The Sentinels Composed upon Westminster Bridge

A wolf returned quietly to his residence, his rich fur dappled by the afternoon lowlight sun as he strayed through the majestic Donnelaith. As quiet and contemplative as ever, Flaris tread leisurely among the broad Sentinels, taking in of his new home what he had missed in previous sweep. He did not scrutinize things, as he was sure there would be plenty time to see it all in the time he would come to spend there. The gentleman preferred this place to the sloping, rocky terrain of Bergamont— perhaps born to the woods more than he had been the mountains— and he thought the only thing more pleasing than this was if he had company to share it with.

Nurturing this thought in the back of his head, the mellow, cerise-eyed wolf began to search for an unoccupied packmate.

pretend the formatting worked lmao

Beneath the boughs of the Sentinels wound several streams and brooks. One such stream was near to where Starbuck made her home, and deep enough for her to submerge herself fully. The waters were cool, but the days were not so cold that it was uncomfortable. She was here in part to bathe and in part to practice her scrying, but the desire to splash and play in the water was so great that her original intentions were forgotten. Gripped by childish desires, she hopped through the water, finding the deepest pool and paddling in circles.

When she grew tired she drew herself upon a sunbathed rock at the side of the pool. Water streamed from her as she dried, and as she dried she sang in her high, clear voice.

À la claire fontaine m’en allant promener
J’ai trouvé l’eau si belle que je m’y suis baigné!
Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, jamais je ne t'oublierai
Sous les feuilles d’un chêne, je me suis fait sécher.
Sur la plus haute branche, un rossignol chantait.[i][/i]

the melody drew the youngest queen donnelaith had ever seen from her own quiet contemplation. so uplifting were the notes that her spirits veritably soared! deirdre's head was beginning to ache no more. the melody was familiar, and warmed her heart so! and then the words came to her as she sang, seeing starbuck bathe and remaining on the bank:

Chante rossignol, chante,
Toi qui as le cœur gai
Tu as le cœur à rire,
Moi je l'ai à pleurer,

the words that came from her lips were magick themselves, as the birds chirped in time with her accented continuation of her song. her tail was lifted behind her as the royal witch stood tall and proud, smiling prettily to her friend that remained despite the Great Change that had occurred but what felt like a day ago! a wind carried the scent of another, and distractedly deirdre turned her head in the direction she imagined the scent came.

A high, lilting melody called over bird- and windsong, drawing Flaris into full attention and soon into quick chase of it. His feet carried him in eager glide, his pace slacking as another bewitching hark lifted with the golden forest motes around him. He paused to hear it to completion, before emerging graciously downstream and meeting the delicate gaze of Donnelaith's young regent. The earthy cavalier bowed his head to her, and when he lifted it again slowly, his cardinal eyes found the prone and dew-speckled form of another occupant of the Sentinel's shade. A duet, he thought, he had perhaps interrupted.

"My ears beseech you, fair songstresses. Please sing more to me."

pp with permission <3

Fair Deirdre arrived and, without preamble, added her voice to Starbuck's song. Immediately Starbuck's voice lifted, the song less private and more proud. Her friend's company always pleased her, and to sing with her! The joy was almost too much to bear. Starbuck's chest warmed and fluttered, and she smiled as she sang. 

Je voudrais que la rose fût encore au rosier,
Et que ma douce amie fût encore à m'aimer.

So the song finished, and Starbuck giggled gleefully. It wasn't until he spoke that she realized they had an audience. He was a stranger to her, but would not be this far within the lands if he was not meant to be. When he requested an encore, and Starbuck dipped her head in coquettish meekness. Still she looked to Deirdre to see if she was as willing to indulge the man. With her consent, Starbuck chose another song, one so popular that the queen was sure to know it.

