Private Tales Feathers & Fae

[Quacey]

It would seem that the fae had touched a nerve. The mortal woman, Mia, went off on him about him trying to court her. How he was doing a terrible job at it. How he had no chance with her. How it was none of his business. How she was far too serious on the topic. Clearly she was lacking any form of companionship and getting herself bedded might do her some good.

But that was the fae way of doing things. He often forgot how mortals put so much importance on "controlling" their instincts and more primal desires. It was actually part of this woman's problem in being so lost. She was seeking far too much control and would never get what she wished because of it. She would break before too long.

Then she called the guards he had been aware of and informed them to take him to the guest room. He had no reason to decline. His task here was yet to be completed. She still could use some help.

"May the twins bless your sleep with insightful dreams." Quacey said after bowing his head and closing his eyes. These mortals may not realize it but he was offering up a fae prayer for them. Perhaps some of them may have prophetic dreams.

===============================

The servant would find Quacey simply sitting in a chair with his front facing out the window or the balcony towards the stars and moons. A book was in his hands and he was reading. It was in a language none here would know. A language of the ancient past long forgotten by the mortal realms.

It told tales from his youth. Heroes none recognized. Places beaten by wind, rain, or snow into dust or buried beneath the ground. Tales spoken and never put into written words until Quacey did so himself. Part of his training his mother had put him through as a child.

Idly he wondered if it had a purpose beyond preserving the past. Perhaps one of these mortal heroes had been his father. His mother never told him anything beyond that he was a mortal. But he could still see glimpses of the joy and sorrow the memories of him brought her. Memories she never shared even on her deathbed. Memories she held close even as she past on to the next life....

Miane

 

[Miane]

Mariyah was young, barely more than a girl, and the newest servant within Miane's family keep. As such, she was the one sent to do the last minute tasks that were added at the end of the day. Newest, though, was... merely a descriptor. She'd been working for the family for the last five years.

She'd had to finish her remaining chores before she could tend to the new guest, however, and this Master Quacey--an odd name, not at all like the names of the people around here, she thought--was seated in a chair with a book in his hands by the time she made her way up to him. There was not a true balcony, but just a platform just large enough to accommodate a pair of wide doors to open the room up for ventilation and light. It faced in toward the courtyard, but the moons were easily visible in the sky.

She'd rapped on the door, then entered with a tray in her arms. It held a bottle of wine, a pitcher of water, and a wooden cup.

"I am Mari," she introduced herself with a small curtsy, then set the tray on the table in the room. The wine and cup went directly to the table. "Cook has already retired for the night, but if you've need of supper, I can put something together for you."

The pitcher of water she carried to the washstand, and she opened a drawer and set out a couple of small towels. There was a small trunk next to the washstand, and she lifted the lid to retrieve the bedsheets and quickly made it up while waiting for his answer.

Quacey

 

[Quacey]

Of course Quacey was long aware of the servant's approach. He just didn't know who it would be entering until they did. A rather fitting description for how his domain shaped his life. There was always going to be someone in need of aid. He could always feel the tugs taking him to them. But it was never clear what he was getting into until he found them. This situation with the mortal woman Mia was a good example.

He would finish the tale he was reading as the young woman entered. A preserved leaf acted as his marker as he shut it. Without looking to her, there was no need given his unique perceptions, he spoke.

"Welcome Mari. When you are done pour yourself some wine and sit with me. I'd like to hear your opinion of your master, the mortal calling herself Mia."

His eyes were fixed upon the twins. They were there for every event in his life. They would see every moment of his life. They witnessed his birth and they would witness his inevitable death. Such was the reason for his lunar alignment. He was unsure how aware other fae were of the significance of their alignments. Perhaps they were. Perhaps they weren't. It didn't matter. All that did was his own awareness. To know why he had been chosen at birth by the twins, the earth, and light itself....

Miane

 

[Miane]

Mariyah hesitated a moment. Usually when someone asked her to stay, they wanted... the type of hospitality that Lady Miane did not offer to her guests. But Master Quacey had said to sit, not to find her way to the bed. There was not another cup for the wine, however, and she wouldn't have poured any for herself even if there had been.

So she sat.

"My opinion of my lady?" Mari murmured, her fingers nervously bunching in her skirt. "She is... kind. Generous. Sensitive. Prudent. Most of the people here in this keep would be homeless if she, and her family, had not taken them in. Given them work.

"Her family has been in this region far longer than the current ruling powers, but those who hold positions of power are zealots for their god. It is almost impossible to find work if you do not follow their faith. My lady is one of the few who has the land and wealth to thrive despite that, and she offers shelter and livelihood to those the state pushes away."

Mariyah scrutinized the tall, dark-haired man, getting the vague impression that there was far more to him than met the eye, and that she should be careful not to reveal too much, too carelessly.

