Private Tales Only For A Day

[Lyta]

Lyta grimaced at the mention of the Carvyre family.

She had heard Lale was back in the city and taking up where her father had left up in sewing the seeds of discontent. Odhran had been a blunt tool, her father had always said, whilst his daughter was a knife. What Lale could do then if Odhran had managed to raised a mob? Her immediate concerns for the city did not even touch upon the greater more personal feelings she had towards the Carvyre family. Just last week her brother had returned bloody from a dual in the streets. The streets!

"She looks at it all wrong. The Vanguard do not serve the Guardians; they never have. We all serve the city. Are not two better than one then to protect our most sacred possessions?" she was half talking to herself with her eyes fixed on some point on the whitening horizon. A frown creased her brows making her look strange for usually Lyta wore the perfect serene mask of a noble lady.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko gestured his hadn towards Lyta, seconding her opinion but letting her finish speaking.

"The Stones are a taxing presence, at least from what I have learned of Kaira's affinity with Faith. She is a capable fighter, a Guardian and Vanguardian through and through, but if the Stone demands her, she is stuck in a trance. She cannot defend herself or that Stone in such a state... and you with your Stone." Mikko turned his thoughts back on that first day of training.

Lyta had explained the physical tax her Stone had on her person, and Mikko likened her to his mother. She too grew weary each passing year, but there was a different strength in her. "Even if you were more skilled with a quarterstaff than I am, you cannot stop someone from taking your Stone if you're asleep."

"Carvyre... they are a bitter family. Shame what happened to the youngest member years ago. My father used to say that those born with a good soul cannot stay long in that family."

 

[Lyta]

Lyta gave a feminine snort.

"I would hardly call myself better than you with a quarterstaff, Ser Cendrillon," she was not as awful as she had imagined, true, but from what she had seen of his fighting style and what Brom had told her after her innocent probing, he could have laid her out on her back several times if he had truly wished it. She rolled her shoulders at the uncomfortable thought, especially when coupled with Mikko's next point about their defencelessness. The Lady sat in silence as they rode after her companion's last comments, her brows drawn into a thoughtful frown. Her family of course had shed no tears for the loss of a Carvyre even in such a horrible manner. It was one less person, in their mind, they would have to worry about later on. With nothing nice to say Lyta chose to pass no comment at all, as her grandmother had once taught her.

"I suppose it would be prudent of me to enlighten you about the Dream stone as we will be travelling together for at least a week," the snow continued to fall about them and softened the noise they made. From her voice to the crunch of their hooves the world felt hushed to her ears. "What do you know currently?"

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

"Of the Dream Stone?" Mikko had to think about that, making sure to at least know something and sound capable of knowing what there was to the Stones. But alas, even he could not tell much about the Stone of Faith, one he should be aware of being assigned to it's Guardian.

"No clue, sorry. I imagine you can enter dreams? Interpret them?" He winced, not meaning to define her Stone like some gypsy claiming they could see fortunes. "Enlighten me, please, Lyta." He aimed a small smile at her, the kind that unbeknownst to him made several girls smile wider back. Mikko believed he was merely being friendly like he would to anyone.

"I want to be able to outwit Brom with the knowledge you will impart with me."

 

[Lyta]

Lyta laughed though not unkindly. It was almost weary, as though it were the answer she heard all the time. She had heard many stories of children praying that she might enter their dreams and bless them with a fantastical nights sleep, but whilst it was true she could sleep into a persons dream, it was a common misconception it was the only thing she could do.

"I can enter a persons dream, yes. That was perhaps the first thing I learnt when I inherited the stone. The key to understanding the Dream rune however, it to understand a plane of existence called the Dreamscape. It is where I go when I am using the stone. It's very similar to this world in a way, and so vastly different it cannot be put into words. From there I can slip into people's dreams, their nightmares, I can create or remove a dream or nightmare. I can sense problems in the world by how the Dreamscape appears and alters - which is how I knew this village was suffering under something.

