#the eingard series

[writeblrfantasy]

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ruby & esther moments from every tes book

editing/writing fv again. love these ladies <3

“I don’t want you to die,” Esther murmurs, ducking her head. “When you hit your head, I don’t remember ever being that worried over anyone else. You awakened something in me, or maybe that was the first time I realized it was always there. I never want you to be hurt again, not that badly. So please, for the love of everything we both hold dear, be careful in battle. Eingard needs you. I need you.”

Heart lurching painfully, Ruby permits herself to step closer. “The same goes for you. In the forest, grace, I”—she chuckles— “I was ready to turn the world upside down to find you. I’ll live in order to appease you, but you’d better do the same, because I can’t promise what I’ll do if I find your corpse somewhere in—”

Esther pulls her in close for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around Ruby’s back, and Ruby is stunned silent for a moment before reciprocating, resting her chin on her shoulder and wrapping her arms around Esther’s neck. Her breath comes slowly, her heart so full she could soar among the stars, the moon. In another world, she would never have to let go.

~

Ruby murmurs a thank you and stands up to get a vase for the flowers. “You gonna take a lunch break?” she asks, stepping into the more barren backyard to fill the vase with water from the pump. It’s Esther’s goal to turn the backyard into an oasis of fruit trees and vegetables plants, but right now there’s only a baby bromber bush and some carefully tended soil. She’s made the front yard her priority for cosmetic purposes, despite that they live in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors.

“Yeah,” Esther grunts in response, wandering into the washroom to clean off the morning’s grime.

Ruby lingers a moment to bask in the sun shining on her face, reluctantly ducking back inside to set the roses on the table. She’d gladly spend a whole day outside, napping on blankets and picking shapes out of clouds and enjoy the warmth of the late summer sun. It’s bearable in the north, unlike Ruby’s early memories of summer in the brutal southern heat.

Esther says they can have such a day sometime, but not even living in a one story house in the country could banish their busy habits. They always find something to do, never bored, and they like it that way.

~

It’s clear to everyone at the port waiting to welcome them back that Ruby has only one thought in mind, only one goal. That goal is dirty and sweaty from training, sword dropped thoughtlessly on the ground in her haste to get to Ruby.

The two of them collide with such force they fall to the ground, but this doesn’t faze them. Ruby and Esther hold onto each other tighter than seems humanly possible. Their eyes are closed, they make no sound. They look nothing short of whole in each other’s arms.

Ruby and Esther have grown on each other like moss—it’s obvious to see even without seeing either of them much. They communicate with just a look, and every hand gesture, every slight brush of an arm or a shoulder or the small of the back means something special. Ruby and Esther have mastered a language all their own.

Ruby’s eyes are squeezed tightly shut as she draws harsh breaths, clutching fistfuls of the back of Esther’s tunic. He watches Esther’s weathered hand rub tenderly over Ruby’s back. Esther could’ve lost Ruby in Orenda, just as Cygnus could’ve lost Harlan. Esther doesn’t even know it yet. He looks at them again, reads their silent language.

I’m sorry. I missed you. I forgive you.

But most plainly of all, I love you.

~

She drops Ruby’s sword back off in their room and shows Cygnus the book, where he learns that the book of plants is not, in fact, a book about plants with illustrations and notes, as he foolishly thought. It is a blank book with plants and flowers of every kind pressed between the pages.

It’s the nicest new year gift he’s seen someone get their lover in a long time, and Esther clearly treasures it from the way she lingers on each page, thumbing through them, telling him things about the differing shapes of leaves on different berry plants. He doesn’t give a damn about anything but the intense adoration on Esther’s face and the beaming, proud smile on Ruby’s.

“Esther,” Ruby says, interrupting Esther’s rant about goose flowers. She shyly hands out a familiar bag. “I’m giving you this, too.”

Esther’s face morphs from adoration to shock back to adoration. “This is your prized bag,” she says, taking the bag into her left hand, her plant book in the other. “Are—are you sure?”

“I told Cygnus it’d become yours eventually,” she winks. “Just fulfilling my promise. Go gather all the plants in the world you could want, dear. After all, it’s the perfect size.”

~

Esther slowly reaches out her arms, showing that there’s nothing in her hands, watching Ruby’s eyes follow her the whole time she spins around, baring herself. Esther tentatively touches their hands together, and when Ruby doesn’t move, Esther touches her arms and keeps going until she can envelope Ruby in a hug. She hates doing this normally, even though Ruby has gotten remarkably good about reading when Esther is and isn’t in the mood. Still, she never initiates contact like this, but her own itches come second to the way Ruby is shaking.

“I’m here,” Esther says into her ear. “You’re here. You’re not there.” She can’t say that Ruby’s family is safe, that everything is fine, because it’s not. None of them can ever do anything to make that right, and that hurts like hell even to her. She can’t imagine how it is for Ruby.

But she can offer this.

After a long minute, Ruby stops shaking, and she begins breathing normally again. She wraps her arms around Esther’s back, squeezing tight, laying her head on her shoulder. Her hair falls around them both, grown out again, as Ruby sighs.

