Latest Posts by ruqaiyahdayne - Page 3

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a part of her was perplexed upon realising that the ghost of ghost hill had remained standing before her, gaze sweeping over the grace of the morning as though in any moment the mosaic would shatter, and this was the last moment. perhaps she had not been expecting to see her here, and there was some egotistical surge at the idea that she managed to render devani speechless; for once.

but then again, why was she thinking as though she still knew devani toland? who even was she?

why was she thinking she could guess anything about the woman's behaviour, as though they had not been strangers for over a decade. she did not know her anymore, and that creeping realisation came as ruqaiyah still refused to look toward her. looking at anyone, or anything else; ever the social climbing butterfly, she would indulge in mindless chatter if it meant she did not need to face what was brewing.

and when she looked briefly at her deewani devani, she noted there was a usual smirk on her features; and she felt her stomach drop.

how? how was it someone was able to still put up such a facade, such a portrait? was it not exhausting? would it not be better should they sit across from one another and pretend they did not need to speak. her brother had just murdered her best friend, there was an impenetrable excuse.

"lady toland." ruqaiyah greeted, her tone seemingly posed and graceful; she spoke with the prejudice and ancient lineage of starfall, and it's descendents. she felt as though the sun, the moon and the stars were falling on her this moment. she ignored the slight ache that came in her chest at the compliment; how words of affirmation from her had always had such an effect on her. made her feel like her heart was blooming - the first rain of the year.

"yes, i do." she responded, her own pride ringing true in her words. there was a dramatic pause, awkward in it's very essence as she looked back at him. contemplating whether to even say her next words. "...so do you, i suppose." ruqaiyah decided, in that moment, that she would act as though nothing had ever happened. there was a smile being offered in her direction, an olive branch; and the smile in return was one of pure civility, and falsehood.

ruqaiyah liked fashion. devani knew she did. they could talk about that. "nice sari...essosi silk?" she asked, reaching forward to take a piece of the sweet barfi. "where about?" where have you been? where did you go? whatever it was that made things awkward, no longer existed. what was their to think fondly on and even remember? nothing. these were two strangers sat at a table. she did not remember. she would not remember. she leaned forward, looking for her brother in the crowd, or for lady jordayne. "do you find sunspear much different?"

devani's reintroduction to dorne had been slow. she did not burst back into the lives of everyone she knew all at once, a glorious firework that demanded all attention. no, she had opted for a more gradual approach. first to dante, which had gone well, then to her family, which hadn't. she had spent the weeks since her feet had once again touched dornish sand slowly, steadily, creeping her way back into the lives of those she had known before, and all she hadn't.

it had been a plan of mixed effects. successful, in that she had managed to reintegrate herself without too much bother. flawed in that, despite her caution, she had still attracted the wrong sort of attention. that wasn't devani's fault, though. she certainly could not control what people were doing around her. without knowing it, the actions of the man she had called her dearest friend had left her between a rock and a hard place. and so, despite her instincts screaming at her to flee, she stayed, and she smiled and sympathised and pretended like she understood why dante uller had to die in order to keep her own back free of any knives.

despite recent events, she had been back long enough to be comfortable. she had spoken to most of those she had left behind her, and had largely been forgiven for the transgressions of choosing herself. there was only one familiar face she was doggedly avoiding, but she deemed sunspear a safe place to hide from ruqaiyah dayne.

until it wasn't.

devani approached her seat, and she froze. for the first time in many, many years, the wandering lady of ghost hill didn't know how to react, for there was ruqaiyah, no longer a girl freshly emerging from adolescence but a woman grown. her eyes met devani's, and she saw that there was recognition there. it was enough to knock the breath from her lungs.

and then she looked away, but devani did not, could not. she stood there, hovering for a moment, her eyes fixed on drinking in every aspect of her appearance in silence, noting what had changed and what had not.

after what felt like eternity, but may have been mere seconds (devani didn't know. it was as though time had ceased to pass), she took her seat, taking longer than necessary to arrange herself in it to delay the inevitable, to compose herself. when there were no more skirts to straighten and cutlery to rearrange, nothing left but to speak.

she lifted her head, her lost expression gone and replaced with her trademark smirk, but her eyes told a different story. in them was all the panic of a wild animal, poised to flee from a predator's hunt.

