Arsynia,
Lioness of Prideless
Played by dusk

arsynia tollaire.

With each frantic footfall, she felt her pace having to heighten in order to keep up. Before long, Arsynia's swift gait seemed to be half-trotting, longer strides on shorter legs desperate to keep up with the taller, larger man. The thrum of the wind seemed much less imposing now, and the drawl of heat splaying across her cheeks pushed back to her jaws, then her neck, then her chest. This is a lion's greatest work, he responded, and Arsynia could not deny herself the pleasant surprise of his remarks. She had half-expected the man to deny such allegations, to claim battles for prides much more noble occasions. But the brutality of war was not lost on a woman born within it; her first breaths had been spent shackled, after all, and even after she had been unfettered from them had she been plunged into war and chaos.

She knew too well the nature of lions. But even she knew Kaden was right—it was that same chaos that separated the strong from the weak. Smaug had been strong. Arsynia would be strong too.

I'll be at the center.

It was a declaration as much as it was a promise, and this time, it enticed a more genuine smile to break the stoic, steeled demeanor of her expression. “I look forward to watching you there,” she responded, making up the brief pause in her pace to catch up, clenching more of the distance between them that she had left before. She could not help but endorse him, she favored men bold enough to stake such claims and not deny the terror of it all. “Have you yet gathered allies?”

Art by AleTie