~

Evan wipes her eyes for the umpteenth time and looks up. Cygnus and Harlan are grace knows where, probably seeking respite from the heavy and cold air of this room. in their place are Ruby and Esther, standing so close their sides nearly touch. They seem to lean unconsciously closer to each other. It speaks volumes that they’ve both left their swordbelts in the other room, trusting each other for protection. Perhaps feeling that it’s not needed here.

Ruby is whispering something in Esther’s ear, their hands joined in fur coat pockets. Their tears have dried, and there’s no void in their chest where a part of her soul used to be. She’s jealous of them, how easily they can find peace anywhere they go, as long as they’re together.

~

The insanity, the anxiety over what they’re doing closes over Ruby’s throat and threatens to choke her for a moment. She sees it all too clearly: their loss, the Caels storming the too flat plains and swarming down throughout the country, slaughtering Eingardians, and burning villages, leaving destruction in their wake.

It’s the kind of fear that makes her want to run and hide and never come out, just exist in obliviousness until she knows it’s safe to return. She wants to take Esther and the rest of her family and run, but all she can do is tighten her hand on her sword and breathe.

Esther’s fingers skim over her back, feather light but warm nonetheless. “I’ll be right behind you,” she says quietly, just for Ruby’s ears. A moment of walls down for both of them. Ruby reaches back and catches her hand, squeezes it tight for a moment. Control returns to her in waves through the link she has with Esther’s palm. She looks up and sees a few golden sigils winking out of the air. She smiles, and Esther ducks her head, but she doesn’t hide her smile well enough.

fv taglist (lmk to be added/removed): @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @magic-is-something-we-create @47crayons @idk-bout-tonight

#writing #writeblr #my wip #fantasy #fantasy writeblr #my writing #bean's excerpts #excerpt from my wip #fantasy writing #the eingard series #lila's wips: fv

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cygnus & harlan in every eingard series book

i was falling back in love with tes today and i had the idea to slap this together. i'm gonna do this with the other ships, it was lovely to revisit the boys i love so dearly :)

fyi only the first 4 books have been fully completed, i've planned and written snippets of the last 3 but haven't actually written anything serious for them since last summer

“I’ll be just a minute,” Cygnus said, attempting to bind his hair with one hand and pull on his cloak with the other. His hands were shaking, and after a minute of struggling he gave up entirely on the ribbon.

Harlan’s eyes followed the movement. “Allow me.” He stepped behind Cygnus, closer than necessary, and took the ribbon from Cygnus’ fingers. Cygnus shivered as their hands brushed. The heat Harlan was radiating right behind his back was torture.

Cygnus gathered his hair in his fingers and held it out, waiting to feel the ribbon wrap around it. But Harlan gently replaced Cygnus’ fingers with his own, leaving Cygnus stunned and breathless. Iron self-control was the only thing that kept him from leaning into Harlan as he swiftly tied the ribbon into a neat bow. Cygnus swore his hand lingered before pulling away. He was probably making this out to be much more intimate than it actually was, but did he imagine the thick air in the room as well?

***

“Thank you, darling,” Cygnus said, and craned his neck up to kiss him. Harlan smiled and adjusted his black spectacles, as he did constantly while he got used to them. They’d gone from spectacles he only used when stressed and sleep deprived to permanent, as ordered by the healer. Harlan was beyond frustrated about it, but Cygnus had tried consoling him by telling him they were the most attractive thing in the world. Harlan would always retort that they were the world’s greatest annoyance, but Amina knew Cygnus’ comments made him feel a little better.

***

“Hey,” Cygnus whispered, cutting off his train of thought, which was probably for the better. He placed Harlan’s hand on his chest. “Touch me. Feel me. I’m here, aren’t I? I’m alive. I’m okay.” Cygnus looked worse for wear, tired and weathered, but when he smiled, his eyes shone. Harlan’s heart pulsed so strongly he thought it would burst.

“I love you,” Harlan managed, because he didn’t know what else to say, and he needed to say it. In case this happened again. In case next time he wouldn’t get another chance. “Never leave me again.”

“Never, darling.”

***

“Harlan sounds like a god among men, the way you talk about him,” he comments over the rim of his coffee mug.

Cygnus smiles and sighs, picturing the hard, stern eyes of Cora and the off putting scent of Heath, the heat of Elio and even the smile of Nym. But that smile had been distant and strange. Otherworldly.

It’s all too easy, then, to picture the way Harlan’s eyes light up when he casts a spell, the way he shakes his head and fights off a smile when Cygnus has done something childish to warrant it. How he walks through the markets and befriends the merchants and their families to make them feel seen and appreciated by the throne, and just because he likes them. His unwavering patience, his unwavering determination to be fair in his job. The taste of his kisses. The security of his arms at night. His dark, mysterious beauty that intrigued Cygnus years ago.

“He’s better,” Cygnus says, not caring if he sounds like a fool.

***

Harlan insists on helping Cygnus bathe after Easthaven. Cygnus is in too much pain and too willing for a welcome and needed Harlan to take care of him to argue. He gives himself easily into Harlan’s waiting hands. All he has to do is move his limbs enough to undress and lie in the basin. They don’t speak.

