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Pietro


The squire did not find it in any way amazing or overly notable that both Keiko and Lyric were far away from home. He shrugged mentally.

He, too, was far away from home but, then again, he was not at all sure he now had a home. Probably not. He certainly did not consider Talantal a home, but he didn't really feel that he needed a home, at least not one close by.

Pietro moved to Djinni's side and scratched the mare behind her ears and slapped her neck affectionately. Djinni trembled slightly in enjoyment, but then went back to grazing.

Keiko

Keiko nodded slowly, understanding — at least a little — the cause of Lyric’s distress. Or not-distress? Something else? Did it matter? Keiko decided that it did not matter what, precisely, affected or afflicted Lyric... or even that it simply seemed to be a part of who she was.

Yes. There it was... the balance. Lyric was Lyric was Lyric!

“You have pretty hands,” she noted as she let go of Lyric’s hand. “Ah! I should say that you have one pretty hand and one hand that is also possibly pretty.”

Then she curtsied to Lyric. It was in no way courtly, but it was quite graceful... almost an oft-repeated pattern of a dance. “I have given up whatever worry I had, and will see you for who you are — a fellow traveler upon the World.”

She nodded once; that was that. Everything else was part of the wonder of learning new things. While she hadn’t been away from her Family’s Caravan all that long, it did occur to her that so few people sought out the interesting things of the World, the new things, the wondrous things. Of course, one did sometimes come across things that were less than pleasant on the journey, but that too was... well, part of the balance of all things.

“Living in such a place...” Keiko thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. “It is hard for me to imagine that. The nearest thing I can compare it to would be the followers of Risha, who are tied to their lands. So nice, the ones I’ve met. But to have no visitors? Ever?”

Keiko did try to comprehend the reality Lyric presented, but it was not easy for one whose home was a wagon. At least until her home became a dormer room in a millhouse.

And she took in Lyric’s softer response, too, feeling the currents gently eddying around. And still, there were no great waves... which was good.

“Hmm. There are those beyond the Black Mountains, the Princes of the Thousand Towers, who believe — or so it seems — that a good compromise is doing what they say.” Keiko shrugged. “So unyielding... always creating the force that opposes them by their rigid ways.”

As the Rhoni paused to allow time for Lyric to absorb that, she realized it was no different than her initial attempts at communication with the Small Kin. How silly of her to forget that so easily! Perhaps it was the joy that would not leave her because she had been able to help her friend yesterday.

“This is Truth, Lyric... I can only be Keiko of the Nakano Family. I cannot be anyone or anything that I am not. To say things in a different way to help you understand is not me changing... it is recognizing that there are many ways to be in the World. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend. I am a Rhoni, I am a Card Reader. I like to talk, and I like to learn.”

She looked over at Pietro and his horse. Then she looked at the Lady Bekkah, who was waiting for them very patiently. Her friends were probably waiting to talk to her. The Jvrillian seemed... brusk? And Dama Kadri was certainly odd. And Keiko did not want to even think about that very rude Rhoni companion of theirs... although Lady Bekkah did promise to repair the terrible social blunder he had made. That would be good. Oh, and she never did get her meat pie yesterday... maybe Missus Heatherson would have enough today so there would be one left after the Merchants descended on the village.

She grinned as she opened the pouch at her belt and took out the chunk of bread from breakfast.

“Would you like to try some of this cinnamon bread?” she asked Lyric. “I did not watch my friends make it, so I cannot say with certainty what is in it beyond... bread things? And cinnamon. And honey, I think.”

Keiko stood poised to tear the bread and give Lyric a piece if she desired it.

Pietro


When Keiko mentioned being Rhoni born, the squire's hand went to the darksteel wagon wheel shaped ornament hanging from the silver chain about his neck. He said nothing, but the wagon wheel gave a tiny tinkling sound as he spun it on its axle.

Bekkah

She listened as she walked. The young girl was quite different. She half wondered how she'd made it this far safely. She knew the color of her robes and her Goddess protected her when she'd been about in the lands. The girl seemed completely innocent and naive.

*Perhaps a good thing, she found a squire of Rames along the road.* she thought.

Later, she hoped to sit and talk to the girl, and hear her sing. She suspected she was more than simply fair. In fact, stories of the fairy folk made her look at the girl even more carefully.

Lyric

At the mention of Risha, Lyric's eyes widened a little, and she tried to make a surreptitious sidelong glance at Pietro to see if he noticed what the Rhoni girl had said. Lyric didn't have to know everything about the Imperial Gods and the ways of those who followed them to know there could be issue taken betwixt them and the Pagan believers, especially those who might live in remote places and who believed in things that were older... She offered no comment though. Pietro was her friend. He had said so and it was probably best not to give anyone a reason to think such a gift as friendship was given to her too hastily.

