DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games HWD: The Heartwood HWD: Room with a View

Lyric

"...and it is too very near the evening meal," added Lyric, drawing her attention from the Rhoni boy to Keiko then Mikal. She had spoke in the rhythm and cadence that Keiko used. A different accent, but very similar in tone.

"There is no public house in this small village, so we would be making ourselves a terrible burden to go 'inside'... for 'inside' means someone's home, and that means we 'ask' of them their hospitality even if we don't use the words. You see? Terrible burden uninvited and unplanned..."

She cut herself off and smiled as she canted her head to the right.

"Forgive me," she started again, "You may call me Lyric. And I have just remembered we are all not formally met. I apologize for that."

Mikal

"Certainly, however Master Heatherson and his helper", he nods his head to the nearby pair, "are not likely to be involved."

He refrains from adding that the less people who know what they discuss the better, so as to not insult the farmer.

Glancing at Lyric, he shakes his head no. "The Tower is private, or can be made so, and imposes on no one."

He pauses. "We met yesterday. You offered to sing." He smiles at her.

Keiko

“Perhaps Master Heatherson is not directly involved, but the matter of the Forest Kin concerns all in this tiny hamlet. And his companion?”

Keiko looked toward the barn and the Forest Kin standing in the shadows there.

Then she laughed.

“Oh, how wrong you are! ‘Involved’ I think might be too mild a word.”

Kadri:

"If we are wrong I would dearly like to learn what is, in fact, right. For only then can we truly work from changing what is still wrong into yet more right. So wherever we might talk, and whatever we might try to claim for repast. If that means I reclaim some of my travel jerky and cheese from my pack, so be it. Either way - both the mischevious side of me which aims to misbehave, and the curious side of me which just wishes to know - have a desire to move into what is known and what perhaps might be done. If a tile is to fall, so to speak - I would wish to know what other tiles it may knock down. Because as someone very wise once said to me ... 'Pretty things need to be free. And I think it seems the pretty things of the forest have been waiting a long time for that."

Keiko

She blinked again and stared at Dama Kadri.

That must be what I sound like when I’m speaking Eastern.

However, Keiko did understand the Dama’s last remark, the words themselves at least. But the deeper meaning of them? No, she definitely didn’t understand. The direct and obvious meaning couldn’t possibly be what the Dama meant, for she had not met the Forest Kin. So there had to be some deeper, hidden meaning that the young Rhoni did not understand.

She sighed. No matter. The words were just words and had little effect on the currents beyond some small amount of obfuscation. Keiko had already determined that there were many potential currents to follow, all of which would introduce their own waves to ride. Looking closer rather than farther was the key here.

Keiko nodded to herself and knelt beside the small Forest Kin who was doing her best to keep from view.

“I would not be distressed, my friend, if you are hungry and wish to fetch some food for yourself.” Keiko nodded toward the Forest. “I will wait here for as long as it takes you to return, should you wish to go.”

Then she smiled as she sat on the ground, arranging her tunics modestly around her. “I know Master Heatherson’s cows enjoy my whistling potato,” she said with a giggle. “Perhaps the string of horses will enjoy it as much as they enjoyed friend Lyric’s mandolin!”

The Guy Who Owns This Place

The words from those gathered did catch sharp ears, at least a pair of them. The dairyman’s helper stood a little straighter, looked at Ruri and saw the farmer’s shoulders droop. The work hand shook his head, then nodded, then lightly punched the farmer in the forearm before taking leave of his tasks. With a bright step, he slipped around the barn — short enough to not have to duck under the horse tether line — and entered the fray. He had a handsome face, dark eyes and wore the strangest cloak himself. It was no travel cloak, for sure, but it was blacker than night and had neither texture nor weave.

He had a destination... that was to be sure, as well. He circled the Jvrillian, much like one would inspect a critter being sold. With a hand on his chin, he looked the swordsman up and down, peering at his feet, examining armor and visage, noting blades and stance and, of course, the man’s garb.

