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Romana

The young apprentice looked down, quiet, her nose wrinkling.

"True.

"And in end, what ever Bekkah'sha says, Romanas do and agrees. Romanas understands that, yesyesyes."

Her gaze slipped back to the tall and sheltered Cathedral.

"Romanas thought was that .... in end, must see Romanas are Romanas are Romanas.

"Not that girl protected by Priestesses.

"Eventually, yesyesyes."

Her nose wrinkled again.

"Maybe ... if Bekkah comes, Bekkahs wears hat.

"Not want to hides. Let hem knows Romanas are Romanas are Romanas.

"And mostly harmlessness, yesyesyes?"

Bekkah

"Yes, of course that's what we want. But have we arrived at that day already? I had hoped that they'd see you here for a while and be accustomed to you, accept you. Are you certain that it is not too soon."

"Dazi would not be the only one deeply saddened if you were harmed."

Cesare

"Oil, rope.. right, I'll see what I can do."

With a quick smile, having handed the other surcoat to Dean, he retraces his steps quietly back to Kathi.

"Just me on the tour for now. And Mikal wants us to find rope and a barrel of oil if we can. Do you think that is possible?"

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

At each merchant’s stall, Daxia had smiled and shrugged... friendly and seeming to almost agree with the merchant. “Ja, ja! But kidlets are living in Vale, ja? And kidlets are so happy when Auntie sends gifts, ja?” She’d shrug again... what can do you when you’re the favorite Auntie, the only one who ever travels? the shrug seemed to say.

But she did finally collect nearly every Doublebluff tile in Talantal... perhaps even every last one. She found a couple of apples, too, and gave them to Morning Star when she fetched her own set of tiles from the saddlebags draped over the saddle where the Korie groomsmen had — carefully, she was pleased to see — set it. The unicorn’s baleful gaze no doubt encouraged their care. She’d have to come back later when she knew where she’d be taking her things.

She climbed the stairs again to the young Lord Scamp’s rooms, saw Cesare re-enter the suite with one of Dominic’s servants, and then heard Kisa call out. Daxia smiled to herself, used to that very phrase on almost every visit to the Heir’s rooms in Dawnview. She caught the expression of amusement on Mikal’s face, though he tried to hide it, when she handed the pouches of tiles to Kisa and winked at him. He was a skeptic, and that was probably for the best. She undoubtedly would be just as skeptical if she didn’t have some small measure of the Allaine gift or curse or whatever it was.

Kneeling beside Kisa and watching her set the tiles was... odd. At home, in the Vale, it was almost meditative to see the little tiles being set down one by one by one. Like that first night when she saw Kisa’s grand spread of tiles, the placement of the pieces nearly always seemed obvious and sure. But today, there was a disquiet about the process. The pattern didn’t look right, didn’t feel right. Daxia was more than a little puzzled when Kisa asked Kay to start them tumbling in the way she did, even more surprised because the pattern was clearly not finished.

And so, when a stretch of pieces did not fall — something Daxia had so very rarely seen — it didn’t truly surprise her that the tiles around the unfinished pattern were those that hadn’t fallen.

The fact that all the tiles, the consequence of the rippling pattern, fell atop the first piece wasn’t particularly surprising. Kisa herself had remarked about how unusual it was for the group of them to all be here. Daxia wasn’t happy about it, but she was unfortunately becoming accustomed to attracting trouble. Oh, true... she’d told Harry Mohlkavin that trouble just seemed to follow their little group across the Tarn, but after Highside Heather, she’d begun changing her mind.

She didn’t like it, of course. But it seemed this was her fate. Or perhaps, as Cesare might put it, her Fate... a larger thing, she imagined, that just mere fate.

Daxia shook her head when Kisa spoke, when Kadri spoke. They — she and her band of misfits — were the focus of the coming trouble or disquiet or upset or riot? Oh, how absolutely surprising, she thought sarcastically.

She was vaguely aware that Cesare and Mikal were talking, but it was too quiet a conversation... another oddity, perhaps, for her hearing was usually sharp. But she did hear Mikal tell Cesare he wouldn’t leave until Dominic got here.

Except...

Her brows furrowed as she stared at the still standing tiles, at the break in the pattern Kisa had left.

Daxia looked up at Mikal, noting the look on his face.