And then there is the impact the rune can have on the real world. Dreams and Nightmares alike can be made flesh and walk the Earth. Sometimes they materialise on their own when a powerful emotion is involved, other time's one might seek a way out through the rune itself in a moment where it is weak."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko smiled at her laugh.

It was not common for anyone in the Vanguard to truly understand the inner workings of a Stone, unless they were appointed to a Guardian... that was not Yehven. Was it nor---

Of course it was normal for an Appointed to know a Stone and their Guardian.

But Mikko did not let his lack of knowledge deter him from listening intently as Lyta explained the Dream Stone, and that it did not stop at the Dreamscape.

"When you say Dream and Nightmare can be made of flesh... is that a manifestation by you? Or something that leaks out from the Dreamscape?"

 

[Lyta]

Lyta gave him a sad smile.

"Both." For every good the rune gave the world with something born from a dream, it gave them a thing of nightmares to test them. "That is what the majority of our missions are. Hunting the things which escape the Dreamscape into the real world," it no doubt also explained why she did not see the discontent in Brom as she did in Mikko. Brom fought for the world near every single day. He was far more than a guard.

"Creating and controlling them myself is a lot harder, but it is something I have practised over the years. It may not be as impressive as the Fire or Power stone, but it has kept me safe from the main threats upon my life. At least... until Dorian was murdered," her face crumpled with grief and she turned her face back to the skies to blink back tears. "I cannot fight both Dreams and Men. It is why Lale's stance is so dangerous. I do not think I could carry out my work without the Vanguard."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

"That is what the majority of our missions are. Hunting the things which escape the Dreamscape into the real world,"

This intrigued Mikko. He rarely got to encounter any magic users, or even creatures conjured by their doing.

Mikko straightened his back as they made it past the outer boundary of Valenntenia, now on the open road to where Kuruk lead them. "If Lale somehow gets her way, I will leave my post. I am sure Brom would do the same for you, Lady Lyta."

It had not been long but already Carvyre had mustered enough of a backing that she was becoming a problem. Walking the barracks and going on patrol, he could not escape the mentions of Lale and what she promises for them.

Worst of all, his cousin seemed to be the hardest driving force behind Lale.

"Silvestre, my cousin... He's been bitter since the Somners cut down numbers for patrol in these outposts out here. Himself and majority of those backing Lale, have had to work three days on end to make proper coverage of patrol. One day, they did not have enough to watch the roads, and a large convoy of goods was attacked. They were blamed for negligence." Mikko understood every reason they spoke up, but he only wished they did not have to put life back into the name Carvyre.

 

[Lyta]

Tiredness which had nothing to do with the rune for once weighed down her smile.

"Brom has already made such a threat, several times. To my grandmother and my mother," though he had yet to do the same to her. Of course, Lale had only just recently returned to stir up problems. She had no doubt the old soldier would soon be threatening to go back on the Carvyre manor door and hurl the girl out into the streets by the hair to make an example of her. Lyta worried it would not just be a threat this time. He had suffered the family drama longer than she and she was already tired of the constant back and forth.

She listened thoughtfully to the snippets of insight Mikko gave on the Guards thinking. It worried her that even a cousin of his could already be baking Lale but she tried not to let it show. Guardians were meant to reassure the people, which included those like Mikko. Strange considering he was a few years older than she.

"I will speak to my grandmother and mother in the Dreamscape, perhaps they have some wisdom to offer from the last time the Carvyre's raised their heads. It will be well, Mikko. She will not win."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mik tried not to balk at the idea of her conversing with her family in the Dreamscape. After witnessing the trances Kaira fell into while in prayer, he knew there was more to the Stones he would deem mysterious.

"Your family and the Carvyres... they never got on, did they? Before the riots, I had to detain Graham Carvyre after he got into a scuffle with your brother." And got a nasty blow to his face. The black eye made many in the barracks wince.

But he knew their feud went beyond her brother and the cousins of Lale. Hundreds of years in Valenntenia had been written the bad blood between the ancient houses. "I wonder some days, if we should go back to the peace treaty the Ancient Houses signed centuries ago. I know the Somners hold court now, but... I think we need an additional council to keep the likes of the Carvyres in check."