He then retreated. He withdrew to the side of one of the newcomers — the pretty one, all in fancy country clothes, the one with the mandolin. Still rubbing his chin he leaned toward her, at her side, almost conspiratorial. Or, perhaps, more like a confidant sharing opinions about whether or not a Dawnview gown was suitable for the formal courts.

“First, he’s too tall, isn’t he, Miss Lyric? Too tall, with much broader shoulders. That and look at all that armor! It must weigh fifty or sixty or a hundred fullhand stone! How can a body do that anyway? Maybe he’s part shaggie! You know, that would explain a lot. And swords! All fancy Darksteel like he bought it at the Market. Much, much, much too long. That and he lacks a certain dash, and he most certainly isn’t as handsome, elegant, swashbuckling and filled with a roguish charm that would sweep any lassie off her feet!”

He smiled brightly up to Lyric.

“Do you need me to catch you? Look at him, and do you swoon?”

He looked between the mercenary and the minstrel.

“Nin...

“No... nin, nya, khal’nya... non... nihil...

“I really don’t think he’s Dominic Dominie Korie.”

He stood straighter then, his gaze upon the mercenary a considering and measuring one.

“I know! We can test this...”

He leaned in and whispered to Lyric.

“I learned this from Broke.”

Straightening, he crossed his arms and spoke a single word.

“MOUSE!”

For a moment there was silence. And then, in a blink, in a suddenness, the two Forest Kin were at his side, and they both immediately glomped him in a tight hug. The man could not help but laugh, wrapping his black cloak about each of the lill’uns.

“He has no mouse. He is most DEFINITELY not Dominic Dominie Korie.

“Which is a huge load off of my mind! If he were, I wouldn’t know who I was! And that would be passingly strange. I’d have to go back to my very small village and wait around until someone died so I could borrow their name. I could end up being a Gertrude, Brunhilde or a Fred. Fred would be bad. I’d get mistaken for Dandy’s horse. Don’t tell Dandy I called her Dandy, please? Even out here, she’d find a rafter to hang me from.

“And it’s also good for him to not be Dominic Dominie Korie. Because then he would know better than to invite himself into someone else’s house without a by your leave, especially at dinner time when they’ve got a family to take care of, and the cows have just come in, and they are tired and deserve their rest. So he has an excuse, but I’m not going to say what it is because that would be unpleasant and he’d get all disgruntled.

“And I’ve spent all day gruntling the Heathersons after the previous disaster and now they like me again, which is all that matters. They only think I lack common sense, and that’s fair because there’s a lot of evidence to that.

“You know, that’s the odd thing about being me. I could invite myself in. But I don’t. I make a really horrible Noble.

“Say, Miss Lyric, maybe I can travel with you? I have been told I have a truly distinctive singing voice.

“OW!”

He looked at one of the Forest Kin sheltered beneath his cloak.

“Did you just kick me?”

The dark haired rapscallion then looked back up.

“No. No going inside. I just promised Ruri that there’d be no more demands on him and his. And I hate it when someone breaks my word for me. Right now it’s a grand summer night. Cows keep secrets well — Miss Keiko, you can vouch for the cows, right? So talk! Talking is always good.

“I know!

“I do it a lot.”

Keiko

She knew exactly what would happen when the Young Master called out “Mouse.” It wasn’t quite as dramatic as when Broke had done it at Home, what with there being only Tomomi and Miss Emerald here. But seeing them latch onto him with fierce hugs made her giggle again. It was sweet.

Keiko did manage to not giggle when one of them, Miss Emerald most likely, kicked him when he described his singing voice.

And the Rhoni nodded when he asked about the cow. “Of course, m’Lord Tone-Deaf. Cows don’t talk.”

Lastly, she wondered how sturdy the strings on Lyric’s mandolin were. Between Broke and the Young Master, should any singing happen it was certain to be painful for their ears. She would endure, of course, because Broke was Broke and Dommi was Dommi. She hoped mandolin strings were made of sturdier stuff than ears.