She raised an eyebrow in response.

“Unless Dominic Dominie Korie is a fool — and I think I can say with some confidence that he is not — Talantal is not a place he’s likely to be at Midsummer. It’s my understanding...” Daxia rolled her eyes toward Captain Koromov, then back to Mikal. “...that he spends Midsummer in Bordertown, and is probably missing his favorite mercenary right now.”

Looking back at the tiles, she leaned forward and tapped the space Kisa had left open, then sat back on her heels. Her brows came together again as she looked at Kisa, blue eyes meeting those of green.

“Why? Why to all of it, Kisa? The open space, having Kay shake the first tile over, starting them tipping with an incomplete pattern? It felt wrong even to me.”

Then she caught just the words ‘rope’, ‘barrel’, ‘oil’ in Cesare’s conversation with the servant, and she looked up sharply.

“And why are you preparing for an incursion of Eastern Hunting Beasts?” she asked, looking between Cesare and Mikal. Lips pressed tightly together, she looked at Dominic’s servants suspiciously.

Then she looked at Kadri...

...and then Kay Koromov...

...and then Dandelion Koromov...

...and finally Kisa Allaine.

“Kisa...” It was so similar to the tone she used with her friend when Kisa teased her, except now it had more of an edge to it... an edge, if pushed to name it, she would call Cragside and Brementown Road and Bordertown and Highside Heather. It was a tone that didn’t really ask for the teasing to stop as much as it demanded answers.

Her companions, on the other hand, would recognize it as a Dayalan preparing for and, at the same time, dreading a coming battle.

Kadri, meanwhile, had a look that said - briefly - reignation, but was replaced by something that combined determination and perhaps a touch of ... Impishness? She flicks her eyes to the nearest shadowed corner.

Oh lady mine, if there is to be trouble and I am to be near its center, then let it be trouble of which stories may be told. Because I believe that here I have a strong urge to misbehave. Hopefully, it can be trouble which can in the end leave things better than when it started ...

Her eyes then meet Dazi and she nods, before looking back to Kisa again.

Mikal

He considers what Daxia says about Lord Dominic, and nods. After all he'd not be here either, given his druthers, so the idea that Lord Dominic would avoid the place himself was not really very surprising. Of course being a Lord, one might expect him to do things, and be places, where others would not wish to, but perhaps not.

He turns to Kathi. "When you arrange for our gear to be brought inside, please have mine brought here. Until things change or we leave I'll be sleeping in this parlor. Oh, and make sure to tell the grooms to be careful of Talia, she tends to bite." He glances to Kadri and winks at the double-entendre.

He turns back to Daxia at her latter comment to him and grins. "Seems like I am constantly finding new uses for rope and oil. doesn't it?"

He chuckles, then adds a direct answer to her question, "Perhaps. You never know. I do know that I'd prefer to be prepared and have no need, than to have need and not be prepared. That's why you contracted me in the first place."

Cesare

And from behind Daxia, he adds softly.

"No hunting beats, really hope never to see those again, but I think Mikal is thinking more of detering people from climbing stairs and for climbing out of tower windows"

He chuckles lightly.

"A servant's work is never done.. back soon."

He indicates to Kathi to lead the way.

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Mikal, Dean, Kadri, James and a Mouse, Kay and Captain Koromov, Kisa Allaine, Cesare and Kathi and Daxia

"Probably, maybe, perhaps not ..."

Slowly Kisa Allaine collected her tiles, stacking them in front of her, carefully putting them one by one by on into their pouch, similar to ones recently acquired from Daxia. Her answer was for Kadri, as she asked the very first question.

"The patterns themselves are pretty, fancy, soothing, and can be considered, aptly, by the skeptical, as meaning less."

Her gaze slipped for a moment, considering the group's lone Jvrillian.

"What they do, mostly, is to help me concentrate. My Mother tosses pebbles into Sapphire Lake. I've been told Captain Koromov sits on rooftops. I knew a Priestess who stood on a tower wall watching her student carry water every morning. Everyone has their own method of focusing. I make patterns of stone tiles on the floor. It is simple, repetitive and clears my mind.

"And if I do it right it creates something pretty."

She looked back down on the open floor, like an artist might an empty canvas or an uncarved block of marble.

"You know how sometimes you can't solve a problem but you wake up the next day and suddenly its solved?

