[ Eglantine has known since she was little more than raw materials what she was meant for. Every year under the forge's hammer, beating the metal into shape and scraping it to precision has been little more than preparation for its actual duty — or rather, in preparation for this single day. More than a decade of work for the sake of a single day and the chance to prove herself to the man who had commissioned her creation to begin with. If she failed to live up to his expectations then what? Her component parts are beyond recovery now. There would be no way to start over. Would she have been left in the tower to gather dust, unable to see to her duties? That might not be so bad, it it came about.
But it's with a smile that Eglantine meets him — and blood all over her hands, all up and down the elegant dress she'd been decorated in before being sent out to introduce herself to the Emperor. And by way of explanation, all she says is: ] He was pleased.
[ That isn't quite right. Afraid is more like it — it'd seen his expression when he'd called it off from the so-called spar and it'd looked up from the limp and unresponsive captain of the guard, fingers fisted in his hair to expose his throat and seen some uncertainty there, too. As to whether it was obedient and controlled enough to obey an order not to kill.
no subject
But it's with a smile that Eglantine meets him — and blood all over her hands, all up and down the elegant dress she'd been decorated in before being sent out to introduce herself to the Emperor. And by way of explanation, all she says is: ] He was pleased.
[ That isn't quite right. Afraid is more like it — it'd seen his expression when he'd called it off from the so-called spar and it'd looked up from the limp and unresponsive captain of the guard, fingers fisted in his hair to expose his throat and seen some uncertainty there, too. As to whether it was obedient and controlled enough to obey an order not to kill.
With some disappointment, it had. ]
You should praise me for my hard-won victory.