Lyric

Lyric bowed her head in obeisance, though she knew he didn't demand that or expect it. This might have been 'because' he didn't demand nor expect such servile behavior. But he was demonstrating his authority by virtue of birthright and that required her co-operation. The fact that he took time to needle her in the process was fair because she did tell the story about the little lord who had a big horse and he took it in very good humor. Fair was fair.

"Your Lairdship," she responded in a subdued voice. "I should think it my place to defer to your wife, Dama Korie," she said with a open hand to indicate Kadri's presence, "before I consider the merits of her travelling companion aloud or any specific travelling arrangements."

And from that place, with her head down, she glanced upwards to catch a glimpse of the Rhoni boy again. A secretive and furtive-like glance was all she dare spare though.

Kadri looks at Dominic for a second before looking back at Lyric, and raises one eyebrow.

"Your place is to say whatever you think to me. You don't owe me even a little bit of deference. The only thing I will ask you to defer to me on here is in my preference for you to call me Kadri."

She turns back to Dominie, and grins widely.

"Dom, you don't just 'talk' - you prattle, elucidate, orate, carry on, tell tales or joke.. But one thing you most decidedly do not do is just talk. You also most definitely do not sing."

Mikal

His eyes harden as Dominic insults his mother to his face and he grasps his hands together with forced calmness, replying with a false smile. "It is good you don't invite yourself into Ruri's home as when we all went up to the tower to talk in private, as I suggested, you'd be all by yourself. Well, you'd have the Forest Kin and the Heathersons as company, and as fine company as I am sure they would make, we'd all miss your presence...., My Lord."

Pietro


He had just opened his mouth to reply to the Jvrillian's question and to ask one in return when all the others spoke up... especially the Rhoni lass and the Korie lordling. So much was said so quickly that the squire became confused and frowned as he tried to determine just what all had been said and what was meant by what was said.

"It has been requested of me, by Miss Keiko here," he said slowly after a lull in the talking finally occurred, "that I help the Forest Kin in ridding themselves of their... masters and creators. It seems that they are being cruelly oppressed if I am to believe Miss Keiko."

He made an apologetic sort of gesture toward Keiko.

"And I do believe her."

"Any way, I have accepted her request but I know - and told her - that this was a task far beyond my abilities to undertake alone. She has agreed to help and so has Miss Lyric and, I think, Dommi and his friend, Emerald."

Pietro looked from Mikal to Kadri and then to Cesare.

"It is a daunting task and there is no help which would be excessive or unwanted if any of you was willing to stand at our sides."

Cesare

Well this is all very unexpected. He had been wise not to kick the wind, it is certainly a strong one. So many eddies and currents in it, difficult not to get carried away. He might even have thought the young minstrel may have met him somewhere before here.

He listens as conversations flow and then finds a hole which he might fill.

"My Lord, I don't think any of us expected to see you here. And I hope Mouse is well. I liked her."

He nods respectfully.

"As to the business at hand, I have already pledged my support in this venture to Bekkah. So can anyone here tell us more of these dwarves?"

OOC- I know that Zeim indicated in Shout that he would respond to Pietro when/after Gypsy posted. I am hoping to take that into account in my post. I ask for the indulgence of everyone that we allow for some mental gymnastics here as we manage a large group in a tense situation.

***




Lyric

The minstrel was no stranger to a moment like this. A moment where the Right Words must now overcome the Wrong Words. There was no right or wrong. Why was that? Because Right and Wrong no longer mattered in a moment like this. Only differences in opinion and perception mattered, that and how to reconcile them so that everyone feels they have not been bowed, broken, aggrieved, challenged, insulted, and humiliated... or whatever it was that was at stake the took things away from Right and Wrong and made it into opinion and perception in the first place.

Dommi had said what he said. He was Dommi... and a Korie. Not only was it in his nature, it was also in his purview to be exactly as he was and do as he pleased.