"hello, ru," the old, affectionate nickname slipped from her lips before she could stop herself. she desperately tried to recall what was said when last they saw each other. would it be better if their parting had been on a soft note, or a blaze of fire? devani didn't know, and couldn't remember.

she had left so many behind, and within a few months across the narrow sea, she had stopped thinking of them at all. even dante uller had crossed her mind only rarely. but ruqaiyah dayne had found herself the subject of devani's thoughts more than most, an echo on her heartbeat that she had tried and failed to drown out again and again and again. how could she put that into words? what could she say that would ever live up to fourteen years of silent thoughts from half a world away?

"you look well." complimenting her appearance seemed like a safe bet. once more, devani's eyes sought ru's out, but she seemed determined to look anywhere that was not devani. "it's good to see you." if she wasn't so focused on keeping a smile on her face, devani would have winced at the utter drivel falling from her lips.

This barbie is desi

who: @devanitoland when and where: sunspear, shortly following the murder of dante uller by baashir dayne and the introduction of ruqaiyah dayne to the court of sunspear. there is a grand feast going on with specifically assigned seating, and ruqaiyah finds herself sat at a table with a very, very, familiar stranger. tdlr: that feeling when ur 10 year long situationship shows up

her visit to sunspear would most likely be permanent this time, and it was something she had not fully thought through until the wagon was already days into the journey - she found herself wondering whether that had been intentional, to make the change of setting as easy and minimal as possible. ruqaiyah hoped not, for she wished her departure from her home to be full of emotional theatrics, with elephants adorned in colourful fabrics and colour filling the air.

now she was here, back in the capital city: where she had been before, though it felt like each time she arrived, there was some update. someone had died.

there was assigned seating at this table, and she noted there were multiple notable women of various houses of dorne: and she did not pay enough attention to one of the names that would have been enough to cause her to get up and demand to sit at another table. perhaps because she was too engrossed in gossip about what the princess loreza martell was wearing, she was within such conversation when another face appeared before her.

"my eyes are increasingly fixed on one person." "don't say that." "but i did." "who?" "you've run out of questions now, ru." she had seen it, and heard it, through a rose coloured haze.

one would be able to see her expression change ever so slightly as she looked upon devani toland for the first time in over a decade, as though she had risen from the dead: of course she had heard of her return and all the rumours attached to them. a flicker of realisation, her words slowing for a moment, before she simply looked away; acting as though she was not at the table at all. none would have noticed the way her heart was thumping, and how suddenly increasingly numb she began to feel.

a door slammed. "you said your eyes were fixed on one person. one. person." "did you take it seriously? we were drinking." "but you said it." "so?" "do you tolands know how to count?" she had seen it, and heard it, through no haze.

how she wished to get up and demand to be sat elsewhere. she found herself looking anywhere but at her, speaking to women and aunties of various social circles as they walked by her; and still, she had not said hello. she would not say hello first. she refused to say hello first.

and if devani toland did not say hello first, then devani toland was not sat opposite ruqaiyah dayne. it was an empty seat.

who: @baashirdayne when and where: baashir dayne returns from kings landing, deciding to divert to starfall first. his sister has little inclination of the idea, expecting not to see him for some time longer; that was until a sudden flurry of dayne guards came into the courtyard right beneath her balcony.

the smoke was between her fingers, against her lips as she inhaled and exhaled into the night sky; the sound of her bangles gently twinkling in the night sky. the eldest lady of starfall had been desperate for a smoke for the majority of the evening, and considering her mother had only left her chambers some moments ago, she practically flung herself onto the balcony. first ensuring none were in the courtyard, she used a candle to ignite her smoke, and relished in the peace. finally. why did her mother bother asking her for her opinion if she would not take it?

she was exhaling again, when there was a sudden flurry of horses stampeding through the smaller courtyard; horses, the flag of house dayne, and she found herself practically faltering backward at the sudden movement.