As to visitors, she shrugged a little but shook her head at the same time. "Not that I can remember." She simply didn't want to say too much for fear that she would have to make a falsehood to people who wanted to be friends. And she wanted to be a friend. But some things could make all of that very hard, and maybe impossible.

"Some of my people have gone out into the World, but I was always taught that outsiders were not welcome, not trusted, and dangerous... But I didn't want to believe that...."

And then Keiko offered a confection treat called sinoman bread and Lyric was no longer thinking about what happened next in the telling of her story. Lyric's voice trailed off and she was transfixed by the treat. Pietro would remember that look, from when he offered her the apple.

"I like honey," she said in that wistful soft voice again, eyes still fixed on the bread. She wanted to reach out, with palms open, but she glanced at Keiko to make sure it was okay since the Rhoni girl hadn't actually offered it to her yet. Odd that, Pietro phrased it in a similar way, asking if she would like it or like to try it. Yes. Of course the answer was yes.

"Yes, please," she added when she realized there must be custom and formality to sharing things. "I don't believe I have ever had sinoman bread."

Keiko

Noting Lyric’s look at her mention of Risha, Keiko whispered, “Far from the keeps, there is more attention paid to the old ways, and few look askance at such practices. If you harm none, there’s no need to involve those who see things more... rigidly.”

An odd phrasing that was, almost as if this Rhoni saw little difference between Eastern Princes and Imperial Nobles if those Nobles were not kind to those they purported to serve and protect. And perhaps — because the Rhoni were by choice, by tradition, and by nature outside of the complex relationships of the various gods and goddesses — the young Card Reader had an interesting and valid, if controversial, point.

Then she nodded at Lyric’s words. “There are many dangers in the World, so in that regard your teachings are true. But there is also beauty and safety and kindness enough to balance the danger.” She smiled crookedly. “Of course, it helps to walk the World with others. It divides and lessens some of the dangers. And it always has the potential to increase the good.”

Wasn’t that a small part of why she journeyed, too? Oh, certainly there was the Word of the Elders, and one could not simply disobey them. If a Younger disagreed, the Younger should have a reason as strong as Darksteel for doing so. And that saying reminded Keiko that she might never look upon Darksteel again in the same way. Ah, but enough of that... there would be time later for that tale. Lyric was walking the World to learn of it, and so was she. And for a time, it would appear that they would be able to walk and learn of the World’s wonders together.

That was a comfortable thought.

Keiko smiled at the wistful sound of Lyric’s admission. And in watching her, another thing occurred to her... this small and secluded home of hers might have very different customs. She had certainly discovered enough of that in her travels with the Family.

“It is a politeness to ask if another would like to share a small bit of food,” she said as she broke the piece of bread into four smaller chunks. “This way, the other may decline if they feel it would be an imposition because they have nothing to share in return.” She handed one of the pieces of bread to Lyric. “I gift this freely with no expectations... merely a hope that you will enjoy your first piece of cinnamon bread.”

“Squire Pietro, Lady Bekkah... would you like a piece of cinnamon bread?”

The pieces of bread were perhaps now as long and as wide as the distance from first to second knuckle of her thumb, and less than half that as thick. Not that she had managed to break the break evenly, of course. But she had offered the largest piece to Lyric, keeping the smallest portion for herself. After all, she had already eaten some of the bread at breakfast. She would, of course, share the remaining pieces if the Squire and the Lady wanted some...

But Keiko was more interested in seeing if Lyric would like it.

“Cinnamon — well, all spices, really — comes from the East. It’s not always easy to get. Cinnamon and vanilla are my favorites.”

Bekkah

"Thank you but no. I had enough to eat this morning."

She continued to eye the young girl. More and more the girl made her quite curious. Even more so than Keiko who had already proven to be full of interesting surprises.

[ooc: If they've stopped, she'd certainly start walking again.]

Pietro


He noticed the odd, quickly fading look on Lyric's face as she glanced at him... seemingly in response to something Keiko had said. Pietro frowned briefly and thought over what he'd just heard.

The mention of Risha? Perhaps, but Risha was nearly the most innocuous of pagan gods, goddess of fertility and farming and the like as he remembered. Certainly not one against which to get up one's guard.

Besides, Pietro was not one to look for pagan beliefs in order to punish them or to proselytize them into the service of one of the Imperial deities. He tended to think of them as ones who had not yet had the time to come by their own decision to such worship.