Mikal had said what he said. He was Jvrillian... and a proud man with strong opinions. Not only was it in his nature, it was part of his culture to be exactly who he was, and act the way Jvrillians do.

But now that they each had said what they said, Lyric knew that neither could change the course of the paths they were travelled. They were on the same path, hurtling toward each other, and the 'Things of Great Importance' that brought this gathering of winds or waves together or made journeys meet at crossroads were in danger of becoming 'Something that Never Was'.

Lyric felt, and that was often close enough to 'knew' for her, that Dommi would not allow Mikal's challenge to go unanswered, just as she 'felt' that Mikal would not let the first words Dommi said rest still between them either. But, In the Now, this moment, was when she could react. She was a minstrel and words were her specialty... well, that and tasting 'sinoman' bread... but words were what was needed. Better words. Words to bring clarity and peace to focus on the 'Things of Great Importance' again.

Lyric stepped forward, interposing herself before Dommi, even as Mikal turned away to speak to others... which was another slight in addition to insulting the Lord of These Lands. This certainly was not going to be an easy task. But if the Forestkin were to be aided in the best way possible that meant she had to succeed.

"My Lord Korie, might I be given a moment to speak with the companion sword to your wife? Might you grant me this boon, in your wisdom and discretion as a noble of virtue and compassion, such that we find the clarity in the true purpose of our gathering?"

This time her tone was not teasing, despite mentioning the odd marital arrangement he spoke of earlier. This time there was a strange formality to it, as if Lyric had experience in Courtly things and ways. Words were her specialty.

If given, she would turn to Mikal who had taken that moment to reply to Pietro...

(Here would come Zeim's hoped for next action, if this works)

She waited for him to finish his word to the Squire before imposing her presence before him.

"I would be honored if you would grant me an indulgence to speak with you, a moment of your time only. There is much at stake, not the least of which is honor. But, those most in need, whose circumstances in this life are grave and dire but can not speak for themselves because of their plight deep within the Dirkwood, should remain our singular focus... Please grant me this favor and walk a step or two with me to talk a word or two?"

While she wasn't the most diminutive of the women in this gathering, she was, by no means, physically imposing. But, the girl who seemed fascinated by flowers and pretty sights along the path was altogether very much possessed of a strength of wisdom and exuded a calm and gentle energy. Her eyes were pale blue and light seemed to fall into them and not escape. Her words were obviously eloquent yet delivered in an accent that was not common to populated areas of the Heartwood. High Tarn perhaps, maybe even the highest of the Highside or deep in a remote woods somewhere. There was a sort of dichotomy that others who had witnessed her shift from being effervescent and child-like to sage and wizened could attest to as a real and tangible thing. But Mikal was witnessing it for himself, even while others around could see it as well.

Mikal

"We", he replies to Pietro, and indicating agreement with Cesare, "have already agreed to aid Lady Bekkah in this endeavor. It will be good to have your assistance, Pietro. I look forward to working with you."

Then, before he can turn back to Dominie, Lyric interposes herself between them. He was about to remind Lord Dominic that they knew one another, and had met and spoken in Bordertown, so he wondered about the charade of Dominic examining him like a prize bull.

But the young girl seems insistent so he bows briefly to Lord Dominic, asking, "With your permission?" And then lets Lyric lead him off a few paces.

Dominic

Cesare’s question is answered simply albeit wordlessly. One of the Forest Kin, wrapped protectively beneath his black cloak, peeks out and offers the Rhoni a very friendly wave. It was definitely Miss Mouse, and she seemed glad to see Cesare too.

As for the dark haired rake, he listened to the angry Jvrillian’s words and just tilted his head, as if he were trying to put words together to make a sensible sentence. He looked at one Forest Kin. That one shook her head. Looked at the other Forest Kin, and that one just shrugged. Since his arms were occupied, he had to settle for wrinkling his nose.