"shit." she muttered, her eyes briefly meeting with baashir dayne's for a split second: what was he doing back here? was he not supposed to go straight back to sunspear as first minister? had he seen her with the smoke in her hand? it was now lowered at her side, and as he entered into the grand keep, she knew her mother and the household fawning over him would buy her some time.

when he entered, she took the opportunity to drop the smoke - if anyone asked, she would blame one of the guards travelling onward to sunspear. slipping her lilac robe over her rose coloured nightgown, she opened her door, beginning to make her way down the halls. the peacocks were calling, almost as though they knew he was back. and then he turned a corner, where she met him half way.

"bhaiya!" ruqaiyah exclaimed, her voice feigning excitement. it wasn't that she wasn't happy to see him. but had he seen her smoking? "why did you not tell us you were coming back?" she asked, placing her hands together in the symbol of peace before reaching forward to embrace him, kissing his cheek.

"i would have ensured dinner would be served later. it is too late now, you need not put on even more weight for eating at this time." her words were casual, looking up at him. "you must be so tired."

asoiaf meme: 1/9 houses

House Dayne of Starfall is a noble house from Starfall in Dorne. The Sword of the Morning is a title given to a Dayne knight who is considered worthy of wielding the greatsword Dawn, a blade said to be created from the heart of falling star. Their sigil is a sword and a falling star on a lavender background. A cadet branch of the family are the Daynes of High Hermitage.

Katrina Kaif behind the scenes for Kalyan Jewellers

♛ → DORNE present(s) RUQAIYAH DAYNE, the LADY of STARFALL. when the dragons danced in the sky they hoped ALL would still die. the TWENTY NINE year old CISFEMALE who was RELIABLE & MATURE before they saw the first of the flames, is now CONTROLLING & EGOTISTICAL after seeing the last. they’re often associated with the sound of classical dance within the halls of starfall, the sight of a shooting star, and the rigid adherence to ancient dornish customs - both good, and bad. bio / pinterest / spotify

ruqaiyah or qaiyah (known strictly by her friends and family) is the secondborn child of house dayne - the perfect child, the one who has never made a mistake. her entire life has revolved around the will of her father and mother, dornish society, and the betterment of her family.

she is the dornish barbie - she is always wearing shades of pink or purple somewhere in her outfit, and is always seen with glossy lips. she is always overdressed, always late, and is never embarrassed about it.

due to the ancestral lineage of house dayne, ruqaiyah truly believes them to better than all the other dornish houses - and this is reflected in the size of her ego, and her head. she will act like servants are not in the room, and is known to go off on them often; she always has had a history of being a bully to girls who came to starfall to learn classical dance.

finds great enjoyment in rejecting men's advances, will embarrass them; if it is in public, that is even better.

does not believe in the concept of equality - some people are simply better than others, and thus, are in the positions they are in. poor people are poor because they do not work hard enough. social mobility? not a thing. stick to your own.

she truly believes she is a princess already in waiting, having already been betrothed to prince ravi of house martell since they were early teenagers. ruqaiyah truly believes she is worthy of such a title, as house martell looking at any other but house dayne would be nothing but a slight. she is already jaded she was not chosen to marry the eldest ruling prince, but considering how that turned out, guesses it was for the best.

due to the conservative nature of house dayne compared to the rest of dorne, ruqaiyah is very private about being a lesbian and being an atheist. she has known for years, though does not speak on such matters: she believes the rest of dorne is hedonistic in ignoring family responsibility such as child bearing, and wrapped up in superstition and ritual.

a serial smoker; though this is something she is hiding from her family. she smokes far too much, and probably needs to stop asap.

hobbies: a custom couture girl, she has a wicked eye for fabrics and designs and is known to design the best dornish outfits. it is canon in dorne that she designs the trendiest outfits, and her style remains very traditional. she enjoys collecting rare jewellery pieces and has a vast collection of her own she is very proud of. she also enjoys singing in a traditional indian style, though is not actually very good at it; she is far better at reciting ancient poetry.