[FoF] Sit still, look pretty

Imoren Xipris Zinyra

Apocalypse... It is not a death of fire. It's not showy. It is the inexorable setting of the sun, without another hope of morning

Imoren had not been standing at the front of the line, begging to visit Ravaryn together with her cousin and House Daetrys, when her parents received word of the invitation. How they had concluded that it would be an enlightening journey to send her on was beyond her comprehension. Yes, the thought of getting a taste of other cultures was appealing, but this taste of culture would involve experiencing frostcrown up north, all while having to attend the largest social event of the year in Ishgard.

To say the past few days had been miserable would be an understatement. Whenever she had gotten the chance, Imoren was found huddled near a hearth, desperate for the fire to seep some warmth back into her bones. Everything had led up to the twilight ball, and even though the accumulation of living bodies made the temperature bearable, the downside was the bustle of the crowd.

Her dress was golden, packed for her by her parents. She had long since given up on arguing with them about what she should wear. While the sparkling gown and the colour of her skin lured in curious people from this part of Odiria, her scowl made some reconsider stepping up to her for an introduction. Imoren kept to the walls of the ballroom from where she could look at the party instead of partaking.

Franciscus had little to no joy in going to the ball that was being kept inside their family home, but he doubted he was able to hide himself inside his room all night, for he knew Orion would probably get angry at him. So, after a while, he had been able to bring his sorry ass down towards the ballroom, where all the other people were laughing and dancing. He had hoped that looking at them might have been able to cheer him up, but it was doing quite the opposite. Making him feel like he was the only one depressed person in the room. Thinking about how things could have been if she still had his wife standing next to him, holding his hand to offer him the support he needed to get through the night.

As he was standing pretty close to the wall, he was once again holding himself together with the drink in his hand. But it didn’t take long before he already needed another one. He slowly moved himself away again, but as he was making his way towards the table with drinks, he noticed himself stepping on the fabric of someone’s dress. Making him turn his head to look at the woman in a golden dress. Looking like she was from one of the more southern kingdoms. ”Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean..” He honestly told her, before he almost wanted to leave, but noticed she was standing just as lonely as he had been. And that her glass was empty. ”Do you want me to grab you another drink?” He eventually decided to ask, instead of finishing his last sentence. Showing some of that expected Ylindar hospitality towards their guards.