Chapter Text
The envelope was think, heavy and sealed in wax. faintly Scented with lavender and jasmin.
"To the Esteemed Daughter of the Desert
After the reunification of the world, by decree of the court and under the gracious patronage of Lady Berenilde of the Pole promise of Farouk, you are formally invited to attend the reception of alliances and concord.
your attendance is requested to honor the unity between the arks, and to lend your distinguished presence to the evening presentation to the evening's celebration.
your reputation for elegance and discernment precedes you
we wait for your arrival with great anticipation.
respectfully,
the court of mirages."
Kamari couldn't help but sigh, since the reunifiaction of the world, invitations had been constant, she was expected at every single meeting around the world , since her land had a better and way easier acces now.
she might've ignored this one like the rest, but a name caught her attention,
-berenilde.. she didnt even know if she still remembered her.
As she smoothed the enveloppe, something smaller slipped out, another piece of papper,way more smaller, unsealed, unofficial. It was a handwritting she hadn't seen in years and yet one that she could never forgot.
P.S
It would be a crime to host a night so dull without your fire to set it ablazed.
come as you always are,in the way only a woman carved from flames like you can be, I will not expect anything less.
some fools here have forgoten what real royalty look like.
I would say "Behave" but we both know you won't.
Make them tremble, my dear. its been far too quiet.
-berenilde.
the note warmed her heart so deeply that she almost lost herselft and burned the note, right there, with the heat rising off her palms. But she didn't, she never does. Control is something she wears better than gold. If that's even possible.
Berenilde was the first woman to tell her when she was still young and not yet proud of her fire"Let them call you difficult, dont let anyone make you quiet" everytime she visited her mother, she brought a gift : A khit errouh, new khaytem in gold to gleam against her darkened fingertips, or even sometimes a whole new kaftan with a shayla, rich of embroidery it could silence a room. and even when her mom wasnt there anymore , she still came for her, still with a gift, like a physical emotional support she couldnt give.
But yeah. looks like berenilde still remembered who she was.
She set the note down gently, exhaled through her nose, and considered her dressing room.
"let's find something that won't disappoint her"
the didn't fall silent at her entrance , it collapsed into it, the conversation died mid-setence. Glasses paused halfway to lips. even the string quartet faltered, bows hovering above their instrument like they just had, in one glance completely forgotten their partition.
her garments didn't just adorn her, it followed her, the crimson kaftan moved as if it had studied every single one of her steps, clinging in some places and letting her breathe in others, the golden embroidery catching light at the curves from her chest an glinding like smoke down her leg, like a quiet form of power, delicate enough to seems ornamental but dangerous enough to be mistaken for an armor.
it would be a lie to say she wasn't expecting this kind of reaction, it's been five years since she was left all alone, her dad was never home due to business trip and for her mom... the disease took her before memory could, that was the first betrayed the universe inflicted her, at the age of 8 years old, she always wondered what does she looked like or if she looked -even just a little bit- like her ?
good think her shayla was hidding her eyes , they began to become to much watery , with one slip of a hand she boilled drop of the tears degining to forming in the inner corner of her eyes.
She didn't realize hot long she was standing up and stood still until a small scent of lavender invade her , and felt firm but gentle fingertips on her arms.
-"Oh my dear, I thought you'll never come"
she smiled ,Berenilde was the closest thing she could have had to an aunt, not by blood, obviously but by that fierce Kamari always admired in her gaze.
-"well you do know how to summon me now, dont you ? even when I think I'm at my lowest "
-"Says the woman who makes an entire room sweat just by walking into it"
-" well in that case, let them drown, maybe they will lose the desire to whisper about my veil"
she stepped closer, lowered her voice for the first time since she entered the room, just like silk sliding over flame.
-"I'm only here for you"
Berenilde’s expression softened. For a moment, all the grandeur of the evening: the flickering candles, the orchestras, the glinting jewels faded behind her gaze. She reached out, gently tucking a strand of hair beneath Kamari’s shayla.
-“Good, They don’t deserve to like you. They’re not worthy of your kindness… and they’ll never survive your wrath.”
They exchanged a glance only women like them could share, made of steel, sorrow, and survival. The kind of affection that had weathered years apart, and still held.
the music was just starting to recover, akward and soft, like it had realized who it was playing for and she noticed berenilde gaze shift, not angry, but almost anoyed, not on her , but past her , somewhere over her shoulder.
-"speaking of the devil"
she raised an eyebrow, and turned slightly , she was a little more smaller than her but she had just enough height to follow her line of sight, she didn't realise what she was looking at until she saw him , one man standing casually across the room , wine glass in hand, smirk lazy, posture arrogant, and his eyes locked on her.
without realising a small sight got out of her mouth
-"I believe, due to the weather here, that the children of the pole didn't leaned to never play with fire"