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sycamorre · 1 year

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Turnabout is fair play. 9 for Oriranna and 17 for Orianna and the frost prince

[prompt]

OriRanna

One of the things Oriana had come to truly appreciate about Ranna was her boldness. Where she was horribly conscious of her own shortcomings in regards to confidence, particularly when it came to social situations, she couldn’t help but notice how the bard almost seemed undaunted in whatever she chose to do. Many of the people they may have dealt with likely considered it to be an annoyance at times, but Oriana still could not help but admire it, and be a bit envious of it, if she were being honest.

However, with how loud Ranna could be when she was bold, it was almost striking how quiet she could be when that boldness faded. This was not often, but seemed to becoming more frequent as the days went on, and Oriana noticed it most when things were quiet. Sometimes it was just in passing, where perhaps she would hear a soft sigh when Ranna thought she was out of earshot. Or sometimes on a calm evening when she was meditating and Ranna was strumming wordlessly on her lute, her unfocused gaze turned down toward the floor while her brow furrowed. And yet, when Oriana would ask if something was wrong, the elf would immediately seem to perk up again.

Oriana knew she had to work up her own amount of boldness to get to the bottom of this. They would be leaving Athosa soon, and the monk worried that she going to miss her chance to figure out what was going on. Once the evening was wrapping up and things had calmed down, Oriana put the plan in motion. Ranna was currently in her room, seemingly lost in thought again, though a light tap on the doorframe brought her out of the trance.

“Ranna, are you busy?” Ori stepped into the room, a tray gingerly held in her hands, almost exactly the same way she had back at the manor. “I managed to make fresh tea, if you wanted some to help wind down.”

Like clockwork, Ranna’s mood shifted immediately back to the expected warmth that she had shown earlier in the day, and she smiled up from where she was seated. “How can I say no to that?”

The two would sit at the small table in the room for a while, chatting about the things they saw earlier while working through a couple glasses of tea. The entire time, Oriana was vigilantly watching for her chance to strike up the conversation she really wanted to have. And thankfully, she got her chance.

“Oh, that crowd from the college we ran into? Yes, I think word had gotten around of my recent escapades.” Ranna chuckled, but there was something forced in its tone. “People like to talk around here, you just have to ignore them.”

Oriana raised a brow. “Are you sure that you’re fine with that? You didn’t seem very pleased at the time. Were you afraid of upsetting me?”

“No, no! Nothing like that!” Ranna said quickly, trying to brush away her concern. “Really, they are barely worth the fuss. Those are the kind of people in Athosa that you just have to call their bluff or ignore. Really, it’s fine. It’s not like they were any worse than my—” She quickly cut herself off before finishing the sentence, but it did not go unnoticed by Oriana. And she suddenly remembered a conversation they’d had before the two of them came to the capital.

“...Your parents. They are not worse than your parents.”

Ranna was silent for a moment, her eyes turning away from Oriana’s face as she tried to keep a straight face. “I wouldn’t... I’m fine.”

That confirmed it, Ranna was still worried about dealing with her parents and their expectations, especially now that they were getting a lot more attention than they were before. For a brief second, Oriana was silently debating what to say or do, but she quickly forced that hesitation away. Instead, she let instinct take control, and her hand found itself reaching up to Ranna’s face, gently touching her scarred cheek.

“Ranna, look at me, please.” At first, she was unsure if the elf would listen at this point, but Ranna’s hardened expression slowly softened, and she turned her gaze back enough for Oriana to make eye contact again. “No matter what happens, I am here. If they try to say or do anything to upset you, I will not let that happen. You don’t deserve to be hurt like that.” After a second more, her hand gradually dropped from the bard’s face to instead cover one of Ranna’s own hands. “I made a promise. I am going to be by your side the whole time.”

It was not immediate, but a genuine smile did start to appear once more on Ranna’s expression. “Thank you,” she said once she found her voice again. “I could never ask for more than that.”

Oriana could only shake her head, though she returned the smile with a light chuckle. “You could ask anything of me, and I would make sure to find a way.”