But Keiko was offering cinnamon bread? Pietro grinned and, for a moment, gave anyone watching a good idea of what he must have looked like as a little boy.

"Yes, please," he said, extending his hand. "I do enjoy cinnamon sweets."

Lyric

The words of wisdom seemed like sound advice. Still she would rather not test the theory in real life if she could avoid it. The whole notion of having the value of your life equated to firewood was chilling to say the least. It was only fair that these people, who wanted to be her friend know something about her, but maybe not everything... at least not out loud... not yet.

It was probably proper to accept the gift given freely without expectations in a proper, respectful , and dignified fashion. But she could already feel her mouth filling with saliva and the excitement was building for the moment when she experienced this latest flavor extravaganza. So much so, her eyes seemed ready to burst if they got any bigger. It took an extraordinary act of will to calm herself and breathe slowly, through her nose, and offer her right hand in that proper display of friendly etiquette... and not act like a wolf-raised little girl.

"Thank you," she said with an accompanying nod to Keiko with the delectable treat in hand now. She turned, skipping a step or two with the last remnants of decorum being shed, and she caught up to the Lady of Attera.

In those two or three paces she had brought the bread to her nose to inhale the aroma deeply. Her eyes fluttering as she did and her smile growing. And when she could no longer resist, she opened her mouth and eased the end of the honey and 'sinoman' pastry inside, biting down and pressing it against her tongue to allow the flavors to explode. She shuddered, closed her eyes tightly but briefly and sighed, although, truth be told, she looked like a small Tarnan ground squirrel with its cheeks stuffed from a successful forage.

Pietro


The sweet bread was tasty and he enjoyed it immensely, but he enjoyed even more Lyric's reaction.

Pietro chuckled slightly as a thought occurred to him. He was a fair Horses and Castles player at best but he felt sure he could easily best the young minstrel at such a contest.

She certainly did not hide her feelings.

[[ Horses and Castles ... not doublebluff ... that's an Allaine game and well, uhm, I think Pietro would have a lot of problems trying to pass as on of the Allaines.

[OOC: Okay... Post edited.]

Hey, there are male Allaines! Somewhere. There must be, right? Right. Well... hmmm. Genetically speaking, it's true. But they'd probably take their father's surname, wouldn't they? Or do you want me to blather about the Allaine family in PM? It's not like anyone but Bekkah is really going to care, and we all know that Bekkah is a Sidekick[tm].

But he doesn't have red hair, so... yeah. There's that. Hee hee hee

Keiko

At Lady Bekkah’s polite refusal and the Squire’s enthusiastic acceptance, Keiko gave two pieces of the bread to him before eating the last piece herself. She grinned as she watched Lyric skip up to join Lady Bekkah and actually giggled at her reaction to tasting the cinnamon bread. It was something she understood herself... although she wasn’t quite as demonstrative when discovering new and wonderful taste sensations.

But those little candies that Father and the Uncles could only find in the markets of Trundle — the markets where she was absolutely not allowed to go — those made her as happy as cinnamon bread obviously made Lyric. So rare, and most folks didn’t even like them... Oh! Licorice balls! So good.

Keiko dropped back to speak with the Squire, as it appeared that Lyric might attempt to engage the very quiet but so very kind Healer in conversation.

“Isn’t it a delight to see someone savor life as much as Lyric does? Why, if she had not said she was from a place where few left and even fewer visited, I would almost guess she was a Rhoni!” Keiko smiled at the Squire.

“Your horse is quite noble with excellent conformation, Squire Pietro. I am more used to the draft horses that pull our wagons. I wish my brother could see her,” she said almost wistfully, almost sadly. “He is very good with the horses and would pepper you with questions all day! I will only ask... what is her name? And would she mind much if I were to touch her quite carefully and properly and without startling her? Some horses can be... irritable.”

Bekkah

She smiled at the young girl as she enjoyed the cinnamon bread.

"Quite a tasty thing, isn't it?" she said still smiling.

"I've traveled a good part of the lands near here, certainly most places that one could walk to. Where are you from Lyric? Perhaps I've traveled to your village."

Lyric

"Uhhh..."

Lyric started to respond, but she had a mouthful of 'sinoman' bread and she paused for worry of choking, and well, the impoliteness of 'speaking with your mouth full'. She covered her mouth with her free hand and tried to chew and swallow as quickly as she could. It became an exaggerated gesture after about ten seconds though.

She cleared the pastry and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to start speaking right then. You were really quiet after saying you wanted to listen to me sing."