Harlan is still furious with himself and with everyone. it shows in his sharp, jerky movements, the symbols of tight control, how tightly he squeezes the cloths to wring them out, as if he’s imagining placing his hands around not-Anson’s throat, his distant, thoughtful eyes, the hard press of his lips together. Nothing Cygnus can say will make him realize it wasn’t his fault, so he just lets Harlan fuss. Cygnus hopes he’ll tire himself out and they’ll fall into bed equally exhausted, one of them pained, tonight.

***

Evan knows she and Amina are the victims here, but that doesn’t mean the rest of them aren’t suffering in silence, too. In the midst of caring for Amina, in the few waking and sleeping moments when her thoughts aren’t filled with Amina’s too still face, Evan sees the exhaustion on Cygnus’. That’s nothing new, but it’s gotten better over the years. It hasn’t been as it is now since the days before Esther took him into her own hands, onto the training ground. Evan is again amazed by her brother, his ability to provide her so much support while giving it all to Cygnus at the same time. Evan sees them cuddled together under the same cloak by the fire night after night, grieving in silence like her.

At least they have each other at all. This ordeal has taught Evan to be thankful for that.

***

The Cael stares them down, trapping them between the certain death of the cliff behind them and certain death in a Caelish prisoner camp. Cygnus never takes his hand off Harlan’s chest like that alone will give him the support he needs. It does.

He turns his back on the Cael to say with a grin, “If we’re going down, we might as well go down together.”

Confusion flashes across Harlan’s eyes for the barest second before realization dawns.

Cygnus pushes them both over the edge.

They can’t die apart, but they can die together, on their own terms.

He kisses Harlan as they fall.

tes taglist (lmk to be added/removed) @magic-is-something-we-create @myhusbandsasemni @sondials @mischiefiswritten @peonypearls-muddled-musings

#writing #writeblr #fantasy writeblr #fantasy #my wip #my writing #my fantasy wip #the eingard series #bean's excerpts

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reblog this post with what colors you associate with your ocs or your oc ships or just your wips in general! i’m super curious if this a thing a lot of people do, because i do it so much it’s second nature.

i’ll start, you’ve probably seen these colors in my moodboards: i associate cygnus with teal or dark blue, harlan with gold, purple, and black, ruby with red, evan with pink or peach or gold, esther with green and brown, amina with white, pale blue, and brown. the eingard series overall i associate vaguely with orange.

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EXCERPT FROM ORENDA: CYGNUS’ FEVER DREAMS

click for better quality

this is my favorite part of orenda, and i wanted to share this with you all, i’m super proud of it 🥰🥰 i love writing dreams and nightmares because i love describing emotion, and scenes happening in characters’ heads where i don’t have to pay attention to movements.

transcription under the cut

taglist: @magic-is-something-we-create​ @sondials​ @mischiefiswritten​ @a-place-of-babble​ @myhusbandsasemni​

lmk to be added/removed!

As Cygnus’s fever ebbed and flowed, he dreamed.

He’d dreamt of grace before- they all had- but even at death’s doorstep, this was nothing like it. Dreams of grace usually included an all-knowing, caring presence, glimpses of white clouds and light, of peace and calm.

Instead, Cygnus dreamt of humans, except they weren’t. Gods. The foreign word flashed to mind each and every time he looked up into their cold, displeased eyes from his spot kneeling in the center of them. There were four of them, standing in a square so that they boxed him in, and they’d be there no matter where he turned. They seemed larger than life, though when they looked down on him, they were not any taller than a normal person.

Cygnus tried to rise, to ask who they were, why they did this, but he already knew the answers to those things. When he opened his mouth, nothing but a croak came out.

One intimidated him more than the others. The only woman, the one he always saw first in the dreams, with slicked back hair and gold earrings. A frown always graced her lips, her arms crossed, brown eyes regal and powerful.

The others were a man of fair features and kinder eyes than the rest, a man who looked like he could be Oshama’s unfriendly, stronger cousin, and a man with red hair that tumbled down to his shoulders, whose rings glistened when he moved.

Because of the dreams, Cygnus slept uneasily, often jolting awake in the middle of the night to see Hilary asleep on a bedroll on the floor. Sleep would eventually find him again, but so would the gods’ eyes, hard yet satisfied.

Finally, night after night, each of the men would disappear.

The blond went first, giving Cygnus an appraising look up and down before nodding once. He stepped out of his place and touched a fingertip to Cygnus’s forehead, whispering, “Begin to heal,” before floating away in a whirl of wind. Cygnus noted the floral perfume on his robes and the scent of herbs in the wind. He let out a ragged breath, coughing on the intensity of it, before the dream melted away.

 On the second night, it was the man with the rings who stepped forward. Fire gathered at the tips of his fingers. The heat burned near Cygnus’s face. He flinched away, but the man held his head in place with his other hand, touching the burning fingertips to Cygnus’s forehead lightly. The suddenness of it shocked him, but it did not hurt.

“Good luck,” said the god in a cheery tone, and left engulfed in crackling flame.

That day, Cygnus walked around Hilary’s house some more. She fashioned a club onto the end of the walking stick, as well as in the center, to make it easier for him to grip. Cygnus’s pain was better, but his fever hadn’t left completely. He went to sleep with aches as his wounds slowly healed, but Hilary’s sleeping spell eased him into gentle, easy peace.

This time it was the stoic look-alike-cousin of Oshama who came forward. Cygnus didn’t know what he was expecting. If there had been a kind man and a bold one, wind and flame, what would it be now, lightning bolts?

