Flashback Her Majestic Stillness

[Ianthe]

Her Majestic Stillness Timestamp: 92nd Day of Winter, 513 AV Location: Silverwood The Queen reigned. Although spring was nearly upon Konti Isle, Morwen seemed determined to give the konti people a thoroughly dramatic exit to ensure she was remembered well into the new year. The Snow Queen had certainly lived up to her name, allowing a near-avalanche of snow to cloak Muran homes and roads earlier that morning. The silence of the island’s wild creatures and the reverent bowing of the trees, each bearing their own heavy load of snow, made the goddess’ power loom all the more. Still, in spite of the frost - or perhaps to spite it - Ianthe refused to give up her yearly tradition. She had seen no one when she’d dug herself out of her home two bells prior, as if the entire city was allowing Morwen one final day of glorious self-indulgence before reality set in. Given the buried state of the city and her own small frame, it had taken Ianthe an entire bell to trudge, kick, push, and shove her way through the thick snowfall and make it to the city’s outskirts. Once there, she promptly collapsed against a thick tree trunk to try to catch her ragged breath. There’s nothing quite like nature’s wrath to make me feel old, she thought. This thought prompted a smile. Old - as IF. Her next wheeze turned into a giggle, which led to a laugh, which ultimately led to Ianthe doubling over in a fit of crazed hysterics. “You won’t defeat me, Morwen!” she yelled once she’d gotten her laughter under control, pointing a finger at the sky for further emphasis. “I’m only fifty-three, you hear? I’ve got centuries of hard labour left in me!” But it would still take her another 20 chimes to muster up the energy for her trek into the Silverwood. “It’s the damn snow. Nothing to do with my age…" Now, a full two bells after she’d left home, Ianthe had finally reached her destination: a lone stump. A lone stump in a small clearing that was, thank Avalis, nearly empty of snow due to the canopy of trees protecting the space. It was not a sacred space, or even a very special place, by any measure of the imagination. But for Ianthe, it was a space that had endured years of deep thoughts and wild dreams and peaceful meditations. It was a space that she could always come back to with the expectation that, despite all of the personal changes that each year may have brought, the clearing itself would not change. With that thought and a feeling of ease to warm her, Ianthe made her way to the stump and brushed away a few stray flakes before settling onto its contoured surface. She took a deep breath and shivered as the icy air shocked her lungs. Breathe in… Breathe out… Her eyelids fluttered, and then drifted shut as her body fell into the familiar meditative pattern. One breath in. One breath out. Forget the mind for now. Just… Breathe.