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Ori/Frost Prince AU

Oriana was not sure how long she had been at the Frost Prince’s palace at this point. The weeks were merging together, and she had lost track by this point and had given up counting. She had nearly accepted the idea that she was either never going to find a way around this deal, or he would eventually get irritated of her. The latter still felt the most likely.

Despite the fact he was, for all intents and purposes, making sure that she was well provided for and not lacking anything, her own frustration was beginning to build more and more until she was having a very hard time hiding it. He still would not let her do anything, refusing to give her any kind of real work to do, and most often was only called on when he appeared to simply want her presence. Sometimes it would be standing in the throne room next to him, silently, while he conducted business. Other times it was for dinner between the two of them, even though they could barely hold a conversation without it turning into Oriana demanding answers that he was unwilling to give. It certainly did not help that the strange dreams were only seeming to get stronger, adding to her frustration and having her dread sleep as well.

Then, something began to change. Shorly after the Prince left to visit another fey court, one of the castle’s servants, an older Winter Eladrin woman, came and delivered a message to Oriana’s room. It was a request from the Prince, she was told, asking to help with a ball that was going to be held at the castle. At first, Oriana was skeptical. But she was assured that this was a true request and that the task was specifically to oversee the planning and to give direction to the staff. This was not a task that Oriana considered to be in her usual skillset, but at this point she was open for anything if it gave her something to do. So she agreed with little hesitation, and found herself quickly pulled into the planning process.

In the days that followed, she began to use this opportunity to not only familiarize herself with the castle’s other residents, but also to see if she could find any answers to her own curiosities. What began to interest her the most was that this was apparently the first celebration of any kind to be held here in a very, very long time. The last event of any kind like this would have been back when Sharaea still graced their halls. Representatives of other courts had not visited the icy palace for anything other than strict court business in several generations. Something must of either driven the Prince to announce this, or there was some sort of plan that they were not privy to.

The Frost Prince returned just before the final stages of preparation were beginning. The days and times for the celebration were being finalized, and Oriana found herself summoned to show the Prince what all had been planned. As they walked through the halls, she was able to point out where various activities and decorations were being set up. She almost felt proud of the work they had managed to do, and she watched the Prince to see his reactions. But his expression remained cold and unmoved, asking the occasional question but not much else in the way of interest.

Eventually, Oriana was fed up with this, and came to a halt in the middle of a walkway after getting no reaction at all for one of their ideas. The Prince turned to her, brows furrowed. “Why have we stopped?”

“Is there something wrong?” she began, her tone curt. “You have not said anything about the last few things I showed you.”

“Why would I need to say anything?”

“I need to know if you approve of all this, in case I need to fix it.”

“If I disapprove, I will tell you.”

The frown on Oriana’s expression only deepened, and she crossed her arms. “This is the first and only task you have given me to do. I want it to be done well. All I am asking for is—”

“I have given you my trust to take care of this matter. Is that not enough?”

“Well...” She hesitated, realizing that putting up too much of a fight might risk this chance she had to be more involved. The last thing she wanted was to be reduced back to little more than a forced guest. “I want to do more. I know I cannot do everything, and I still remember what happened with the ice rose. It seemed as though that really rattled you. The last thing I want is for that to happen again.”

The slightest twitch in the Prince’s countenance was enough to prove to Oriana that there was still something wrong, but he recovered quickly. He gave a light sigh, then took a step towards to her, unexpectedly looming over her. This was the closest they had been to each other since Oriana had been brought here, and for a moment it was enough to unnerve her in case he was about to react badly. But he remained quiet for a second more before speaking. “I intended for you to be one of the guests of honor at this occasion. This is also for the other courts, who have vastly different tastes than I do. Your choices and preferences were just as important for this than mine are. So unless I fully disapprove of anything, or unless you are advised against anything in case it stirs up problems with the other courts, there are no issues. Do you understand now?”

Oriana was frozen where she stood, mouth slightly agape. "Guest of honor? Are you... I thought I was just here as a servant of sorts.”

The Prince did not answer. Instead, he stepped away, motioning for her to continue following him. “Come. We still need to finish. And I believe you still have more tasks to finish today.”

#I spent WAY too long on these #dnd!oriana #dnd!ranna #SycaWriting

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