"Well if I lose myself in the tile, sometimes that happens too."

She glanced again, this time to a specific portion of the cleaned floor, and then, almost like a child, she let her head fall backwards to look up to Daxia.

"I don't know. It's like a hundred piece jigsaw with only ninety-nine on the floor.

Her head dropped back down and her arms crossed.

"What it means is obvious. Something is missing. The problem with following a logical chain is that something unknown can come along and sideswipe everything, throwing it in complete disarray. The closer you are to the problem, the more pieces intertwined, the more likely it is to happen. A tile pattern works off of knowns to resolve the shape of unknowns. It's why having a window is important - some clue as to which way the world itself is shifting, da?"

With that the heiress' attention momentarily fell upon Cesare. After, she looked back to Daxia.

"The politics of the mainland are pretty well known; Nobles, for the most part, tend to be conservative in their actions, from Dawnview to Talesan's. The Montagues may be aggressive and primitive, but that just makes them even more predictable.

"The missing puzzle piece may be one of many; it is probably a new piece in the game. Considering how the tiles fell and that it remained a path untaken, unless it is discovered and figured out, chances are things may take a less than desirable course.

"Its a warning.

"The problem, of course, figuring it out before someone else does.

"And then what to do about it."

She then paused.

"Or them."

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Cesare and Kathi

"Oh no ma'am ..."

Kathi spoke up quickly at Daxia's question.

"Stores like that are kept in every tower; why they say between the gardens, the well and the cellar pantries with their preserves, the Keep itself can hold off for at least a year even if the outer four rings fell. Hear tell that all the Keeps have something similar; well except for Talesan's Village. They are supposed to have a secret tunnel to a hidden wharf with a real ocean going sailing ship.

"But that is probably talk and all."

At Cesare's beckoning the servant girl straightened up, adjusting her own tunics and surcoat to make herself presentable to those not of this Tower.

"James, please bring their belongings up from the stables and into their rooms and this suite as desired.

"Miss Mouse, would you please dust and air out the three empty rooms upstairs, make sure their beds are made and that there's water and towels for washing and such."

With that she and Cesare continue upon their own tasks, vanishing down the long stairs too. True to her instructions, the other two servants immediately embark upon their assigned tasks - the Mouse scurrying from her shadow and out the doors before they had a chance to close.

James they would see again in a bit - it would take several decently long trips to transfer their gear from the ground levels all the way up to the top of Dominic's Tower.

***************************
Kathi marked an easy pace down the spiraling stairs. it wasn't because she was lazy or slow, but simple pragmatics. A slip or a wall on the worn stone could have a disastrous end. Finally they'd reach a point where the stairs opened to a decently sized anteroom and gallery.

"This is the gallery level. Down there are the balconies that open above the great hall and the grand stairs. Down that-a-way and you'll come to the doors to the upper gardens; you can go out there late at night, but if there's anyone else there I'd not stay. First, we aren't really supposed to be out there, second it's right powerful pretty and there is nothing more dangerous than getting tangled up in a castle romance."

She'd then point here and there, at those rushing along these semi-private ways.

"This late, most folks have retire to their rooms - once the sun sets and the lamps lit, most folks moving around are us servants. Mostly we prepare for the morrow, doing all the things in the main halls that the nobles don't want to know about - cleaning, straightening up whats left after the evening feast, new candles in the candelabras, fixing tears in the upholstery, taking old tapestries down and putting up new. That manner of work.

"Come along, ja?"

She'd continue down the stairs, and as they did it would start to get obviously warmer and a bit noisier. Finally she'd come to another landing, taking a step out - but stretching her arm, barring the way further in.

"Now these are the kitchens. It's where we are allowed to eat, see that table over there?

"It's also the province of Ma'am Cook, who you always address as Ma'am Cook if you don't want to get walloped by a ladle. Which may or may not have something hot in it."

Only then would she drop her arm and step forward, addressing a rather slender and fierce looking older woman.

"Ma'am Cook, this here be Cesare; he's one of the New Young Miss' and runs general errands for her. Cesare, this is Ma'am Cook and her staff - Jelli over there by the fire, Cindy and Hank cleaning the dishes, and that's Sally scrubbing the floor. Jorgi and Klaus, the two butchers, are either down in the storerooms or out back where they do the slaughtering."

