by starkissedvixen
Expedition: Part 1
“You are one of the Queen's most trusted, one of my most trusted. And you would abandon us?”
Katryn dangled her feet over the precipice, feeling the gentle spray of water falling back down to the grounds of the Gardens of Esila. She knew the prince would not take well to the news, but her mind was resolute. She patted the ground beside her. With a huff, Uldren sat down and joined her, looking out over the scenery.
He broke the silence with a sigh, “I can’t change your mind, can I?”
She shook her head. The Traveller had long dwelt on her mind, and now that her people seemed safe in this place, she had to delve deeper. She pressed her thumb into her palm, still remembering the searing light, the figures strung out on the tether, but pushed the thought aside. She offered the prince a small smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll still report in,”
“Mara won’t be happy about this,”
“And what do you think?”
The prince leaned back on his hands, lifting his chin up to feel the breeze, “I think I’m going to miss our talks,”
She punches his arm playfully, “Oh, so now after all these lifetimes you get sentimental?”
He chuckles, “Of course not,” he teases, “you’re one of my best Crows, it’s hard to get good replacements around here,”
Katryn grinned, leaning back and mimicking the prince's pose. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching a lone hawk soar on the wind currents, circling something below. “What are you going to do with yourself? Got some grand adventure to tell me about when I get back?”
Uldren absentmindedly picks a flower from the grass beside him, twirling it in his fingers. “Something like that,”
“What is it?”
He holds the flower out in his fingers, offering it to her. “Can I tempt you for one last mission?"
She takes it gently and smiles, breathing it in. He tenderly takes it again and places it behind her ear, his fingers caressing the scar above her eye, watching the way it makes the redness in her cheeks even brighter.
“You don't even have to ask,”
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TIMELINE
The Dreaming City, weeks before Uldren enters the Black Garden.