Work Text:
Manon’ hair is swept back by frightfully cold winds, the air freezing the tips of her fingers and her nose. Still, she revels in it, the bite of cold refreshing in contrast to the too warm room behind her. She watches the clear blue sky, wyverns dancing in the air to create shadows that flint over the ground. A distant knock interrupts her and she frowns before she calls over her shoulder “Enter.” She turns to meet Glennis’s gaze, raising her eyebrow at the bundle of blue cloth she's carrying.
Glennis only walks forward and pushes the cloth into Manon’s hands, swallowing nervously as she steps away. Manon glances down at the cloth before she freezes, running cold fingers over the coth. Not cloth, cloak . Kaya’s cloak. It had been a gift from Thea and she had prized it like it was worth more than her own life, never letting anyone touch it unless they wanted a broken jaw. Now it was here, in Manon’s arms, and Kaya wasn't here to get pissy about it.
More notably, it was wrapped around something. Somethings .
“Glennis, why do you have this?” Manon asks, voice low, and Glennis clears her throat. “A witch was cleaning out her room and found it bundled under her bed.” Manon hums low in her throat before she grasps an edge of the cloak and unfurls it.
She freezes.
Two daggers, with emerald and gold hilts, engraved with a B and E respectively. Two large journals, notes peeking out of the edges. A tea box that smells like peaches and other fruits. A carved wooden wyvern that looks heartbreakingly similar to Abraxos. Pressed flowers, roses and lavenders and many others. Two coiled snakes made of glittering gems, used strings attached to each. A fox fur cowl, soft and well cared for. A small bottle filled with some kind of herbs. A leather band used for tying back hair. An envelope.
Edda, Brair, Ghislaine, Imogen, Lin, Thea, Fallon and Faline, Vesta. Sorrel… Asterin.
She reaches out a shaking hand to grab hold of the envelope, flicking out an iron nail to cut it open. Each word she reads is another heartbreak she relives and her hands are shaking by the time she's done. Glennis raises a hand towards her but Manon steps back. “Get out.”
“Manon-”
“
Out
.”
Glennis does, leaving Manon alone in the room that suddenly feels terribly cold. Manon sets the items onto her bed, spreads them out so she can take in each one. She reaches a still shaking hand towards the leather band, grasps it like it's the only thing keeping her here, in this cold room, alone.
She doesn't know when she started crying but she knows that she can't stop. Her body shakes with sobs as she curls around that leather band, her aching heart an open wound that will bleed with each heartbeat she is alone.