@imindhowwelayinjune and @heckofabecca both tagged me for the last-thing-you-wrote meme HECK NO I’m not going to follow the rules of the meme, are you kidding?
Unfortunately the last thing I wrote was a single paragraph of dead-end fic that isn’t going to be used for anything because it was a hairbrained and completely contextless idea that came to me at three in the morning as though my subconscious specifically wanted to torment Juliana and probably shouldn’t see the light of day, BUT–
you know what i’ll just put it here and set it free:
“Do you like it?” he asked; “from your histories I gather that the tree was never so much as clipped since it was planted. I wonder then if any of you knew that its heartwood was quite crimson beneath the white?” His hands framed the gift as though he were clasping the shoulders of a child. “…Far too beautiful and unique a material to simply burn.”
The throne’s back formed a gentle wave that swept from red to white at its crest, scrolling and fluted like a seashell, the bicolored woodgrain brought to a flaming chatoyant luster. If he had hewn it with a crude ax it could not have been more ugly to her. It felt as though he’d presented her with the corpse of an old friend, exquisitely dressed.
“I hope you will forgive my inexperience; I am no woodworker. Though it is my first attempt, I have striven to ensure there is no flaw in its joining. It should serve you as a throne for many centuries.”
“How generous”, the queen smiled thinly, the delicate wrinkles around her mouth deepening.
His methods of cruelty were always generous.
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