She cleared her throat but even that was a delicate sound. It was clear the bread had left her a little dry-mouthed. She seemed a embarrassed that she was so delayed in responding. Her hand was covering her mouth again and she shook her head apologetically.

"Kethy's Woods?"

"My people don't like outsiders much, and, well... No disrespect meant Lady but they aren't all that fond of Imperial folks much at all...

There was a pause as she considered the indelicacy of her own words and her eyes widened. "But not me, No Lady... I am fine and happy to be in your company... quite honored in fact that you would be so generous to walk with me and talk too."

She hoped she hadn't offended the Lady of Attera and watched carefully, her eyes trying to make eye contact, and not ahead of her, as they walked side by side.

Bekkah

She smiled and laughed softly.

"I'm just simply used to listening more than talking. When I'm trying to help someone, I listen to what they're telling me as well as the sounds their body makes. Most people tend to either look up at me with some kind of awe and they're too scared to speak to me. And when I'm with other Imperials, let's just say that they prefer not to hear my opinion on things, so they tend to ignore me. Well they ignore me if they are in good health."

"Well, not being fond of Imperials is quite common actually. Especially in the more remote towns and villages. In that regard, I'm blessed in that most folk seem quite happy to see those of my order. It's good that our reputation is one of helping and not trying to convert others."

Lyric

Lyric looked down at her self, cocking her head, as if there were sounds from her body she was not capable of hearing and yet she was still willing to try.

But she heard nothing unusual and she shrugged. Her smile returned though and she continued to listen as the pair walked along. Although she did see some flowers ahead on the right as they came nearer to the large rock and the tower that sat atop it. That could interesting...

Bekkah

"Kethy's Woods? I've not heard of it. But there is so much to this world I have yet to see. Perhaps once day I could visit. Or do you think your people would chase me out?"

She asked this last question, not really believing the answer. As her companions knew, Bekkah believed she was welcome everywhere and by everyone. Something that surely made some of them quite nervous, including her sister.

Lyric

Lyric walked along a bit without saying anything and when she came within a few paces of the small flowers fighting a hardscrabble battle for life in the hardpacked rocky ground, she darted forward and knelt at the flowers. She allowed for Bekkah to catch up to her while she leaned in to smell the flowers deeply. She didn't want to pick them though. Their life here in this spot was already hard enough and new ones might not grow again.

As Bekkah closed the short distance, Lyric looked up her. It was clear she was uncomfortable.

"I think... I think they would just prefer you not find them in the first place and keep walking by... But, even for you Lady, I doubt there would be a welcome. It is just the way of things..."

She glanced at the flowers and smiled.

"They are pretty and they are strong. This isn't their home but somehow they found themselves with no other choice but to try to survive. It would be very easy just to give up, but these flowers won't do that. They will keep fighting and make a new home for themselves..."

She quickly turned her face away from the Atteran, perhaps to look ahead of them on the trail, to the small village at the foot of the large rock.

Bekkah

She looked down on the young girl as she examined the flower. She wasn't sure what to make of her. A village of people that never interacted with others, would explain her strange behavior.

Then she spoke, telling Bekkah in her own way not to go to the village. That got a raised eyebrow from the Atteran, but she said nothing. That kind of reaction was as new to her as Cinnamon bread was to the girl.

She looked across the small bridge and noticed her companions at a marketday stall. She waved to them and smiled.

"Would you like to meet some of my friends?"

[ooc: Will post there as well to continue in the main thread.]

Pietro


The squire started to protest when Keiko offered him two pieces of the cinnamon sweetbread, but he couldn't quite force himself to do so. The saliva started to flow even before he took the first small bite, followed very quickly by a second, larger bite and, before he knew it, the treat was consumed. He grinned almost embarrassedly as he licked the dusting of sugar and cinnamon from his fingers.

"Ah... that was so good. Thank you, Keiko."

He smiled, looking from Keiko to Lyric and back.

"Lyric is a... a delight."

Pietro's smile faded somewhat and he frowned in thought.

"I had not even thought of her as Imperial or Rhoni or... or anything other than Lyric. She is so... perfectly individual in her openness and her approach to everything that I had not connected her in my mind, with any larger group."

He looked at Keiko, head cocked to one side as he considered her appearance and demeanor. After a moment, his hand again moved to the darksteel wagon wheel shaped ornament which hung around his neck. He almost asked her a question, but then she turned the conversation to his mount.

"She is a fine mare, my boon friend and companion for a long time now," Pietro said with a pleasant smile as he reached out to scratch the mare above and between her eyes.

"Her name is Djinni and I am sure she would not take affront to your touch as long as you avoid sudden moves and let her gather in your scent first."