No, it was earth, Cygnus realized, as the man’s robes smelled strongly and distinctly of dirt.

There’s a god for you, Esther.

Cygnus locked eyes with the god as dirt gathered in his hands, dark and rich. Cygnus sincerely hoped that wasn’t about to be placed on his forehead.

To his relief, the god tossed the soil around Cygnus’s feet. Cygnus followed its path with his eyes, as ever he was locked in place and unable to speak.

With a wave of the god’s palm, the dirt began to sparkle and dissipated into the white ground. Cygnus raised his head. The god’s eyes flashed with a note of approval, but only for a moment.

This one said nothing as he left, just offered a grunt in Cygnus’s direction. He raised a patch of earth and stepped into the center of it, god and dirt fading away before Cygnus’s eyes, leaving behind only a whiff of soil in the air.

Something compelled Cygnus to look up. The fourth and final goddess stared back at him, arms at her sides for the first time. Just the two of them, alone in the white room. This woman could end Cygnus’s life with a thought. It was all too clear in her eyes.

The woman raised her chin a bit, appraising. She snapped her fingers and Cygnus watched her, the white room and the dream float away, until he landed back in his body, Hilary waiting to receive him.

His seventh night in Hilary’s care, Cygnus went to sleep praying, praying, praying that after this he would be free, that the goddess would let him return to health. When Hilary cast a sleeping spell over him, at his request, he could see his own nerves mirrored on her face.

If it had been real, his heart would’ve been pounding as he met the goddess’s eyes.

What makes you think this isn’t real? his brain wondered.

While still closed off, her eyes did not hold the same coldness that they had a few days ago. Her arms were folded, lip caught between her teeth as her eyes raked over him. Cygnus ached to look away, but her hold kept him there, under the careful scrutiny. He was closer to her, this time, enough to pick up on any scents. Cygnus expected rich perfume, perhaps, the holiest of holy scents, but Cora smelled of nothing at all.

After a minute of agonized silence, the goddess seemed to make a decision. “Rise,” she ordered, voice grating like a sword on its whetstone. She flicked her hand sharply.

Cygnus was jerked to his feet, making him stumble. He righted himself, smoothing his shirt, hoping to restore some dignity. At last, he could move.

But not speak.

Cygnus tried limping toward her, finger raised, but his hand passed right through her image. Surprised, he waved a hand back and forth through her head. A wry smirk crossed her face, a hint of amusement embedded in it. Her cold, hard gaze broke for the first time, and like a lock clicking open in his head, Cygnus understood.

She told him something, and Cygnus bowed his head, promising to do as she bid.

“Go,” she said after, summoning water to flow over both her hands. Raising them, she rained it down over him, only, like Elio’s fire, it had no effect on him. It passed right over him as if it were air.

“Remember this,” the goddess said, just as Cygnus felt himself beginning to drift away. “You may be a king, but you are not my king.”

#writing #writeblr #my wip #my writing #fantasy writeblr #fantasy #my oc #the eingard series #the eingard series: cygnus #bean's excerpts

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EXCERPT FROM THE EINGARD SERIES: ANSON AND CYGNUS

this is a piece i wrote a bit ago, but it’s still one of my favorite pieces, so far, of tes5.

i’m really sorry i haven’t been active this month, my lack of motivation for nano has been kicking my butt and i needed a break. i’m going to work on some stuff for tes over the holidays and try to get back to writing tes5 in the new year, i think :)

I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and stay safe!!

transcription and taglist under the cut

Cygnus inexplicably started to laugh. Once he started, he couldn’t stop. hysteria or the sheer pleasure of seeing confusion on Anson’s face, he couldn’t stop. he didn’t say what he was thinking, that Harlan would know within the week that something was wrong when Cygnus didn’t start sending letters. If he couldn’t come, he’d send Oshama or someone who could transport. Cygnus would be whisked away before Anson knew what hit him.

Anson seemed to shake his confusion off and smiled at last. “I don’t know what’s got you in hysterics, but I need you to do something. Not too hard, I just need you to write there. As short or long as you like. Pretend like you’re addressing your lover.”

Cygnus’s laughter stopped, and his heart dropped in his chest. Anson was still smiling, holding out a quill. Cygnus looked from him to the quill and back again.

No.

He was being had just like Ruby had been with Duke Ednin.

“Go on,” Anson said. Cygnus slowly picked up the quill, never looking him in the eye, and wrote out a dirty insult to Anson on the page. Anson laughed.

“That’ll do.” Cygnus watched him study the handwriting for a few seconds, then began to write on a fresh page.

“You’re not going to make me do it?” Cygnus asked.

Anson shook his head. “That would be just too much effort. It’s faster if I do it without having to hold a hand to your head. I have the talents, anyway.”

Before long, with Cygnus’s glare of death not slowing him down in the slightest, Anson had filled out a page. “Allow me to read it to you,” he said. “Correct me if there are any inaccuracies.

“Harlan, I have arrived safely. I’m sorry I haven’t written sooner, but Anson’s had me on the run around across the island, and I’ve barely had a chance to rest my feet. Some treatment for a king, hm? I know I’ve made you worried, but I promise you, I’m fine. I’ll write every day if it so pleases you from now on.