 

[Lyta]

Lyta grimaced again, a sure sign how little she liked this line of conversation.

"No, not for several generations now. Did you know we are related? Distantly now, but... it was one of my great aunts who married into the Carvyres family and from whom the current generation are directly related to," back then the two families had been close and involved in the same business. It had made sense to deepen their connections with a marriage.

"She was the elder, but the Somners chose my great grandmother as a Guardian for the Dreamstone instead of her. A steady rivalry grew during their lifetimes and their children took up the torch," in some cases quite literally. There had been a great fire some decades ago that her family still did not speak of. Lyta was convinced it had been a deliberate attack on the Carvyre's competing business. If they had not, would the family still be simple cloth merchants? Would they have turned their attentions to the Vanguard still?

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko set his jaw tight, nodding along to Lyta's words and exhaled heavily by the end. It was a heavy part of Valenntenian history, and most feuds had ended other Houses... but the roots ran deep with the Drommers and Carvyres. Hells, even at one point in history the Cendrillons were at odds with the Yehvens!

"Enough of the ill thoughts! Let's talk about whether or not you have kept up with your quarter staff training. Was Brom impressed by what I taught you?" Mikko flashed her a grin.

 

[Lyta]

Lyta shot him a grateful, tight smile, which eased into something more beautiful at the mention of the quarterstaff lessons. Her peels of laughter sounded like the dainty bells the cityfolk tied to their sleighs during yuletide.

"He said you were too soft on me," though she had been able to tell by his expression that he would have preferred for him to have been even softer. To his mind a Guardian should not need to defend herself; what was what the Vanguard were for. "We have been going over how I can adapt some of the more advanced moves when my body deteriorates," on seeing the flash of concern on his face she explained. "When I wear the Dream rune, it takes its price as all magic does. For this rune the price is a person's physical strength. As these days draw on the more I wear and use it, the less able to do things like swing a staff I will be."

She glanced up the snowy road, searching for the marker her and Brom had inset into a tree many moons ago to indicate their preferred camping spot.

"He said I need to learn moves which require the least energy with the most impact. Yet they somehow seem to be the trickiest to learn."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Oh, Ancients and Saints... his heart skipped a beat hearing that laugh. It was an unusual thought, but he wouldn't deny Lyta held a certain grace and beauty...

Mik remembered Lyta explaining her Rune the day she attended training with him and his friend, and that day he had been soft on her. His own mother was not at full strength most days, and he was mindful not to work Lyta too hard that day. "Well, Brom was right. I didn't want to make you so sore you could barely move. Also, you were an accidental weapon that day. Remember you got me right in the gut."

He grinned at her. "If we find a large enough stick, I would be happy to show you these more advanced moves."

 

[Lyta]

"There will be no need for sticks," pride made Lyta sit up a little straighter in her saddle. She reached down and patted the leather holster that hung from the elks saddle. At a first glance one might mistake it for a waterskin carrier or another saddle bag, though it was too long and narrow to be of much use to a traveller. She undid the flap and then removed a solid wooden pole with a good inch of gold on either end. In this state it was as long as her forearm but with a small twist the golden plated ends shot outwards, adding a good two feet to either end.

The elk flicked his ears and huffed.

"My brother got it for me. I think it was meant to be a joke but I rather like it," with a fond smile she twisted it in the opposite way which made the ends close once more. "I should... probably learn to use it from elk back too, I suppose," she had not considered the possibility she might be set upon whilst riding. Lyta gave a sigh.

"Do you ever feel like you will learn all you need to in your profession?"

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko appraised the wooden weapon with a low whistle and a grin that appeared as she demonstrated it's lengthening. When mastered, he was sure Lyta would be a surprising opponent. "If you are a strong rider on an elk, you will have an easier time to wield from his back."

But then he had to twist his face as he considered her question. "I think about that quite a lot when I see myself in comparison to my brother, he is the younger twin but he couldn't be any more different to me. There are similarities, yes... but he is a conversationalist, a better debater, and I am a better tracker than he is. I often wonder what it is the Ancients thought when deciding what our strengths would be."