The woman would set her hands on her hips, offering the two a stern look.

"I don't trust this New Miss and I don't trust her folks even more. I don't trust you either, Kathi, but then you already know that. Ja. Fine. Stay out of the way unless you want to lose kitchen privileges. Don't touch nothing and don't take anything, not even an apple, without permission from me or Jorgi or Jelli. I trust Kathi told yah when you get fed; you'll find your meal set out but you better clean up after yourselves."

Swallowing then, Kathi looked down a bit sheepishly, whispering to Cesare.

"Ma'am Cook is also in charge of the pantries and what's stored in them. Like cookin' oils."

Ma'am Cook leveled the servant girl a harsh look.

"And no whisperin' in my kitchen, if it needs to be said, it needs to be heard by me."

Kathi whispered again.

"She's a lil' hard of hearing."

"KATHI!"

"Yes Ma'm Cook. Sorry Ma'am Cook. Apologies Ma'am Cook."








,

(OOC - If it comes up, Mikal mentioned used cooking oil would be fine. Stuff they would be throwing out anyway.)

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Bekkah and Romana

"Romans don't want Romanas to be harmed Romanas eithers!"

The young apprentice crossed her arms and leaned back, looking up to the sky.

"Romanas more afraid for thems. Have seen, horrible things when someone hurts Kind Lady folks. If had choice, Romanas would let folks hurt Romanas before that."

Closing her eyes, Romana considered the problem of tomorrow.

"Romanas can only control what Romanas do.

"Trust must always start somewhere.

"Romanas will trust."

She'd open her eyes and look to her teacher.

"Is that dumb or smarts, Bekkahshka?"

Bekkah

She gave Romana a knowing smile.

"Smart or dumb? I cannot say for sure. But it is necessary. At some point I think you have to trust in others or you are truly alone. If you are truly alone, then there is no hope.

"So trust Romana. Choose whom to trust and believe."

Cesare

Fairly footsure, especially after several seasons of goat herding in the mountains, Cesare would have set a quicker pace but instead matches that of Kathi staying about half a pace behind. He is still wondering why Kisa Allaine had fixed him with a look just before they left the room upstairs. Did she think that somehow he is a part of her missing puzzle? Couldn't see it himself and so he dismisses it to concentrate on the task in hand.

He watches as she points out various locations, trying to fix as much as he can in his memory, including the additional explanations from Kathi. He nods as she mentions the gardens. Romance is a long way from his plans. He has already made up his mind that life as a servant is pretty grim. To have so much work, to have so many restrictions placed on you, not the life for him. He just hopes he can play his part well enough and that it won't be needed for too long.

He knows they are nearing the kitchens before they get there as his nose tells him so. He nods again as Kathi explains about the staff hierarchy and then follows her in.

As introductions are made, he generally keeps his eyes down, apart from fleeting contact as people are named just so he can put names to faces. When introduced to the cook, he nods quickly several times, murmuring 'Ma'am Cook' in a nervous deferential manner. He wonders just what 'kitchen privileges' are and intends to ask Kathi once they have left.

Well this is a good a time as any to test the water.

"Err.. Ma'am Cook. I bin asked to fetch up a barrel of oil. Would this be somethin' I could get from you, if that would be permitted Ma'am Cook?"

Kadri

She puts her chin in her hands and taps her fingers on it a few times.

"My thought, then. Is that more information is needed. I was thinking that it may perhaps be natural for me to introduce myself among the rest of the family ... now I have little desire to immediately talk to the Montagues, and less to the Viper. However, of the others who might best be ... informative?"

"When I truly wish to think, I prefer to ride, to lose myself in the footsteps of Lisica, to allow the breeze to take the sounds around me away and render them silence. She taps her fingers on the table in the imitation of the beat of a horse's hooves."

Verchovai Daxia Yurisdotter

“I’m so glad I could provide her Starlordlyship Priestessness a means for focusing her attention,” Daxia muttered, realizing she was now picking up some of young Kay’s speech patterns.

Wonderful.