Au clair de la lune,
Mon ami Pierrot,
Prête-moi ta plume
Pour écrire un mot.
Ma chandelle est morte,
Je n'ai plus de feu.
Ouvre-moi ta porte
Pour l'amour de Dieu.

ah, twas flaris that the wind carried! she smiled as he came upon them, and nodded politely toward his bow. the pale queen appreciated such grand gestures, though never enforced them. the regal girl-queen grinned coyly to his beseeching, and her shyness, in the chill autumnal day, melted away as she allowed herself to simply feel the joie de vivre in her heart! and so, her accented voice soon joined that of her dear starbucks, and she sang, her eyes twinkling gaily:

Au clair de la lune
Pierrot répondit
Je n'ai pas de plume
Je suis dans mon lit
Va chez la voisine
Je crois qu'elle y est
Car dans sa cuisine
On bat le briquet,

They looked at him as his voice traveled, and for a moment he thought he had broken the spell, expecting the nymphs to dash away giggling, leaving him dumbstruck and breathless. But the enchantresses smiled and heeded the poor man's prayer, deeming it not yet time to abandon him, taking their magic with them. The tellurian pixie picked up the joyously foreign carol first, sending a delighted tremor along Flaris' sloped spine. He began to foxtrot after finding the soft rhythm to her music, prancing on courtly paws and spinning every few lines to the flourish of imaginary coattails. The snowfelled queen came in to finish the song, while her kappa began twirling in the opposite direction now between rollicking stamps of his dancing feet.

And when the duet had gone with the breeze, Flaris was left standing there with his tongue lolling, tail waving, and his eyes darting between packmates in a shine of immeasurable joy. "That was brilliant, madams— Brilliant! Simply divine," the man cheered. "I haven't had a chance to dance like that since my very precocious boyhood."

Their song began anew, and once Starbuck had gauged Deirdre's voice, she began to add harmony where it seemed to do the song justice. And so they sang, and now Starbuck watched both the man and her friend, and had to suppress joyful laughter as he began to dance. She was flattered that their music had moved him so, and watched his courtly prancing with naked admiration.

When at last they finished, he praised them sweetly. Starbuck smiled shyly, though she batted her eyelashes prettily. She could be a vain creature, and enjoyed praise when it was offered. She leapt down from her rock and came to stand beside Deirdre. As she approached she rubbed, catlike, against her friend. You flatter us with your own talent. But Deirdre! I never knew you were one for song, she exclaimed. And I have not been introduced to our friend, which seems a shame.

his dance was lovely to watch, and deirdre herself was unabashed in doing so! but her look was innocent, of a young woman who loved to inspect and saw the beauty in all things no matter their faults! but in his foxtrot she could see no error, and deirdre found herself laughing by the end of it all, dizzied with her delight.

bravo to you all! deirdre sang, her thick plume waving behind her. to starbucks words, deirdre looked suddenly bashful, looking down before gazing upward to her darling friend through thick, long lashes. it is not something i share so often with others, but for the trees and the flowers, the pale queen admitted, and as for not introducing the other, well! deirdre's gaze panned to him, then, and she smiled, not wanting to speak for him.

"Flaris, my lady," he introduced himself, bowing. "And it has been a pleasure beyond all pleasures to have had private audience to that brilliant performance." He looked to them fondly, though found himself sorely disappointed with how... young and innocent they both appeared, smiling angelically at him. Cherubic faces fitted unfortunately onto bodies yet on the cusp of sexual maturity. His tail wagged the thoughts away, thought personally felt unapologetic for his virile thoughts. "I would gladly turn into a flower if it meant hearing you sing more often, my queen." He was unable to speak another way; to be any less praising or flourishing. Flaris had been raised to bow and serve, love and entertain— he was lowborn royalty— and he would not be any different in Donnelaith. "Have either of you eaten this afternoon? Would it please the ladies if I fetched dinner?"

The bell-ring of Dierdre's laugh, along with the praise and attention from the man, sent Starbuck reeling into heady delight. We must sing together again, my dear, she plied, for any time spent with Deirdre was well spent, and now she knew they shared another joy! Then she turned to Flaris, who lay compliments at Deirdre's feet like flowers. Well met, Flaris, said she. He was far older than she, but she delighted in his air of maturity and the silver hairs upon his jaws. His age spoke of dignity and experience. When he offered to fetch them food, she looked to Deirdre, preferring to follow her judgement.

deirdre was flattered and warmed by the words of flaris, her eyes falling bashfully toward the earth before falling to starbuck as she spoke. twas flaris who finished speaking lastly, and deirdre smiled to him. perhaps we could all hunt together, she suggested, and then moved to lead them in this jaunt! together they felled a sickly creature of donnelaith that was not long for the world, and when they finished deirdre added the remainder of the thing to the caches of the forest before returning to their company, which she kept for the remainder of the day.

fading this!