Drulissa's Domain

 The night comes down in steady, soundless sheets,   A rain that neither hurries nor relents,   And I, alone beneath the street-lamp's glow,   Have walked these hours till the pavement gleams   Like some forgotten river running black.   No voice replies; no window shows a face.   The houses stand with shutters closed and blind,   Their chimneys cold, their hearths long turned to ash.   I pass the watchman's lantern, small and low,   And drop my eyes—he has no word for me,   Nor I for him. We share the dark, that's all.   The rain has walked with me these many years,   Out in the wet and back into the wet,   Past the last light where pavements end in mud,   Where fields lie open under starless sky   And trees stand sentinel in dripping rows.   They do not speak; they only stand and wait,   As I have waited, listenin...

 Cold, wet, and slush-covered lanes best described the city of Qeynos in January. The cold, salt-smelling air, mixed with the constant mist and grey skies, lent a dreariness that belied the city’s radiant optimism, the one time of the year when a cold darkness took hold of the streets and avenues. Lady Alustrae D’Arbene stood on the naval docks of Qeynos Harbor, her daughter Opalynna by her side, along with her Royal Guard Asuka. She sighed as she watched her luggage being unloaded and put onto the back of a cart. “Will we be in the city for a while?” Asuka asked, the drops of mist already adorning her gold armor. “No,” Alustrae said, “just in town for the annual Royal Court meetings for the new year, the parliamentary boards, position appointments, treasury meetings, and Ambassadorial Service yearly planning sessions. After this, we are back in the jungle to finish the matter with the hellfire weapon and put an end to that once and for all.” “Understood, Milady,” Asuka said with a...