“Anson and the island are just as lovely, and the latter as beautiful, as Oshama described. I could spend hours looking out my window at the waves and the sun, both are so vibrantly blue and orange. The brown beaches are unlike anything we have in Eingard, and I wish you could be here to see them with me. Anson has taken me to the prison in the middle of the jungle, and it serves our purpose well. Even the villagers are nice. I’m convinced a mean Orendish person doesn’t exist. Anson is a wonderful host, and his mansion is gorgeous.

“Enough of me blabbering on, how are you? How are the Orendish mountains? How’s the training going? I bet you’ve already managed to cast that spell and leave Oshama in the dust. Before I know it you’ll be transporting into my bedroom here to surprise me.

“Miss you, and love you, regards to Oshama and Reusse and Hilary and all that, Cygnus.” Anson set down the letter. “Well?”

Cygnus didn’t know what to say, and all he could feel was a sick sense of dread.

It was perfect.

Cygnus hadn’t really had the presence of mind to be scared while holed up with Hilary that week. All he could think was ow, my leg, ow, my chest, oh, those gods again, I wonder if they’re going to burn me to a crisp, and I hope Harlan’s alright. But now he had his physical health, even if he was starting to lose his grip on his mind again, and Anson…

Anson scared him in a way he hadn’t been in a long, long time.

@sondials​ @a-place-of-babble​ @mischiefiswritten​ @babblingadventures​

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#the eingard series #the eingard series: cygnus #my wip #writing #excerpt from my writing #bean's excerpts #fantasy writing #writeblr #fantasy #my ocs

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“Step up, step up, don’t be shy,” Ruby said, smiling, handing out little baubles and special ornaments to the children gathered around the tall green tree. Esther had fiddled with the lights for over an hour, growling at them as if that’d make them turn on, but they glowed brightly now, white and red and blue and purple and gold and yellow.

The capital’s children stood in a circle around the tree, half buried in their winter coats, shy and afraid to approach the tree, most of them too short to reach the first layer of branches. Ruby handed out ornaments to any child who came, encouraging them. She’d placed this tree in the middle of the palace courtyard for a reason. It wasn’t just for the noble children who lived warm and secluded inside the palace, it was for the poor children, the ones whose families only got to gaze at the palace and dream of going inside. Of course, Cygnus and his Chiefs were working to change that, but Ruby’s kindness was enough for now.

There weren’t many who did things truly out of the goodness of their hearts, but Ruby Heiland was one of them.

“Amina, come on, help us,” Ruby called as Amina crossed the courtyard. Amina frowned.

“Aren’t you going to freeze your ass off out there?”

“Who cares?” Ruby yelled. “Come on. Leave your duty for one second. Where’s Evan?”

“Here,” Evan said, handing Ruby an armful of tinsel to wrap around the tree. Ruby dropped it on the ground and let the children have it.

Esther was lurking in the corner of the palace, safe from the snow under the overhang, unwilling to participate no matter how many times Ruby pled with her eyes. Not knowing to deal with children had been one of the many issues of her upbringing. Seeing these children, especially Vexyn children have a chance at a war free, normal childhood, was nice, but that didn’t mean Esther wanted to be a part of it. She was happy to watch Ruby, radiator of light and warmth, bring joy to everyone around her.

here is the ruby version! this is a perfect little snippet of her character, I had a pleasure writing it. enjoy <3

@a-place-of-babble @sondials @mischiefiswritten

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“Love, can you get this?” Cygnus jumped up, weakly attempting to place the star on the top of the tree. He was just too short to reach.

Harlan suppressed a smile and silently took the star from Cygnus, neatly placing it on the top of the tree after a bit of fiddling.

“Stop it,” Cygnus said, shoving him.

“Stop what? I’m not saying anything.”

“Stop smirking, you smug bastard. You only have like three inches on me.”

Harlan shook his head. “Cygnus, you can just go get a ladder.”

“Why would I do that when I have a gorgeous man to do it for me?” Cygnus sighed, leaning on Harlan’s shoulder. They both stared at the icy blue small tree lit with little golden lights, not yet covered in blue and white baubles. Ruby had the classic tall green tree, chopped down herself and carried inside with only Esther’s help. That work building a city paid off.

“Can we not do this right now?” Cygnus mumbled, shoving his face into Harlan’s neck. Harlan laughed, warm and rumbling, and curled his arm around Cygnus out of reflex.

“You were the one who wanted to put the decorations up. I gave up my paperwork for you.”

“Ruby smuggled me out of the city her first winter here to get me away from my paperwork. You’re warm, your arms are nice, I’m lazy, it’s snowing out there so therefore we should be cozy in here...” He motioned outside, where white was falling from the sky and dusting the ground, but not so much that they couldn’t see.

“I don’t suppose you’d like some tea with that?” Harlan asked.

“This is why I fell in love with you,” Cygnus said with a surprising sincerity that made Harlan smile and kiss his forehead.

“Get on the couch, get a blanket. I’ll make some tea and get our book, be there in a minute.”

Cygnus smiled and shrugged a little tighter into his winter coat when Harlan took his warmth away. It was worth it to look at the pile of blankets, practically screaming for him, and knowing he and Harlan would be there soon.