If the servant girl hadn’t been looking at her when she answered, the Dayalan would have been powerfully confused as to whom she was addressing. Ma’am? Had anyone ever called her that? ‘Miss’ was the most polite thing strangers called her. Usually, it was ‘hey you’ or ‘you, girl’ or, on occasion, things one didn’t repeat in public. Or private for that matter. At least those returning from their Initiates Journey had been right about that much, though she’d needed to get as far as Bordertown to experience the rougher language herself. It did cause her to wonder about her younger Sisters, though, and just how much effort they put into experiencing the world as opposed to the amount of effort they put into trying to make it fit their preconceived notions.

Dear Lady! Either I’ve become an adult or so much has happened since I left the Vale that even a cobble block like me can see that a good half of what I was taught about the world needs to be tossed on the compost heap!

Quite likely it was both.

Well, at least she knew two of the names for the servants — James and Mouse — and the fact that the Korie Keep operated in essentially the same way Dawnview Keep did. The fullhands she’d spent with Verchovai Reena and the Allaine House Guard gave her a thorough understanding of where things were, and how things worked. At the time, Kassia seemed more than a little annoyed — downright dismissive, in fact — about the time she spent with Verchovai Reena. Her months outside the Vale, however, and her introspection on Kassia’s teachings made Daxia reassess that assumption.

Daxia would probably never say this out loud, and Kassia was as likely to admit to it as a white unicorn was to dance across the floor here... but the young Starrider suspected Kassia might actually have been missing her Initiate’s incessant questions about everything when Daxia was assigned to the House Guard.

The Dayalan also learned that the one called Mouse moved faster than just about anyone she could ever remember seeing. And the instructions to James reminded her that she still needed to fetch her own pack... the youngling would need to fetch her belongings, as well. Once they’d seen Kisa to her rooms, Dandy could be trusted to keep her safe. The Khorall had no doubt trusted that the Captain alone could keep the Heir safe; how hard had Kisa argued, though, about not taking along any of Reena’s people? Knowing Kisa, her esteemed Mother had done most of the arguing. But had Kisa known that Dazi would be here? Even Dazi herself hadn’t known with certainty a fullhand ago.

And the rumor about the Talesan tunnel to the wharf? Daxia suspected there was considerably more truth than the servant allowed for. The oddest rumors had the propensity for holding the most truth.

Like hearing sounds coming from an old tainted well at night, da?

After Cesare and the servants left, she turned to Kisa, addressing one of her seemingly peculiar statements.

“The Koromov’s mother is a Window, or that’s the gist of what Romana conveyed when she explained that Madoka had facilitated her escape from Kh’Lhy’Ra this last time, as opposed to her kidnapping the first time. I wrote you about that, didn’t I? An interesting tale, to be sure. In any case, I’ll grant that there was still a considerable language barrier that first night, but the impression I got from her when she told me I was a Wi... well, a not-Window...”

Even with just her own people, with Dandy, with Kisa around her, Dazi was not going to say the word Witch. She might not be as paranoid as Mikal, whose job it was to be paranoid, but when it came to that word? Yes. Caution and paranoia were justified.

“...was that Windows are...” Daxia paused, concentrating and remembering and analyzing. “...well, perhaps respected in the East. At least not reviled like the rest of us from the West.” She nodded toward Dandy and Kay, then lightly tapped her own collar bone. “We Starrybred Killers most of all, of course. Hmm, now what was it she said? That Windows are those of Rhoni blood — though I never did get a clarification about full Rhoni or part Rhoni, male or only female — who can see the tides and current that push and pull lives.

“We, those of us who are not-Windows, are supposed to be able to interpret that they see. I say ‘supposed to’ because...” Daxia shakes her head with no small amount of frustration. “I don’t really think I’m very good at it, no matter what Romana thinks.” She looked at Kisa, her expression one of deep frustration, similar to any of the handful upon handful of times Kassia had set yet another puzzle before her to work out and none of it was making the slightest bit of sense. “Oh, and apparently those of us who are not-Windows are scary.

“And what does that make you, Kisa Allaine? You’re the scariest of the scary ones who weave through Chaos. And you’re part Rhoni. Window and not-Window all in one? Or just the most powerful not-Window in an Age or two?”

She gestured to the floor where the tiles had been laid out.

“And how many new pieces were put into this game when we walked through the first gate here in Talantal? An Amber Princess who married herself to a Korie Lord. An Eastern Princess who is an Initiate of Attera. A Darkdown lass of an Imperial family who doesn’t even know what an Imperial family is.”