“Farmhouse. Tower. Tower. Farmhouse. Tower. Farmhouse. Farmhouse. Tower.”

His eyes went theatrically wide.

“Sea and Stars!”

He nodded once.

“There is Order in the World!”

He just smiled.

“You will.”

But then Lyric spoke, with all reasonableness, kindness and heart... only to get a frown from the Village’s Young Master.

“What did I tell you, what did I beg you, Fair One? No, no, no, no. For you, it’s just Dommi, no need for Lord or any other title or accolade, except for perhaps handsome, dashing, daring, sharp of wit and tongue and absolutely no sense of rhythm...”

He blinked and looked at Keiko.

“Great. My secret’s out. Betrayed, slain and ill spoke of! Again! As the wronged, I demand compensation and bewrath my ware. Wait. Strike that. Reverse it. I hereby sentence you with the power invested in me by... well... me... to serve me and a certain Guardian beer. Which is an actual punishment because that Guardian doesn’t do mugs very well after her second drink. Lord Tone-deaf indeed! So what if it’s true...? What’s wrong with a little fiction between friends?”

He then returned his attention to Lyric.

“So. Just Dommi! Not Lord Dommi. He has to call me that, not you. And yes, yes, yes... take him away! We may all be actors upon the stage of the world, but remember what I said about having to play a particular role? Makes me grumpy and I hate having to be grumpy.”

His words became a bit solemn, as he looked to the minstrel.

“That’s a path that is very unwise to walk.”

He then looked back.

“The Squire has it right. Miss Em, the folks here, and too-small-to-be-harmful me stand with him.

“As for the fair Lady Korie?

“We need to talk.”

Lyric

Lyric was patient through the theatrics of Dommi's performance because that was the way of things and the way of Dommi. Knowing it and accepting it could be two different things, but together there came a certain harmony to the 'tune' so to speak.

"Then don't be grumpy," she said as a matter of course. Her smile never diminished. "It is a choice."

***

Walking a few paces, and feeling that if walking served to ease the talking she would keep going, the young girl in a light layered dress with flowers in her hair smiled and looked up to the warrior Jvrillian beside her.

"I am grateful that you are willing to allow me a chance to speak with you instead choosing more words to trade with Lord Korie."

"You are a proud man from a proud background and culture. There is no doubt that you feel slighted, insulted even. That is a fair thing to feel... But, I would ask that you be willing to consider some other things... is that also fair to ask of you?"

Kadri:

She pauses, tilts her head.

'As you wish.'

She motions off to one side.

Mikal

He listens to Lyric, expression softening. "You are a kind-hearted lass, Miss Lyric, and I know you mean well. However Lord Korie and I are acquainted. We have met before, in more casual circumstances. We parted with no animosity between us, in fact it was a fairly jovial meeting."

"I took no exception to being examined like a piece of meat on a spit, having everything I wear and am be criticized from head to toe in rude manner. He is a Korie Lord, and Korie Lords, like other Lords, feel entitled to deride common folk."

He pauses a moment, then continues. "However Lord Dominic felt obliged to make comments that he knows are specific to myself and my mother, now passed on. Comments that were crude and boorish, and which I took as purposefully insulting. There was no call for them to be made other than to be insulting."

"All of that said, I have worked with crude and boorish people before, some even more so than Lord Dominie just showed, and as I said I have met him before and he did not act in this manner. It will not impact my efforts on behalf of the Forest Folk. The right thing to do is the right thing to do, and it is not often one gets to choose who they must work with to do it."

Lyric

"You are keen of intellect and insight as well, Master Mikal. And let it be known that I do recognize that your name bears a striking similarity to a heroic figure in a version of a very old song I learned when I was younger. I love the song and whenever news and word came to our village, this was one topic I always inquired about. So, while I might seem ignorant, arrogant, or backward to some, and maybe that is fair to say of people where I come from, I have tried very hard to learn and experience new things... even old songs are new things when you've never heard them before."