"Why do you ask?"

Quacey

 

[Quacey]

The fae simply sat with his gaze ever upon the twins as he listened. The mortal girl spoke well of her master. Too well. There was always fault to be found in others. Even he had his faults. Even his mother had her own. The lack of them now was either a testament to how Mia's servants cared for her, their ignorance to her weaknesses, or their fear in speaking ill about her. No matter which, it was not helpful.

The puzzle of the mortal woman began to unravel a bit. The girl was lost because she was under siege. Not so from a literal sense, but rather from a cultural sense. This other mortal group that kept getting mentioned was cutting off their resources and letting them slowly starve. A harsh tactic yet one that was effective. The mortal woman didn't know how to handle it. Did her father not teach her before he past on? Did he even know how to handle it himself?

Mari asked him why. A rather complex question.

Quacey slowly turned his gaze to her. For a moment he just looked at her. Then he casually stood up and walked over to the door. He leaned against it.

"What would you do if I asked you to lay upon the bed?"

Then he waited for her response. There was a point to this. A bit of mischief as well, but mostly a point. This mortal known as Mari had hesitated earlier when he had asked her to sit. He could think of a reason why. A reason he hoped to take advantage of to indirectly get his point across. The mortal Mia was very straightforward. That was the way Mari would be use to dealing with problems. The solution to both Mari's question and Mia's problem was something being so straightforward would not work with.

So Quacey was going to be subtle and entertain himself with a bit of fae mischief as he took his time to answer the questions these mortals would have.

Miane

 

[Miane]

This... Master Quacey was an odd one, Mariyah decided as she spoke of Lady Miane, watching him. His gaze never wavered from the twin moons in the sky until she finished, and when he turned to scrutinize her, she couldn't decipher his expression.

She rose when he did, assuming he was ready to retire for the night, but then he blocked the doorway. Mariyah stiffened, her pulse fluttering frantically in her neck.

"What would you do if I asked you to lay upon the bed?"

If, Mariyah thought to herself, hiding a trembling, clenched fist beneath her apron. If. He has not asked or ordered me to do so. He said if.

"I would refuse," she whispered, voice quavering just slightly. "And ask that you let me leave the room."

If. She repeated the word in her thoughts again, forcing her mind to not wander back to a time in her life from before her life here, at the keep. It's a test. Nothing more.

If Quacey were to try and meet her gaze that moment, though, he would find her eyes to be blank, her face ashen.

Quacey

 

[Quacey]

The mischief seemed to have an unintended effect. Some trauma was remembered by the mortal Mari at his words and actions. Poor girl. She had Quacey's sympathy. He would offer her an apology after for he could not stop this act yet. He had committed to his course and must see it through or the lesson would have no value.

The fae just stood there stoic as the mountains and hills around the fort. His gaze was upon her and she would see no intent to harm or hurt her in them.

"Refusing my offer and trying to leave my companion would be insulting. It was an innocent request met with hostility. Am I disgusting to you? Am I not good enough of company? What foulness are you accusing me of attempting? I just asked if you would sit on the bed. What perversions came so naturally to your mind?"

Quacey moved a bit then. No longer was he leaning but standing up straight. His hands now rested on his hips ready to take on any sort of action. He took two steps towards her. His face was still as stoic as before.

"I should have your head...." Quacey said to her in a calm, methodical tone. "Unless there is something you can do to stay my blade...."

And he let that sit for a minute. He gave her time to think it over.

Then he dropped his hands from his hips and simply returned to his seat. After he sat down he said to her, "This is the situation your lady finds herself in with this religious order. I wish to help her learn how to not fall into their trap like you fell into mine. Mia is lost, although she may not truly realize how lost she is. I am simply her guide."

Then he remembered he forgot to say something.

"I wish to offer you my apology as well for any fright you might have felt before. If you need a favor of me ask. It will be granted. And if you wish to speak of why you became pale before then please sit and speak. I will listen."

And with that his gaze returned to the twins.

Miane

 

[Miane]

Mariyah flinched when Quacey spoke again. This was a ploy of some sort, some test, but she was not cunning enough to sort it out. Tears stung at her eyes with his words and she bit her tongue to keep from lashing out.

"You did not ask me to sit on the bed," she whispered, voice shaking. "You asked me to lay upon the bed, and the two are very different expectations in my experience."

When he pushed off of the door frame and stalked toward her, she flinched again, sucking in a breath as she stepped backward to maintain the distance between them.

"I should have your head...." Quacey said to her in a calm, methodical tone. "Unless there is something you can do to stay my blade...."

And he let that sit for a minute. He gave her time to think it over.

She'd... known men like this before. All fancy, sly words, convinced their way of doing things was the only way of doing them correctly, and her wit had never been enough. Nor her body.