She leaned back from her kneeling position, stretching out her legs before pulling them up again and wrapping her arms around them. The redhead rested her chin on her knees and studied the blonde Dayalan as Kadri spoke. But then she blinked and looked at Kadri.

“There is only Father and Brother and Brother’s Wife. There is also Sister, of whom not one word was said by the scamp.” Dazi paused and sighed slightly. “And there is the Brother who is not acknowledged, the one in danger. There are not enough words in the tiny village from whence your husband hails, and so they must all be shared. Father doles them out... others may use them when he allows it.”

She snorted out a humorless and unladylike laugh. “Or to speak plainly, and not in the flowery language of which Dominic is so fond, Khorall Korie keeps a firm reign on his family, and the Imperial Court here exists to do his bidding. Except, it seems, for Lady Anastasia... which would likely explain her ‘retirement’.

“On the other hand, rumor has it that wagers are being placed on whether Brother or Brother’s Wife might have a small accident. Or perhaps the wager is on who will have the accident first.” Dazi glanced at Mikal and smiled wryly before looking back at Kadri. “I suspect there are many good reasons your bodyguard gave his horse the name she has, hmmm? You want to avoid the Montague Warlord even more than his niece, by the way.” She shrugged. “Unless there are even more family members tucked away that Dominic failed to mention — not something I’d dismiss out of hand, given that rapscallion’s nature — you could chat with Father or Brother. Father looked as though he was choking on his dinner earlier, so perhaps Lord Marcus would be your best... perhaps only choice. Unless Felicia is in residence.”

Her eyes narrowed as she considered the rumors she’d hear. Dominic hadn’t said anything at all about his sister. But the rumor that Felicia was to marry a Montague, combined with Jakal Montague’s reaction to Kadri’s marriage to Dominic gave some truth to that rumor.

“Well, you would find either one as odious as Brother’s Wife in Felicia, or someone not looking forward to the prospect of marriage even more than you weren’t. As for the unacknowledged brother, I fear attempting to having a conversation at this point with Lord Tray might put him at more risk than his poor health leaves him now.”

Dazi raised an eyebrow at Kisa, questioningly. “Unless you can spin a tale worthy of your Lady’s attention for seeking out an invalid?”

She allowed Kadri to ponder that for a moment, and looked again at Kisa.

“What is the nature of this missing puzzle piece you need, Kisa? A person? An event?” Although nothing else about her expression changed, her friend would see a shadow of pain and sorrow in her blue eyes. “Or perhaps simply having Her Light shone upon information? There is... something I learned that I refused to put to paper. I question even speaking of it. But I will, if I must. Later.” Dazi’s voice had dropped to barely a whisper by the end.

Turning to look beyond everyone in the room, looking through the hearth she could see a window, and hoped Kisa’s accommodations were accorded the same luxury, for she had a desperate desire to look out at the night sky... to see the two who now guarded the Dark Patch, or at least set her eyes in that direction should clouds hide Her Children.

“The sight of the Dark Patch is now a potent reminder that hiding painful truths to keep the accepted and comfortable way of life balanced is... perhaps... very wrong.”

If the Dayalan’s statement seemed disconnected from her previous words, her next statement probably sounded even more disconnected.

“I need a new star pendant... one with two intertwined stars.”

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Bekkah and Romana

Rising, Romana brushed out her skirts and then stretched, a very lazy like and aristocratic princess stretch.

"Romanas will trust ..."

Fair fingers touched her pendant.

"Her Kind Lady ...

"Her teacher Bekkah ..."

Folding her hands behind her back the Initiate slowly sashayed towards the two open doored cells.

"When was little, Romanas remember something. Romanas ask, whys folks hate Romanas.

"Said, sometimes folks get scared.

"Except behind scared, most folks just want good lifes. Small good lifes for simple good folks. That's all.

"Tomorrows, Romanas have no choice."

She chose room - apparently at complete random. random was something Romanas did very well. The rooms were small, but nicely appointed - whitewashed walls, a small oil lamp on a shelf - a little high window for fresh air and moonlight, a soft bed on a wooden frame,with bedding fit for a Nobles, a chest of drawers atop which was water, bowl, and some bread and cheese.

Romana turned around in the doorway, shugging her shoulders in a small philosophic gesture.

