OOC: tags to
@Bleeding Phoenix It was an exceptionally hot day, but she desired to be exceptionally pretty- for it was her birthday, and many fine men (and well, other sorts of guests) would be arriving in attempts to appease the wealthy merchant princess on this day of days. The first gift had arrived and had been erected in such grand splendor it was nearly impossible to top, for an exotic tree from the South was brought to her that bore sweet fruits, and had exquisite foliage unique to the jungles.
She was intoxicated by such a gift, and also by the many bottles of wines given and served to her that day that she eventually concocted a plan to have her gifts (for the ones that could be so) strung upon her tree in a magnificent display. No one had seen such a thing done before, and to see all of her gifts perched within the sweet smelling branches made Ne'friss all smiles and blushes.
The day couldn't be anymore perfect, and the flirts and almost kisses here or there were rather nice, but as usual, she did not give into temptation, and let the men who pined for her linger a little longer. After all, choosing a husband was critical, and she could only have the best of kinds-
and she was not sure that these handsome and wealthy men were the right kind-
Perhaps more alcohol would have persuaded her, but she soon grew tired and the evening ended well into the night when the skies were twinkling with stars.
Still on a high from the seven glasses or so of wine she had drunk (though really, it was considerably less, considering some of it had ended up spilling out when she, like a ninny, ran around with her gilded goblet in hand)-
but now that she was alone,s he gushed beneath her tree and plucked at each of the individual gifts until a soft flutter caught her attention and her eyes turned to a cage wrapped in gold. Her eyes went wide as she observed it. How had she not see this gift wrapped cage before?
Reaching up on her tip toes, she tried to reach it but failed. A few more times came in vain, but eventually, she was smart enough to bring over a few pillows to step upon,a nd used them ot give her the few inches she needed, and soon the cage was plucked from the tree and she- greedily tearing off the gold paper-
and with a gasp, there she peered down at the delicate little fluttering humming bird within,- and her green eyes shined like the stars themselves.
"Oh, aren't you such a gorgeous thing!" the merchant princess gushed, holding out the gilded cage to get a better look at the thing. "Such a tiny and handsome bird, with such regal colors!" And as she tried to look for any sort of indication as to who had given her such a gift, she came back with none. None theless, she was pleased with such a gift, and one of her slaves could inform her later, for now, she was exhausted, but excited all at once as she kept the cage top gripped into one hand while she rushed off to her room.
"You shall hang in my sleeping chambers, by the window, so that I may see and hear you sing when I wake and when I sleep." And she made a cheerful little noise as she entered into her room, taking delicate, but regal steps as she moved over to a stand beside her bed and cleared off a spot just for the little bird.
"There, isn't that much better?"s he cooed to the tiny bird, bending over just enough so that the beaded attire that she wore seemed not to be covering her body any longer and exposed the lush, gold and black paints that adorned her skin beneath, and glistened off the sweat that was sticking to her- for even the royals sweat in Essyrn.
"Such a handsome bird... you'll need a name,"s he mused, eyes sparkling still as she peered at her bird in the cage and lightly poked at it, still bending over and giving the little birdie a show.