She paused for a breath. Indeed, she did have a way of putting words together to tell a story. And surely Mikal was no fool and could tell that the Minstrel was telling a story.

"You understand that there are matters far more important to so many people than the slights done to oneself. That is a man who has true wisdom... but also courage. For that is what it takes to see beyond the needs and wants of self to those of another. That is the grist that Heroes are made of... Honor and Courage and Sacrifice."

Lyric couldn't hide that she was feeling emotional in her telling of this story, and how she was presenting a hero-to-be. The welling of the tears made her blink and blinking caused her eyes to 'wet' and glisten. It was like looking at that pale blue through a liquid-like crystal. There was a sparkle in the last rays of She Who Passes Overhead.

"I can not tell you that you are wrong about Lord Korie. That is not why I am here. I am not 'his' minstrel and I do not tell 'his' story. You feel how you feel. What others feel is what they feel. What Lord Korie does is what he does, because it is his right to do it. The right and the wrong can be claimed by everyone here without exception. What is important In The Now is the perception of all of it and how that affects What Matters Most."

"We are stepping forward to confront a dangerous evil and we may well not survive it. We do not know what challenges lie ahead, and yet we are all resolving to face it first and ask questions second. Maybe this is a moment few ever recognize as such a time when Heroes are forged and great things begin."

"But there are things that challenge us in ways not all recognize yet... What is done is done and what is said is said... That is Truth. But perception is another matter..."

Mikal - with Lyric

He smiles softly. "You are quite perceptive, young miss. Indeed Mikal D'Allyne is not my birth name. Mikal, rather, is an affectionate appellation given to me by my dear mother when I was but a boy."

A faraway look of fond recollection comes to his eyes. "She would tell me bedtime stories every night and Jeminy's Hill was always my favorite. I would pretend to be Mikal Alline fighting off the hordes and she called me Mikal."

"Once she, and my sister, died of grief and exhaustion, after entitled nobles killed my father and her brother, my Uncle, I kept the name, adding the D'Allyne surname, as a remembrance of her."

"So I am the boy from the very small village who waited around until someone died so I could borrow their name, that Lord Dominic so derided, comparing my mother's love and fondness for me to a horse."

He pauses. "I tell this to you, in such detail I have not told anyone else, because I can see your honesty and desire that this not affect our help of the Forest Folk and I want you to understand the level of pain and injury I feel done to me."

"As I have said, the right thing to do is the right thing to do. I have lived my life by that credo. I have traveled all across the Highside Heather and the High Tarn helping poor villages and farmers against the ravages of nature and banditry that their so-called Lords could not be bothered to help them with. So I will not stop now, simply because of insult."

Pietro


So then Lyric and Mikal moved off in one direction to talk and it appeared that the Lord Korie and his new bride also planned a dialogue. Meanwhile, Pietro still was not anywhere nearly sure that he understood the ins and outs of what had just transpired and what exactly they needed to do in the way of planning.

The squire looked around and his eyes settled on Cesare.

"Perhaps, this being apparently a time of dialogue, we could converse, Cesare," he said with a smile. "I need to get some oats for Djinni here and then we can... get to know each other."

Pietro took Djinni's nosebag, filled it with a bit of a mixture of barley and oats of which the mare was particularly fond and then put the bag over Djinni's head. He glanced at Mischief and then over at Dominic, wondering if he should do the same for his horse, but did not want to interrupt the couple. Instead he lightly stroked the horse's neck after holding out a fist for Mischief to sniff so they could become acquainted.

Keiko

The young Rhoni woman just sat and watched. Once again, currents were colliding — powerful currents causing powerful waves.

None of them were waves she needed to ride.

It didn’t help that she didn’t understand much of what was going on — some of it, certainly. But the nature of the waves Lady Bekkah’s companions floundered in? Not really.

Keiko thought she understood Squire Pietro; she was well-acquainted with the idea of the chivalry the Knights and Squires of Rames exhibited... most of them she had met did not live up to that idea. Squire Pietro? He was different.