"Tomorrows Romanas have to trust Thomas Montgomeries Koromovs spoke true, yesyesyes?

"Good night ...

"Don't let the monsters under beds bite."




<OOC notes to follow after all posts>

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Cesare and Kathi and Ma'am Cook.

"Cooking oil?"

Ma'am Cook folded her hands into fists and slammed them into her hips.

"Ja. We have some, down in the south tower pantry."

The stern woman's eyes narrowed.

"You can have one. You hear one. Do not go past one to two. One and only one.

"Three is right out."

She then raised her hand.

"Now this is a one time ting, bucko. Strange and mysterious requests? I already have to deal with the youngest Korie's oddness when he is home, I ain't gonna now have to deal with it from his wife. You tell her, right straight true and sure, I ain't gonna put up with it.

" .... blimey, he once had me find a big snail and paint it red. What, did he think it'd make it go faster?

"No snails, no tshchokolat, no kumquats, no ice in hot kavass, no flour, no sugar, no beer ... and no butter. I don't even want to know about the butter.

"One small keg of oil and thats it. Forever."

Upon dismissal, Kathi easily lead Cesare through the basement passages to the pantry beneath the south tower, where a two gallon keg could be obtained. Now that was interesting ... above, from the ground up, the towers and the main manor were distinctly separated. Beneath, in the two levels of cellars and a third lower level of which Kathi said ...

"That ain't a place no one wants to go. That's where they put you when you've been bad."

... a network of corridors and stairs connected each with each other. There was even a room with a hidden well.



<OOC notes to follow last post>

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Mikal, Dean, Kadri, James and a Mouse, Kay and Captain Koromov, Kisa Allaine, Cesare and Kathi and Daxia

"Actually Daxling ..."

Kisa Allaine quietly answered her Knight's words with a tilt of her head, the odd phrasing noted by the quirk of a brow.

"I would have thought that was a compliment. I once ... just once, I did go to Mother about how a certain Initiate was being treated. Mother looked at me like I still had so much to learn - which is true - and told m not to watch the Initiate ... but to focus my attention on the Priestess."

With a small smile she took a particular set of tiles and laid them out before her. In a three by three square she set them and they were all the same; the ones with the black faces. She considered them, she considered those in the room.

And then set one more, all alone, to the side.

"Jakal."

That was the one word she spoke when she set that last tile down. Until, finally, she spoke.

"For certain definitions of dangerous. Dame Talia is actually the most purely dangerous. She is not the smartest in the room; that is the Montague Khorall. But she has position, place and the Montague Family could fall too pieces and she'd still hold what she has. She knows this.

"The Montague Khorall understands that without the friendship of Talantal that could very well happen.

"You don't ever want to be caught alone with Jakal Montague. Not because he is deadly ... but because being alone mens he is off his leash."

She then leaned back against the legs of her knight, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"As for Windows and Witches, that makes sense. The East has no witches, so they need to make do with Windows, it appears. We have Witches, so the Windows become relegated to old wives tales. Balanced, da?

"I have always been told that only Rhoni women can read the Cards. But I have no knowledge of whether that is by blood or by tradition. Remember, while there are many midwinter's children actually being welcomed into a Rhoni family has only happened once.

"As for our missing piece, our missing tile, our missing current ...

"The events of midsummer's Council are pretty well set. We shall be dealing with the annexation of Brockman's Holdfast into Montague; there is no heir apparent to the Noble House. We will have a hard time denying this, as we forced Corliss upon them in the past. The other major issue will be the Grain and Iron trade. Montague needs steel. We need grain.

"The Khorall Korie wants to know my Mother's plans.

"He sees only what he wants to see. Which is why he isn't as smart as his Montague counterpart and why surprises throw him off balance.

"So.

"I suspect our missing piece is a person."

The red headed heiress then looked up.

"Think about it, Daxia.

"He is an invalid. He rarely leaves his room and not for foul reasons; he is physically incapable of it.

"So what can he do?

"He reads. He is a scholar."

She nodded her head.

"What is the name you use for folks like that?

"Oh. Da. Bookworm."

Her voice dropped a bit.

"It never sounded bad when you said that."