He peered at Lyta, looking down at the pole still in her hand. "I believe in learning from as many people as you could. There are so many ways to learn, and the teaching methods of more than one can be advantageous. I was brought up to fight with brute force, and Kaira grew up learning to be quick and definitive in her strikes. She won, you know, our first scrap fight when she was only a recruit. You should look to the other Guardians and see what it is you can glean from them." It took a while to figure out how effective Kaira's knowledge was with her choice of weapons, and Mikko adapted his movement to counter such efforts. He did the same when sparring with his brothers, his father. The other Vanguard brothers and sisters he fought alongside.

Lyta was not alone. She had her people she could learn from too.

 

[Lyta]

Lyta carefully put the staff away back in its unassuming holder and then brought the elk to a stop. They had veered off the main path through a corpse of trees which widened into a clearing big enough for a small camp. From the road they would be invisible and provide them with a little security. The snow would make them stand out more if someone looked hard but she hoped the weather would deter some criminals at least. She swung her leg over the saddle then dropped down with a soft crunch when her boots hit the first settled layer of snow.

"It is good advice. I never really thought to ask the other Guardians: some of them I would never be able to bring myself to hit, and others are sworn to their own code of pacificism. Then there is the issue of if our stones are in close proximity for too long..." she pressed her lips into a thin line. Perhaps she could ask Keira. The Dream stone did not seem repelled by the faith stone as violently as it was the Blood or Disease stone. Taking out the largest roll of cloth attached to the saddle she took it over to the space they always pitched it beneath the trees.

"There is another for you there too," she nodded to the other large roll.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko followed Kuruk's lead, and made a noise of surprise as the clearing opened up. Indeed, a good spot to set up camp for the night.

He grabbed the other roll and began setting it up with ease, and then moved onto unpacking his gear to cook meals with. He had packed rice and some herbs, probably needing to set a trap for some game if Lyta wanted some to accompany the plain meal Mikko had planned. He wasn't much attuned to his culinary side, but had watched his mother enough times to know how to do rice properly.

"There is still some daylight left. If I am understanding where we are, we are south-west of the Ancients' Dwell." A monumental thoroughfare leading up to a place of worship of the Ancients' first Guardians. The descendants the blood of Old Valenntenia hailed from. He had been there once, the week after his mother's father had passed. He was a Somner, Guardian of Light two terms before the current. Being too young to understand death, he had played along the river that snaked through the land.

"Ever been? I did as a boy. Old tradition on my mother's side of the family, we bury a treasure of the departed, their chosen gift to the First Guardians. It is supposed to give payment of our journey to being among the Ancients." And there had always been sixteen statutes littering and showing the lengthy journey to Ancients' Dwell. Depictions of the First. "Not many Valenntenians visit, but... I remember it being eerie."

 

[Lyta]

"Not... in the flesh," Lyta straightened from where she had been finishing setting up her lean-to tent and looked in the direction of the Dwell. In the Dreamscape it was ironically one of the few spots where there was life. Usually people only briefly touched the Dreamscape with their minds enough to visibly appear there. The dead, however... They found it easier to find their way to the Dreamscape. She tended to stay away from it if she could.

Repressing a shudder she stepped back over to Kuruk and set about untacking him.

"It is a place you should stay away from when people Dream, Ser Cendrillon. The Dreaming World presses upon our one the most in those moments and it is not just the living who Dream," she set the saddle under her tents awning to keep it dry should it rain or snow further, then brushed out the elks thick coat.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko raised a brow. "That is a harrowing thought..." He grimaced.

He saw it once, and that had been enough in his lifetime, but he knew sometime soon it would be his mother that would ask her gift to be left at the altar to the Ancient's and their first Guardians. "The Dreamscape... can you appear in the dreams of others? If a child has a nightmare, can you soothe their mind?" He was curious again. The Stone of Dreams was an interesting and mysterious power to wield, but he could see how it could benefit. They were on the beginning of their journey to people that needed that tranquility Lyta had worked with, that ease of mind she could provide.

