open post

[longitudinal]

any and all prompts welcome. gen/smut, etc.

this is a choose not to warn entry - please note there may be nsfw content within

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[oisre]

Passage on a ship shouldn't cost such an exorbitant price, but Pearl knows the desperation is on her face when she inquires. She's not begging but it is more than evident she could be given only a few days more.

Her mother had sewn jewels into her dress and the silken lining of her cloak, disguising the hiding places with embroidered stars of white and grey thread so the inside of her cloak looks like the night sky instead of a small treasure trove. Likewise they are hidden in the hem of her dresses. She can afford the price, asking a day to gather the funds— time she needs to sell a handful of her precious jewels and fill her purse with enough coins to pay her way.

When she returns the price has suddenly risen and Pearl's hands clench into fists, wrinkling the fabric of her skirt. She smoothes it out and twists a pin from her hair, taking a moment to prise the gem from the pin before taking the time to fix her hair. She holds out the stone in the palm of her hand— the size of her thumbnail, the diamond is perfectly clear except for a drop of blood red in the center. The resurrection diamond. It will crack and split if the wearer is to be killed, keeping the forces of death at bay entirely. But only once.

It's long been seen as a myth, but one that is well known. No one has seen it since three monarchs past, stolen then before the Regent was killed in his bed.

She decides for the captain that this will pay her passage and he agrees, tucking the stone in his pocket with little hesitation and even less concern with pulling at the strings of provenance.

Now she waits, the ship isn't to leave until morning light and, recklessly, Pearl joins the sailors milling around the inn, carousing and carrying on, watching with interest as the man she had seen on the ship arrives, power spun around him like a spray of golden sunlight across a choppy sea. The magic itself so so beautiful she finds herself staring before she even begins to study the man and by the time her gaze reaches his beautiful face he has caught her staring. With no small amount of chagrin, Pearl rises from her seat in the dimly lit corner to join him by the fire, seat next to him hastily vacated at her approach.

"May I join you?"