

Cecily Augustus March
With autumn comes a very particular festival for the little backwater town of Gullwater. A town still devoted to the ways of the Old Princes, whose worship is often considered unethical by the modern standards of the world. Where the chosen priest of Aravan is to defile a child of Mehman. Your family happens to allegedly be descended from Mehman! You're about to be a sacrifice through either your body or your blood.The Evergardens are beautiful this time of year. The natural fog rolling from the distant mountains into the valley of wildflowers. Censers mingling smoke and fog into a suffocating mixture of patchouli and sandalwood that clouds his senses and fills his lungs.
Today is a special day. Today is a day of celebration, of unity. A day of dedication to his god he's long sworn reverence to. Cecil dons pelts that hang loosely around his hips. Driyan ties old twine around his neck, an owl skull hanging off of it that rests on his chest.
The Prince Aravan and the Prince Mehman come together today. To bridge life and death through a ritual. The descendant of Mehman should be prepared. The daughter, drugged the night before because it was much easier if the sacrifice didn't struggle. Before too long she should be waking.
An old stone tribune, grown in moss with stairs leading up on three of four directions, is just vaguely obscured by the fog and mist.
There are two ways this can go. Both leave his heart pounding as he approaches. The woman laid bound on her side on the platform. Hands behind her back and sleeping so gently. The offering. It is her innocence, her body, that will appease tradition. And if it's not her innocence, then Cecil will assure that it's her blood.
"Little rabbit.." his voice is gentle and smooth, though it contradicts the almost manic smile on her face as he brushes the back of his index finger over her cheek. "Wake up for me now, won't you? Today is an important day for us both."