-a little something i whipped up while listening to christmas music. it has no plot, absolutely nothing, but i wanted to write it, so i did. as you should too, write whatever the hell you want <3 enjoy these absolute tooth rotting lovers decorating for a christmas that doesn’t exist in their world

i think i’m going to write one for ruby and esther now because of that mention of ruby’s homey tree!

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excerpt from TES: harlan swears an oath

As soon as Cygnus was stable enough to leave alone, Harlan slipped out of the palace in the night. At the temple in the heart of the city, after all the priests had gone and only the moon could watch him, he knelt at the altar.

He did not want the help of a priest—he didn’t need one, and he didn’t want them finding out why he was here, because they’d only try to dissuade him. Harlan had thought on this plenty, even before Cygnus left for Easthaven, and this was what he wanted. What he needed.

Cygnus’ face popped into his mind—shining eyes, his beautiful laugh, the warmth in Harlan’s chest every time he earned Cygnus’ smile. Home.

He breathed, head bowed, “As long as my soul can find the strength to go on, I swear I will never let you be hurt again. In life, in death, in eternity, I will be your protector. I swear it on heavenly grace and the will of the gods.”

Cygnus on a bed in Esther’s ship was all too easy to remember, broken and bruised. Harlan pictured him limping and wincing and leaning on that cane, remembered the trembling, shouting nightmares he had himself, the awful, sinking weight in his chest. The despair, the helplessness, the mind numbing fear.

Never again.

It was all too easy to slit his wrist with a gold knife, cutting into the magic running through his veins. Almost no spells that required words, but this one did. Ancient Orendish words of oath flowed past his lips and shaped his magic into a blanket, a bubble, an aura, wrapping it around Cygnus where it would stay. In that bubble, nothing could touch him, and only death had the power to shatter it.

Harlan shivered as the oath bound to him and his soul; the source of his magic, knowing that if he failed his task as guardian, he would die.

He let the wound bleed, wiped the knife off on his trousers, and rose. A spell cleaned the blood from the altar, but that was all the magic he used. His wrist would heal on its own.

The oath had already taken a bit of magic, but Harlan knew his limits well, what he could do before burning out. He closed his eyes and pictured the small chapel in Oshama’s palace, its dim lights, its red carpet, its blistering warmth. His magic whisked him away, and a moment later, he was there.

His breath came back in a rush, his magic scrambled to produce more of itself and build back up in his fingertips after so much had been used. After those grueling lessons with Oshama, he was used to the feeling.

He shook his hands out and went for the altar here, bowing to the murals of each of the gods on the walls. Incense of clean air, salty sea, rich earth, and smoking fire burned on the altar, honoring each of them. Harlan knelt and swore the same oath, slit his other wrist, felt the magic bind. I swear on heavenly grace and the force of the gods. In grace’s temple he heard no word from her, but here a soft guffaw brushes his ear, like the gods could not believe someone would willingly swear such a thing.

He dared them to challenge him. They did not.

Light swims in front of his vision when he transported back home, begging him to seek a bed, so home he went. As he wrapped bandages around his wrists, anger spiked in his gut anew as he took in all the miscellaneous medical supplies strewn about their room. He spelled the bandages to match the color of his skin so that he might hide what he’d done, if only for a few hours longer.

The moment Harlan slid into bed behind Cygnus, sleepy, wandering hands reached back for him, murmuring his name in sleep. Harlan’s heart pulsed and he squeezed Cygnus’ hand tight, wincing as that pulled on his wrist.

He felt lightly along Cygnus’s body, careful not to jostle any of his many wounds. He touched the soft cloth of bandages, skidded with a feather’s touch across horrifying bruises and minor cuts that he’d attempted to heal. He’d never get the map of Cygnus’s new wounds out of his head. Cygnus shivered as Harlan brushed the old wound on his thigh.

Never again.

Of course, Cygnus found out the next day. Harlan wished fleetingly that Cygnus wasn’t so fond of touching him, but that was gone as quick as it’d come as Cygnus caressed his wrists, worrying over the bandages as if he weren’t covered in them himself. “What is this?” he demanded, and Harlan told him, because he’d never planned on lying.

Cygnus was distraught as expected, but he didn’t seem mad at all. He asked, “Why would you do such a thing?”

Harlan had not prepared anything to tell him. “Because I love you,” he said, but three words were grossly inadequate. Cygnus made him want to climb up to the sun and hand it to him, then steal him the moon for good measure. He made him feel things he didn’t know he could feel—things he didn’t even know could be felt. “Because I can’t bear to see you suffering any more. Because every time you get hurt, or lost, or kidnapped, a little more of me dies.”

Cygnus cupped his cheek, eyes searching his. Harlan got the impression he didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t need to. “How will we ever be in different places again?”

“My hope is that we won’t have to. I don’t want to be separated from you ever again. If nothing else, this is an excuse, though I don’t want this knowledge paraded around. It’s a weakness for both of us.” He swallowed. “But I’m not sorry I did it, and I’m not sorry I didn’t ask you first. This was my choice, and I will stick to it gladly.”

“Is there any way to reverse it? If we need to?”

“No.”