She thought maybe she understood Lyric a little bit, too. Of course, the Young Master had said something — just a pair of words in passing that most wouldn’t even have noticed. Perhaps not even Lyric, although it would not surprise Keiko if Lyric heard the words and chose to not hear them.

But if those two words were dropped into any of the currents Lyric walked in, very unusual things happened — to the currents, mostly. However, when the currents of the World changed, everything those currents touched would change, too.

Keiko shrugged. Perhaps that was for the best, especially here and now where there was no sense to this confluence. Ultimately, the Rhoni felt in her heart that Lyric was her friend every bit as much as Tomomi was. Friendship, like kinship, was a powerful thing. In some ways, it was even more powerful, for Friendship was Magic. Kinship was simply that. It defined what had been, what now was, what always would be.

Friendship was a Magic that could change the people of the World.

She sat, and she watched as the currents moved people around the small area between stable and house. She got after a few moments and, after brushing off her tunics and noting that Tomomi looked so very pleased to be able to hug Dommi, made her way back to the carved steps of the Rock. As She touched the western edge of the World, Keiko hurried up the steps to the mill.

She didn’t doubt that Tomomi would find her later. For now? Well, how often did her little friend have the chance to greet Lord Tone-Deaf?

For herself? It had been a busy day, or so it seemed. Keiko looked forward to a quiet meal with the Miller and his wife.

Dommi

Dommi looked left, he looked right, and then bit his lower lip. He glanced at Keiko as she walked away, looked left and right again, and then leaned his head back a bit.

“I caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan heeeeeeeeeeeeear yoooooooooooou!”

One Forest Kin face palmed. One giggled. The giggling one was Tomomi.

But then the Young Master brought his attention to Pietro, raising a hand in a silent request to pause. For Cesare, there was a deep sigh before he let his gaze fall on Kadri. He understood her motion but didn’t move. He looked back down again.

“I am be-moused. Trapped. I am not able to go anywhere soon.

“But that’s fine. Since when have I been afraid to talk about anything? We do need to get something straight, however, because I had a very angry goodwife yell at me today and her husband was equally piqued. The Squire and I spent all day repairing that damage. You have got my name, and that’s fine. You made enough mischief at Court to cause much giggling. So just that was worth it. But you need to understand — everything you do reflects on me. When anything goes wrong, it comes back to me. When things go right, it’s ‘isn’t she a clever girl?’ When things go wrong it’s ‘Lord Korie, it’s your fault, do something about it.’ And it looks like things went really badly since you got here. But I am not going to yell. I am not angry.”

“I am disappointed.

“You seem to have forgotten why you left the Plains of Kaa.”

Pietro


The squire frowned, but nodded and stood his ground. He did not mind the pause, if that was what Dominic wanted and if he had correctly interpreted the Korie lord's gesture, but he did not want to... well, he might not be eavesdropping on a conversation between a man and his wife since Dominic requested that he wait.

But it felt like eavesdropping and Pietro felt uncomfortable.

Kadri did not, in fact, look down. In fact, her eyes were flashing a bit. Her voice was steady and clear.

"Do you want blunt honesty, Dominic? I got dumped into the viper's den of Talantal and came out on my feet. If you throw someone onto the back of a wild stallion that they have never ridden before, you have to expect there is at least a chance of stumbling. Why did I leave? I left to be free. I left because destiny is just a word and none but me and the choices I make controls mine, in the end. I left because others should be as free as they possibly can to carve the path of their happiness. I left because bullies deserve to be knocked flat on their rears. I left because pretty things need to be free - and many things are pretty in their own way, even if most would not recognize their beauty. I left because Kadri is Kadri is Kadri - and I will not be defined by blood or fate. I left because the very idea that my blood sets me apart or above others rather than my actions setting me apart is an offense to me. I left because people are not things, to be traded, used and discarded. These are the things I remember."