<not the last post>

The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Evening, Attaday, the twenty-seventh day of Dragon

Mikal, Dean, Kadri, James and a Mouse, Kay and Captain Koromov, Kisa Allaine, Cesare and Kathi and Daxia

It is the fierce little Dayalan that chuffed out a laugh at Kadri's words.

"You know what the best thing about being a mascot is, don't you, Miss short, fancy and all vixenish?

"No one takes you serious.

"And when no one takes you serious, they'll say the most interesting things where you can hear them. Lilykins used to send me down to the commons hall for bread and cheese, not because I was a trustable servant girl - cor she'd be lucky if'n there'd be an un nibbled pastry by the time I go back .. but because folks wouldn't stop talking when I walked by.

"Be nice, not smart. Be dumb.

"Adults always ignore the kids ... just like you've been chatterin' away all evenin in front of me.

"Like, I bet, if'n you wanted to stop a conversation dead in it's tracks, you push tall, blonde, got curves any guy would wanna jump even if she's carryin' a famous black sword into the roo ......

"...oooooooooowwwww!"

Kay winced hard as Captain Koromov's fist came down on her head.

"Scamp.

"But it is true."

[OOC: The only folks *required* to be there are Kisa, Dandelion and Kay. Nope, the only folks required to be there are Kisa and Dandelion. Kay is Daxia's Initiate and is only required to be in the Council meeting if Daxia tells her she's required to be there. True, one could argue that Kisa could request her presence... only request because technically Imperials (even Imperials who don't know what it means to be an Imperial) outrank the Nobles, and in my mind being Daxia's Initiate trumps being a member of the Allaine House Guard. True, one could argue that Dandelion could order her presence, but then you get into the extremely interesting and murky area of who outranks whom in the Dayalan hierarchy (and what role the relationship between Verchovai and Initiate... master and apprentice... would play in the dynamic). Yes, both Dandy and Daxia are Starriders. Dandy has been a Starrider longer, but Daxia rides a unicorn. Interesting, nu?

However, that being said, Daxia would (I'm repeating myself here) stay with Kisa. And Kay would, too. Until or unless directed otherwise.]

Kadri:

"Oh, I take you very seriously, Kay. And its obvious you aren't stupid."

She nods her direction.

"However, I think I don't have the opportunity, at least not entirely, to play the fool. At least not with Talia, who suspects me of having dynastic desires, or with the Montague. And I want to stay away from Jakal. Right now, I'm a suspect. So it would seem the best bet for me is to occupy attention while others - you, perhaps - or others - go around not being noticed and hearing things."

She pauses.

"Larger issue, for me, is that I rather suspect that on the morrow my family will be coming into the scene, and that should be a very interesting meeting, for certain definitions of the word interesting. I would imagine I pretty much have to be there for that. Then, I suppose, once that excitement is finished I suppose I should attend the council - or might it be best to avoid it? "

Her next morning is spent redressing and preparing herself to still look the Amber princess and get ready for the arrival of the Amber delegation, and going over in more detail with Mikal and Cesare any contingency plans recommended by Mikal.

Cesare

He nods, almost low enough to be a bow as Ma'am Cook speaks to him, shaking his head where appropriate indicating he would never think of taking more than what she had authorised. Though he does look very unsure of himself when she is suggesting he goes make to tell his Mistress what she can and can't do.

Then he scarpers with Kathi to the underground areas.

"We still need to get some rope Kathi. Any idea where we can get some? We'll need to brief the others on when we can eat though Mikal will likely stay with the Mistress and eat upstairs. After things settle down, I'd like to come back down here and explore. I maybe need some pretext for being down here.. maybe being tasked with sorting out supplies for the new Mistress.. because I think this area offers a lot of potential to get to other areas unseen, especially by the important folk. So I need to learn my way around. I'd welcome a guide but only if she is of a mind to volunteer."

He smiles.

Mikal

After the others leave, Mikal sets himself up in the antechamber. With Kadri taking the bedroom he physically moves the couch in front of the inward swinging door and sleeps there, making it impossible for anyone to enter the room without a great deal of pushing and shoving and clearly waking him up.

He tells everyone that if they wish to enter after Kadri has gone to sleep to knock and he will let them in. Even the servants.

The next morning, he dresses in his armour and Kadri's insignia and takes up his weapons, then waits to see what Kadri plans to do. If she chooses to visit the council chamber he will attend her.