Cygnus laid their foreheads together, an ocean storm brewing in his eyes. He didn’t say anything. They didn’t need to.

taglist: @a-place-of-babble​ @mischiefiswritten​ @sondials​ @babblingadventures​

lmk to be added/removed

#excerpt from my wip #excerpt from my writing #writeblr #fantasy writeblr #fantasy #writing #lgbt fantasy #my ocs #the eingard series #the eingard series: cygnus #the eingard series: harlan #bean's excerpts

[writeblrfantasy]

This is from the companion trilogy that’s going to follow the TES books (same world, different pov characters, that kind of thing) once I write the three tes books I have left, so I won’t get to write this trilogy and these characters for another couple years, but I couldn’t resist sharing this. Someday soon I’ll introduce this and them. But I love my babies already. again, click for better quality I guess.

does this merit the tes taglist? I don’t really know but I’m going to tag them because I’d like for someone to see this :) @sondials​​ @a-place-of-babble​ @babblingadventures​​ @mischiefiswritten​​

#writeblr #writing #my wip #my ocs #my fantasy wip #fantasy #fantasy writeblr #fantasy writing #excerpt from my wip #the eingard series

[writeblrfantasy]

Happy STS from your Moral Support Dragon! If you have time, pick two of your characters and write just a quick little scene where they're doing the Thing TM they do to comfort each other. Have a wonderful day!

happy sts, moral support dragon! i’m going to give you mattias and marda from their trilogy, something i will not get to write for years but am still looking forward to! for anyone who doesn’t know, this trilogy will take place after the events of the tes series and is about cygnus’s adopted daughter and a pirate she meets.

i am taking this opportunity to post a short excerpt of them (that i’d already written oops) and i hope you don’t mind this? i will take any chance to talk about them i can, i love them so much.

tes taglist, it’s been a while lol i’ve missed y’all : @sondials @a-place-of-babble @mischiefiswritten @babblingadventures @erinbeatty

let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

#the eingard series #my wip

[writeblrfantasy]

AMINA GALENBROOKE: MOODBOARD

2/6

For all Cygnus jokes, he’s not actually afraid of Amina. Intimidated at times, maybe, but not afraid.

He’s seen the tears in her eyes the day she had to exile Syth, the besotted look she doesn’t know she wears around Evan, the flush that floods her cheeks when she’s drunk, the way she lets the regiment tease her. Maybe she wishes he hasn’t seen her like this, since it neutralizes the power of her threats against him.

But it’s easy to remember who she is--the first female High Commander, hardened by six years of army experience, the woman who can use any item in the world as a weapon--the when her icy eyes turn into a merciless, biting blizzard.

tes taglist: @sondials @babblingadventures​ @a-place-of-babble @mischiefiswritten @erinbeatty

lmk to be added/removed

#fantasy moodboards #moodboards #writing moodboards #writing #fantasy #fantasy writing #my wip #my oc #my fantasy wip #my fantasy writing #oc moodboard #the eingard series #the eingard series: amina #fantasy writeblr #writeblr

[writeblrfantasy]

EVANGELIA KALDELL: MOODBOARD

6/6

“How do I look?” She twirls in the flowing yellow ballgown she’s wearing, with thin straps that show the skin of her collar, shoulders and upper back. She does not cover up her Galant scars, rather she wears them with pride. She knows the room will worship them and see them only as beautiful.

She’s never been one to do her hair up in the intricate styles that most courtly women do. Tonight is no exception. Her hair is down, brushed to a shine with a hint of rose oil in it. It gleams like a fine horse’s mane. It is as straight as Amina’s, ever refusing to mold.

“Beautiful,” Cygnus says, smiling. She grins and peels back the curtain, allowing Harlan and Amina a look.

Amina is staring wide-eyed, first at her gown, then at her hair, and finally at her face. Cygnus watches the thoughts fly out of her head, replaced only by Evan Evan Evan Evan

Evan’s smiling face is painted, a hint of black around the eyes, bright red on her lips. Her nails are lacquered to match. Amina swallows. Even though the court love Evan very much, they like to say she’s devastating. She’s beautiful, but if she flaunts it at you and seeks your attention, it’s almost always to use her beauty against you. Even when she has you beaten on the ground, she will smile at you with ruby lips and wink.

tes taglist: @sondials​​​ @babblingadventures​​​ @mischiefiswritten​​​ @a-place-of-babble​​

#writing moodboards #fantasy moodboards #my oc moodboard #moodboard #writing #fantasy writing #writeblr #fantasy writeblr #fantasy #my wip #my oc #the eingard series: evan #the eingard series

[writeblrfantasy]

CYGNUS OF EINGARD: MOODBOARD

3/6

Gods and grace in heaven above, did Cygnus even know how much the others loved him? His white smile, bright as the moon that Amina swore by, his eyes, blue as the ocean he was forever missing.

All of them, even Esther, would happily die for the best king Eingard had ever had--Cygnus’s mother’s words. Harlan, who would hand his love the world if he asked for it, who’d sworn to protect him or die just so he didn’t ever have to go through Orenda or Easthaven again. Amina, who’d beaten the whole town on his behalf, Evan, who was as much Cygnus’s sister as Harlan’s. Ruby, who’d moved back to the capital just so Cygnus wouldn’t have to miss her, his missing piece, his first friend. Esther, who’d dropped everything to sail to his rescue on Easthaven. Esther, who’d learned healing spells for him and saved his sanity by making him spar with her. Esther, who claimed she did those things out of necessity, but Harlan knew too well to believe the lie. She loved him just the same, if not more, than all of them. 