Lale had it all wrong. Was it bad for him to think he wished Carvyre to suffer and only Lyta could help her, prove to her any Stone was worth it?

 

[Lyta]

Once she was content Kuruk was seen to and her tent sorted, she turned to the task of making a small fire. She rummaged in her pack for her flint and stone then set about gathering some of the fallen branches. The wood was damp from the snow but it would have to do if they wanted to feel a bit of warmth tonight.

"Of course. It is one of the first things the rune bade me to do," Lyta smiled at the memory as she wandered back to the midst of their camp and knelt down to build a small pyre. She brushed her blonde hair back from her face to keep it from getting in the way. "Soothing the dreams of those near me happens now without really any conscious fault. It is like absently brushing a fleck of dirt from your shirt, or smoothing out a crease. The servants in my manor are always pleased when I return because of it."

Pyre built, with flint and stone she set it alight after a few attempts. Once it was crackling she looked up at him, her eyes crinkling at the corners with her smile.

"You have no need to fear of bad dreams on this trip. Whatever ghouls are nearby."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko's lips crooked upwards softly, turning away from her face that lit up with a smile. Lyta had to be one of the most striking people he had met, and yet she carried herself differently from other nobles. He stared into the growing campfire, mulling over another thought.

"So... there is a chance you will see my dreams tonight? My sister insists we are always dreaming, even if we do not remember. Can I tell her it is not true or can I pretend that it isn't true to spite her?" He quirked a brow, now looking back up to see her.

"She is fifteen. The youngest. Jasmine is a pretty big fan of you, actually. When she was twelve, she saw you at the Old Town markets and you complimented the ribbons in her hair. She wore them in her hair for weeks, but you had already left Valenntenia." And it was up to Mikko and Malik to shower her with compliments, but by the end of the second week, they came out flat and unoriginal.

 

[Lyta]

Lyta had the grace to blush at the compliment and she settled back against a rock as the fire began to grow.

"I am fortunate that my rune brings with it joy, many of my fellow Guardians are not so lucky," her smile turned a touch sad as she thought of those like Ingrid and Konstantin. Every rune was a burden but some more so than others. She doubted either of them had many fans as Mikko had so put it. Still, she would be lying to herself if she did not admit the thought of having her own fanbase did not warm her. Of course, that would likely only put her more at odds with the likes of Lale.

"Your sister is correct, however. Every person Dreams, though some do so more strongly than others. I find it is the young who Dream the strongest - like your sister," her lips lifted and some of the shadows that had descended when speaking of her fellow Guardians vanished. "If you would prefer your Dreams to remain your own, I will attempt not intrude. It is... not always my choice. But it should be a place we all feel safe."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko raised a brow, thinking, before a small smile curved his mouth. "Well, I think I would sleep easier knowing you are there to be my guard." He chuckled.

It cannot be helped, like Kaira could not have helped collapsing with exhaustion after being surrounded by people. It was important to him that he did not get in the way of the Guardians, that he ought to adapt on how to work with them.

"I like this arrangement." He grinned, leaning forward to the fire to warm his hands. "I can keep you safe while we are awake, and you can keep us same while we sleep."

Mikko only hoped his light sleeping did not get in the way of seeing Lyta in his dreams...

Lyta

 

[Lyta]

Lyta laughed as she began to carefully unpack one of the packages of food she had brought; the fresher produce that would need to be eaten earlier on in their journey to avoid it being wasted.

"I... like that thought. It does not make me appear as quite so... trivial," she passed him the opened package which held an assortment of soft cheeses, cured meats and freshly baked bread. There was even a small slice of fruit cake for sweet. Lyta tended to her own parcel of food once he accepted his. It was a far cry from the more elegant afternoon tea they had shared earlier that day and an even further cry from the image Lyta gave off, but she ate the simple meal with the same enjoyment as she had the pretty cakes more befitting a Lady of her rank.

"You mentioned your sister... but you have a twin, too do you not?" she asked curiously in between petite bites. "That must be a very interesting bond. When Brom mentioned he had asked you to stand in I half expected you both to appear."