"If you are determined to have my head, there is little I can do to stop it," she said at last.

Then he dropped his hands from his hips and simply returned to his seat. After he sat down he said to her, "This is the situation your lady finds herself in with this religious order. I wish to help her learn how to not fall into their trap like you fell into mine. Mia is lost, although she may not truly realize how lost she is. I am simply her guide."

Mari stayed where she was, head bowed and blinking back tears, as Quacey brushed past her to sit again.

"It is not a trap my lady struggles with," Mariyah murmured when she'd regained a little of her composure. "But rather a long and ancient siege in which she is outnumbered a thousand to one, if not more. Nearly all of her resources and knowledge has been exhausted."

She could only give a scoffing, broken laugh at his attempted apology. "A favor?" she murmured. "If you truly have aid and guidance for my lady, then speak it plainly to her. She is as wild and untamed as these mountains, and around here those who speak in riddles are only trying to deliberately confuse and take advantage of someone."

Mari turned and curtseyed then, and headed for the door. "I will beg your pardon now and leave," she said. "I have no desire to share my past with you. If you desire breakfast in the morning, the dining hall is on the floor below you, at the bottom of the stairs."

As she opened the door, she glanced back for just a moment.

"I will give you a word of advice," Mari said before she left. "I do not know where you are from, but here in this keep, there are no slaves. Everyone, from myself to my lady's steward and personal maid, are in her employ of our own free will. But more than that, we are all friends. Family. She protects us, and we protect her. If you lay a hand on me--or my lady, or any other person here--without consent, no matter who or what you are, you will not leave this place alive."

The door clicked quietly shut behind her.

---

As usual, Miane rose before dawn. Shila was there to help her dress and fix her hair, a pot of tea waiting at the vanity. A piece of folded paper sat beside it.

"Mari reported an incident last night," Shila spoke quietly as she braided Miane's hair, once a cup of tea had been fully consumed. "It's confusing, and it seems that your guest did not actually lay a hand on her, but it left Mari shaken enough to go to Payam."

Miane sighed, and picked up the paper. Mari couldn't read or write, so the steward had transcribed it. She sighed as she read it, trying to keep her blood from boiling.

"He's a boor," she mumbled, tossing the paper aside as she reiterated her observations from last night. "I will speak with Mari whenever she is available. Tell the guards to keep watch on any further interactions the two have for now."

"Yes, my lady," Shila said, pinning Miane's braid into a coil on the back of her head. "All done."

"Thank you, Shila."

Miane dismissed her then, and headed to the mews. The birds were tended to first, as always. Akea was freed from his perch, and she set a pan of meat before him. Then she tended to the others, both feeding them with her own hand, and overseeing her apprentices as they each performed their duties. Some guidance was needed, but she was pleased with how they were all coming along so far.

Akea had finished his breakfast by the time Miane was done tending to the other falcons, and she put on her glove and held out her wrist for him. He easily flew from his perch to her wrist, and she reached up to scratch the top of his head.

"Good morning, lovely," she cooed, placing him on her shoulder and smiling softly as he started to preen her hair.

She sighed as she exited the mews. The sun was up now. Time for breakfast.

Quacey

 

[Quacey]

The fae just sat quietly as the mortal girl broke down. His bit of mischief had gone farther beyond the line than the difference in how far a man and a siege weapon could each throw stones. So he let her be. More words would no doubt just make things worse with her. Emotions were powerful and easily conquer the meaning of any word or action.

Instead of sleeping, as his requirements and those of mortals was different, Quacey turned himself into a massive eclipse of small moths and scattered himself around the fort. He observed everything. What was done. What was said. What was missing. It was unlikely anything of importance would come to pass, but there was a chance something may occur. Perhaps even discover any hidden enemies the straight forward lady of the fort was unable to see herself.

=========================

Morning was upon the fae sooner than expected. With the morning came the observation of the meeting between Mia and another mortal called Shila. They spoke. He was declared a boor. Then the individuals departed about their next tasks.

As expected, the lady of the fort went straight to her birds. She would be about that for a time, so Quacey decided it was time to reform into his other state. All the tiny moths began to fly and gathered together outside of the mews. When Mia exited she would be greeted by not just the sun but also a mountain of a fae. One that now had a dark cloth wrapped around his eyes.

"A pleasant morn to you Mia." Quacey said then gave a slight bow. "I wish to discuss some matters with you if you have the time."

A brief pause as he seemed to be about to turn to let her go on her way. But he stopped and redirected his attention to her.

"Also could you please convey to Mari the value of my favor. I do not think she understands how fortunate of a gift it is to have. She was very flustered and I wish to make amends."

And then with that done he moved himself to the side of the walkway so that Mia could continue about her morning without having to ask him to get out of her way. He intended to follow along behind her everywhere she went.