 Forget Orenda’s gods and Eingard’s grace--whether Cygnus was on or off his throne, blackout drunk or giving Harlan an ulcer, he was their king, their angel, their sun, their jewel. For all he’d suffered, loving him till his dying day was the least the five of them could do.

tes taglist: @sondials​ @babblingadventures​ @mischiefiswritten​ @a-place-of-babble​

lmk to be added/removed

#fantasy moodboards #my oc #moodboards #my oc moodboard #writing moodboard #writeblr moodboard #fantasy #writing #writeblr #my wip #the eingard series: cygnus #the eingard series

[writeblrfantasy]

Core Conflicts Tag

Thank you @cjjameswriting for tagging me!

Rules: Fill this template with your story’s 3 core conflicts and tag a few friends!

This story concerns ____. They yearn for _____, but are undermined by these forces: _____, internally; _____, interpersonally; and ______ societally.

For The King of Eingard

This story concerns King Cygnus. They yearn for happiness, but are undermined by these forces: the feeling of being trapped, internally; rumors and rude people, interpersonally; and his responsibilities societally.

tagging @ren-c-leyn @stardustspiral @inherentlywritten @babblingadventures @inky-duchess @redhead-who-writes-stuff @songsofaleria

#writeblr tag games #writeblr #fantasy writeblr #writer #writing #tag games #the eingard series

[writeblrfantasy]

THE EINGARD SERIES CHARACTER RE-INTROS: LADY EVANGELIA KALDELL

title(s): the most beautiful woman in eingard, the first militor

what that means: self explanatory, and she is the first soldier politician in eingard’s history

personality: extroverted, flirtatious, pleasant, likes being the center of attention, seductive, friendly, caring, talented, smart

appearance: silky black hair that goes to her waist, brown eyes, perfect makeup and feminine clothing at times, a soldier’s outfit at others, a beautiful white smile

line of hers:

She sat up, pupils pure black. She was scarily calm. “I will rip the sorceress apart with my bare hands if I have to, but I will not live in a world without Amina Galenbrooke in it.”

It was a promise.

relationships: lover of amina, sister of harlan, sister in practice of cygnus, friend of esther and ruby

backstory: grew up a natural archer and honed those skills in her father’s forest. she and harlan struggled through realizing they were oppressed and begged to come live at court with her brother and father. Met Ruby at the winter ball. (the ruby savior, tes1) Started coming more regularly once the war was over and her brother became the king’s lover. Started flirting with being a politician at her friend Valerie’s estate, and then got kidnapped by a would-be usurper and had to saved by Amina, falling for her in the process. Became the first politician/soldier in Eingard’s history, and certainly the first female one. (the first militor, tes2) Had Harlan teach her magic in Orenda and quickly learned it nearly as well as him. (orenda, tes3)

Helped solve a murder and helped build some of a city with building spells. (the king of eingard, tes4) Sacrificed her magic to bring Amina back to life and killed the age old sorceress god who’d killed Amina. (amina and the traveler, tes6) 

Evan loves to flirt and play and make light of things but she cares for her loved ones deeply and would sacrifice everything for them. She draws Amina’s confidence out and at the same time makes Eingard’s war commander blush just with a wink. She may be short and feminine, but that doesn’t make her any less deadly.

tes taglist (let me know to be added/removed) @sondials​ @babblingadventures @mischiefiswritten @a-place-of-babble

#writing #the eingard series #writeblr #my writing #fantasy #my oc #my wip #fantasy writing #the eingard series: evan

[writeblrfantasy]

RUBY HEILAND: MOODBOARD

4/6

“You are not a random civilian,” Amina continued, coming to Ruby’s side and looking into her eyes. Amina’s own were shining. “You were chosen for this.”

“I wasn’t chosen for anything,” Ruby retorted quietly, tearing her gaze away. She reached down to worry a cloak hem, hand stilling awkwardly when it found nothing there. “The Chiefs simply saw that there would be a Savior. Tobias didn’t say anything about them seeing my face.”

Amina went silent while she searched for a reply, her frustration coming off in waves. “Your aura,” she said finally. “I don’t think you realize just how powerful it is, or if you even hear when it’s remarked upon. But everyone whom you can help, they feel it. It’s like-” She faltered, struggling to put it into words. “It’s like you radiate ease. Relief. A warm place to stay on a pouring night.”

Amina smiled. The amount of open emotion was startling, as Amina was usually the cool, professional war commander. Rarely did she smile this much, and when she did, it was a welcome sight. “I think that’s why the Traditionals at court griped and moaned about you so much-- more than predicted, that is. They couldn’t feel what they didn’t want to, what wouldn’t be beneficial to them. So they were left with disbelief.”

tes taglist: @sondials @babblingadventures​ @mischiefiswritten @a-place-of-babble

lmk to be added/removed

#writing moodboards #fantasy moodboards #moodboards #my oc moodboard #writeblr moodboard #writeblr #writing #fantasy writeblr #fantasy #fantasy writing #my fantasy wip #my wip #my oc #lady knight #the eingard series #the eingard series: ruby