Keiko

“You’re very welcome,” she said cheerfully. “I wasn’t watching when it was being made, but I’m sure at least one of my friends could share how much of what gets mixed together and baked to create such a delectable treat!”

She, too, looked over at Lyric, who was delighting in the hardiness of flowers... and, Keiko suspected, speaking of herself, as well.

“She is that, Squire Pietro,” Keiko replied more softly, almost introspectively as she looked back at him. “A delight and unique.”

She noted the change in his expression as he spoke again, considering his words, and then merely watched him as he regarded her — a hand to a pendant... the building potential for a question... and then the wave gently lapping at the shore with his question unasked.

“I think it would be a noble thing and a kind thing to safeguard such delightful uniqueness until such time that Mistress Lyric has accustomed herself to walking the World beyond the confines of her tiny village.” She smiled at him — an attempt as reassurance, perhaps, before turning her attention to Djinni.

“I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Djinni,” she said as she held out her hand properly so that the horse could learn who she was. “I’m afraid I have no treats suitable for a being of your regal bearing. I will do my best to remedy that this very day, however.”

Keiko stroked the velvety soft nose of the horse. “Might you prefer apples or carrots? Or perhaps, like Father’s favorite mare, you like dandelions?”

She chuckled, winking at Pietro as she began following Lady Bekkah and Lyric toward the market. “Veshalosh would eat every dandelion on the Road East if Father and Hikaru — that’s my brother — didn’t stop her. Well, not the Koromov, of course. Even though one of the runes for the followers of the Lady Sun is Horse, I suspect they would not care to be nibbled by one. And besides, Vesa likes people.”

The Rhoni walked in silence for several paces on the Forest side of the Path.

“Did you wish to ask something, Pietro?” she asked, giving him a sidelong glance. “Or does my presence disquiet you in some way?”

Pietro


"I intend to do my best to protect her, Miss Keiko," the squire said with a smile and a glance toward Lyric. "At the moment, as much a delight as she seems to me, she tends a bit toward the... she trusts too much."

Pietro shrugged and grimaced slightly at his choice of words. He had never considered himself eloquent.

"Djinni likes apples and carrots, but prefers apples, don't you, girl?"

He patted the horse's neck, then reached into the jute bag hanging from her saddle and took out an apple.

"Here, you can give this to Djinni. Hold it on the flat of your hand, though, so she doesn't mistakenly take a finger with the fruit."

"A question..." he paused and frowned. "Yes, one had occurred to me, but it perhaps is overly personal and not worthy of an answer since I have just met you."

Another pause and a slight shrug.

"Were you born to the caravan people, the Rhoni?"

Keiko

She nodded. “My interactions with the followers of Rames have been few, but I have found all of your brothers to be honorable men.”

Keiko tilted her head to the side, considering the few squires she had met in her short life. Indeed, those they met in their travels on the Tarn were polite... far more courteous than the average merchant or man-at-arms. Of course, the same could not be said for the knights and squires in Trundle... they were quite the mixed bunch of personalities, or so she had heard. Some of those personalities were not always pleasant. She shrugged slightly.

“We must be taught to be distrustful, to be cautious around all the dangers that exist across the World, noble Squire. If one lives the whole of one’s life sheltered in a place where the dangers do not exist, how is one to know that being less than fully trusting is not wise?” The young woman smiled ruefully. “I have been taught — both by my elders and by experience — that caution is so often necessary. And yet... and yet, I prefer to trust, to learn of the World’s wonders.”

Her smile returned to its cheerful countenance as she took the apple from him.

“I have lived all of my life around horses,” she said, giggling and holding out the apple for the mare. “Most of them have been far more ornery than your fair Djinni. And far less polite,” she added as the horse deftly took the apple from her hand — Djinni’s warm breath and the absence of the apple’s weight being the only way to know the gift was accepted.

Noting his hesitation, Keiko walked on a few paces before answering. When she did answer, she looked directly at him.

“It is not such a personal question, really. Would asking a red-haired woman if she was from Dawnview Vale be too personal? I don’t know, as I have never met any red-haired women. But I see no reason to be other than accepting of my heritage — neither overly proud nor ashamed. Indeed, I am Rhoni.” She looked around them, first toward the market they were approaching and then to the Forest. She knew they were being watched, but she saw no signs of the watchers.

“I have been given a rare gift by the Elders,” she said, turning back to look at Pietro. “The daughters so rarely have the opportunity to walk the World, to ride the waves, away from the Caravan. That is a gift more often given to the sons.

“Do you have a particular reason for asking, Squire Pietro?”