Miane

 

[Miane]

Miane scowled, her steps barely faltering as Quacey appeared before her, though her brow furrowed in confusion at the band of cloth wrapped around his eyes. Then he stepped directly into her path, and she barely hid an exasperated sigh, pausing as he spoke.

"If you truly wished me a pleasant morn," she murmured as she resumed her steps, gesturing that he could fall in step beside her if he wished to have a conversation, "then you would not have tormented one of my girls last night so that it was the first thing I heard this morning."

She pivoted a few steps later, descending down a staircase that led to the courtyard below. Normally she fetched breakfast for herself and took it to Payam's office to confer with the elderly steward on the day's required tasks, but it seemed today she would have to save that for after breakfast. With her... guest.

"As for Mari," she spoke again after several moments of silence. "I cannot vouch for something I do not know the value of myself. Besides, if you did something to upset her and apologized, it only makes it seem insincere if you ask for one who outranks her to approach her on your behalf, insisting that she accept your gift."

They reached the bottom of the stairs then, she stopped and looked up at him, though she had to greatly overextend her neck to do so.

"So which is it, this favor of yours? A gift that you are offended she took no note of, or an apology for an offense you committed against her? It cannot be both."

She did not wait for his answer, but turned again and gestured toward the main part of the manor-keep.

"You are welcome to join me to break your fast," she said, continuing on her way.

Quacey

 

[Quacey]

The murmured words were heard but ignored. He just followed along behind her as she continued on her way. Mortals were such strange creatures. She complained and exaggerated the conversation he had with the mortal Mari. If he was tormenting her then she would locked herself in her room and refused to leave. The guards did worse to serving girls than he did. His was a momentary act that involved no danger or touch. Mortals so rarely knew what true torment was.

The words that came in response to his request caught his attention. Seemed she misunderstood or did not wish to understand what he had asked. Then she tried to berate him and imply the situation was black and white. This mortal Mia seemed to avoid looking at how gray things were. Perhaps part of the reason for her current problems?

Quacey looked down at Mia and watched as she turned away immediately. Was she trying to make her position clear? The position she did not grasp that she was in?

The fae just began to follow her once again.

"Your view is narrow. The gift I gave to Mari can not be refused. It simply can just go unused. If the gift goes unused then it means I didn't give her the right gift. An apology without the right gift is hollow and disingenuous. And my concern is that she does not understand its value and so will never use it when she needs it most. The reason I asked you to convey its value is not because you outrank her but because she trusts you."

Quacey paused a moment. His gaze was directed down towards Mia's head.

"Is that the only way you can view those around you? Where their place happens to land in society? Can things not exist in more than a single state at once in your mind? I pity those who view you as more than just their ruler if that is so."

Miane

 

[Miane]

First thing in the morning and this Quacey was already wearing on her nerves. Miane sighed and reached up to rub her forehead. Akea puffed his feathers at Quacey and started hissing and clicking his beak.

"Shhh, Akea," Miane whispered, her hand shifting over to softly stroke his breast-feathers.

"Your view is narrow. The gift I gave to Mari can not be refused. It simply can just go unused. If the gift goes unused then it means I didn't give her the right gift. An apology without the right gift is hollow and disingenuous. And my concern is that she does not understand its value and so will never use it when she needs it most. The reason I asked you to convey its value is not because you outrank her but because she trusts you."

"If Mari wishes to leave this gift unused," Miane reiterated, "it is her right to do so. If your apology was insincere, then it sounds like that is your issue to deal with, not mine. I will not abuse her trust of me to convince her that someone I do not know is sincere, because I have no way of truly knowing your sincerity. All you've done so far is show off your moths and talk cryptically. There is nothing you've done to prove the worth of your favor or gifts."

When he glared down at her, though, and continued his scolding, Miane began to wish that she'd let Akea rip the arrogant bastard's face off.

"Is that the only way you can view those around you? Where their place happens to land in society? Can things not exist in more than a single state at once in your mind? I pity those who view you as more than just their ruler if that is so."

She didn't want to stop and think about why his words made her so angry.

"It's not about where their place in society might be," she said softly, pushing her anger away for the time being. She didn't have the extra effort to expend on it right now. "And most of those here I call dear friends, and many of those are like family to me. But in the end, I am still the one they take orders from. The one who provides for them. I have too much power to make any other sort of relationship with any of them one of equal footing."

There were not many who were near her age anyway, most being either several years younger or at least a decade older than herself. And many of those had families of their own already.

There had not been many who'd expressed an interest in her over the years, and after the last one... well, that was something best not thought about.

A sharp pain stabbed through her temple, and she reached up to rub at it.

"I need breakfast," Miane said to Quacey, resuming her march towards the dining hall. "Are you joining me, or can I eat in peace?"

Quacey