr own. The crown is heavy in her hands where she still holds it, even though she was the only one left. She had no desire to be queen, leastt of all a queen of nothing. Let some other lions fight over the scraps of their dynasty. Let some other family use these red rocks to hide away in. The dieudonne would hide no more: lazare had made a promise, and her garden would surely grow better elsewhere.
She takes a breath, and then lazare dieudonne tosses aside the crown and leaves the bluffs for good.
Exit
Carefully she takes the crown from her brow-- newly won and yet already so brittle with age-- and holds it in her hands. Turning it over, looking at it from every angle. It might have fit her but it's not right. Gossamer eyes turn to @Apollinaire, staring easily upon the apparition. She remembers the pinky-promise they'd made: ils ne vous arrêteront plus jamais -- they will never stop you again. perhaps she should-- could-- be merciful: she'd done exactly what she'd set out to do. Take the crown from louve and force her mother into the matriarchal role she so desperately wished to play. Lazare herself had no interest in leadership, in wolfbron or familial matters alike. Surely there were others here who could shoulder that burden. @Elaine, most likely, or perhaps one of her wayward sisters. But elaine already shouldered so much of the past-- their past-- and keeping wolfbron would only be keeping those shackles.
non, lazare knows what she needs to do, and she knows she's right to do it. Her father, when given the freedom of a second chance at life, had finally broken free from the cage of familial obligation. Of course, He'd done so by trying to kill ludivine..... but it was still his decision to make. His alone and done only for himself. The others had claimed him mad for it but lazare knew the truth. He was free, and now... now they'd all be free.
All of you, she says-- pitching her voice loud enough to be heard. Even by those hidden in the shadows, for she knows there were many watchful eyes here. Leave. This is no longer your pride. Her first decree as queen would be to unleash them all, every last one of them. The dieudonne lived in the bluffs no more-- no one did. They'd lived here for years and years but wolfbron was not a home, it was a cage. Here they were safe and the dieudonne were never meant to be safe. they needed to be pushed-- kicked-- from the nest, or else they would always be here. Withering away in the red rocks just like the garden she'd tried so hard to cultivate. For years and years she'd coaxed some life back to it, but it was not enough.
It was never enough.
It is not cruelty that spurred her actions, for she had every confidence they would find a new home and a new path forward. Her family name would mean something again, her blood would be feared again-- or maybe it wouldn't. That was not her decision to make. But here, she would force them to try. And maybe once @Louve awoke, she would (
Another sweeping glance through the crowd before her eyes turn once again upon the crumpled form of the matriarch at her feet. Louve looks so small, here: a beaten rogue in a kingdom that no longer belonged to her. Though if there are any healers here, I would appreciate your time. Her piebald chin jerks in louve's direction-- it's clear who she's requesting aid for. A kindness, one that her mother certainly does not deserve, and nor would she ever be thanked for. After all, louve had said it herself: Le pouvoir exploité pour l’amour et le devoir n’a pas de prix -- Power harnessed for love and duty has no price.
What would the dieudonne be without power?
( non, what could they be...? )
A problem for later. For now... maintenant : allez, chassez, vivez. now: go, hunt, live-- she says, somehow without a sneer in her voice even though it's an exact mimic of louve's own words. Back when @Amara had gathered them together to argue her own innocence, back when @Ludivine and @Léontine had proven, once and for all, just how selfish lazare's branch of the family tree was. Perhaps she was just as bad as them, now. After all, in her own way, lazare was doing exactly what amara thought she was doing: protecting the family from itself.
But-- she had won. She had won, and she was tired of asking and getting no answers.
And so, she would make hwr own. The crown is heavy in her hands where she still holds it, even though she was the only one left. She had no desire to be queen, leastt of all a queen of nothing. Let some other lions fight over the scraps of their dynasty. Let some other family use these red rocks to hide away in. The dieudonne would hide no more: lazare had made a promise, and her garden would surely grow better elsewhere.
She takes a breath, and then lazare dieudonne tosses aside the crown and leaves the bluffs for good.
Exit
