Private Tales Scorched Earth

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn pulled up a bench. There were two small ones on either side of a wooden table in the centre of the open space. He pointed towards the opposite one for Fife to sit opposite him.

"I'll take...that one," said Raigryn, pointing to the room to the right of the entrance. It was the easiest one to point to being ahead of him. They both seemed about the same size.

"Oh actually, the other one. You're small and that will catch the morning sun if you get cold at night.

"Anyway, I assume you have questions?" he asked. Sitting down, he felt, was a way of showing that he had the patience to let her express herself.

He was still coming to terms with having to see her in a new light, especially how suddenly he had found out. Raigryn had always tried to give Fife what she hadn't had before: a voice. He listened and didn't judge her. It slightly hurt that she had kept this from him, but everyone needed secret. There were reasons. Reasons that had become all too apparent when he had been forced to draw from her own fears too suddenly. Never in his life had he felt so powerless, felt such a painful intrusion that could be be stopped.

"You can grab the paper if you want to practise your writing," he offered.

 

[Fife]

He decided, but then quickly changed his mind again, giving her the east room that would be warmer in the mornings. It was a nice consideration -- one of many. Fife, who was always cold, appreciated the thought. She nodded and was going to pick up her bags again until he sat down. A man of action, sitting down was a specific choice. Whether more for her sake, as he would have to wait while she wrote, or to give himself more time to stall the bath he'd complained about, he was waiting and Fife wasn't going to waste an opportunity.

She got her graphite and a piece of paper from her things as per his suggestion and brought them to the table. Questions. What questions did she have? A lot, but what ones did she want to ask?

Chewing on her lip, she stared at the paper for a while as she thought of what she wanted, then began writing. It took her a while to write so little. She was slow, but some lessons with Belduhr had helped a lot. Spelling was hard, but Raigryn hadn't ever made fun of her scratched attempts.

When she sat back, she set down her pencil and turned the page toward him.

HOW DO YU NO IDEMNY
​

She had tried to write a little smaller than usual so she didn't waste as much space. It was expensive, after all, and they were in a very remote place now. Until she learned a reliable sign, she would be more mindful of how she used her paper.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Right...so..." Raigryn muttered as he looked at the paper. He looked up at Fife from below his grey and white brows. There was a brief pause as he evaluated his initial position of turning this into a lesson.

"We'll worry about spelling another time," he said, with a wave of his hand. If he spent the time correcting her then it wasn't going to make of this time what he wanted. That was a frank and open exchange. One he was ready to ruin by keeping the truth from her.

"I was in the region over a decade ago. There were several Idemni settlements back then. You see they hire themselves out as mercenaries. Very effective ones. They chose the wrong side of a war and those who lost great numbers to Idemni skirmishers took it out on them personally. I helped them resettle here."

 

[Fife]

At the mention of spelling errors, she looked down at the page, feeling a little chagrined. Nothing was simple when it came to words and spelling. Withholding her sigh of frustration, she listened instead.

Fife watched his face as he spoke, hands folded her in her lap and lower lip worked between her teeth. She glanced down at the page again.

Raigryn had helped the Idemni settle here. It sounded like one of the pet projects he would like. It certainly explained his evident rapport with their bathing customs and the first-name basis to a woman of some standing. It was a succinct answer, but most of his explanations were.

Nodding, Fife started to flash him a small grin, then thought better of it. She touched her fingertips to her lips, then picked up the graphite again. It was something she could have easily asked through gestures, but she was supposed to be working on writing -- no matter how bad her spelling was.

DO I HAF TO BE SERYUS EVRYWERE ?​

She knew there was going to be spelling errors in that if she hadn't gotten the first attempt right. When she turned it around, she leaned forward on her elbows, arms folded and eyes fixed on Raigryn as he read. Fife was visibly biting her lip. She was sure she could keep a straight face out in public, but all the time? Even here? It would be harder than learning swordplay.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"No, no you don't," Raigryn chuckled. "You do have to take your training seriously though. They will expect discipline and focus, but I have always thought you were a marvellous student."

Raigryn turned the paper back towards Fife. As she had suspected he was also trying to put off the bathing. They were rather fixated on the matter, believing nonsense such as better health through washing. You were expected to help scrub each other with pommice stones. Flowery soap was something Raigryn was certain was for foppish nobles only.

"If you ever see an indemni covering their mouth they're likely trying to stifle a laugh. They think outward displays of emotion are quite crass, but we will always be barbarians to them," he said with a shrug.

 

[Fife]

Thank the gods she didn't have to save face everywhere. Fife nodded, letting a small smile come back onto her features. It grew a little with pride when he remarked that she was a good student. She liked to think she was, too, but it was nice to hear him confirm it.

Which brought her to her next question. Tongue sticking out as she focused on the letters, she wrote for a while longer than previously.

IS IT SAFE TO PRAK PRACTIS EMPATHY HERE ?​

Fife turned the paper back around for him. It had been a while since he had taught her anything new. She was getting better at Avarice, slowly but surely. Small, crappy shields were still something made from nothing. The other Aspects were daunting, though now it wasn't like teaching them to a child.

A tinge of guilt welled up at that thought. Raigryn didn't seem over it yet and, honestly, could she blame him? Not at all. His lad wasn't a lad in any regard. His lad still didn't have the means to apologize and explain herself.

In time. Unlike last time, though, she was going to. She owed him that. They were still here and he was calling in favors in spite of deceiving him.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn reached for the stick and couldn't help but add an 'e' to complete the sentence. He could not help himself when it was nearly perfect.

"No one cares about empathy here. But don't over use your aspects when learning the sword. They will consider that cheating, to an extent.

"Rather liberating in some regards. Obviously don't draw so deeply you might unbalance someone."

He grinned and tapped the table twice.

"In fact Aretta might bring us some Idemni who feel...unbalanced and want to be levelled out. Too much anger or desire ot jealousy. It was like that in the old days you know. People who wanted to be mellowed out would come to us. Can you even imagine that?"

 

[Fife]

Watching him take the pencil gave her a slight sense of dread... but he only added one letter. She'd been so close! Fife smiled, nodding along as usual when he spoke to acknowledge him. She had only used her Aspects when missing with her crossbow might have meant harm. If she was going to learn a martial skill, she wanted to learn it.

Thinking about being actively invited to balance the emotions of others, Fife shrugged. She felt a little guilty taking Tranquility and Joy from people, and couldn't quite fathom taking something like Charity. It could be nice, and even she could find the benefit of an Empath among Idemni. Having someone to scrape off excess feelings from the top in a culture that valued outward suppression and internal control of those feelings? It benefitted them as much as Raigryn and Fife. Taking Avarice from others might make her use of that Aspect stronger, even -- she wasn't really the jealous type, coveting little.

She took the pencil and paper back and wrote again.

DO YU MISS IT ?​

It felt like a pointless question, answered well enough by context clues, but how many pointless questions had she had the capability of asking? While it was a simple thing, it was one gestures and hands couldn't quite capture. Raigryn talked at her a lot, but she didn't often get moments like this to really engage back.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Yes. And no," he replied. Leaned over the table, curling his left hand into his right. This question was far more complicated than it might have seemed.

"It was nice to have respect. Especially when I was younger I adored feeling important.

"It came with responsibility too. I couldn't go where I pleased. When a king speaks their word is final. It doesn't matter whether you agree or not."

Raigryn's face was full of regret for a few seconds and he let some of that bleed through. After a few moments he tried a smile.

"Still, no one magically restrained me. Did you see Phillipa at the masquerade? Her mother had a magical anklet to keep her restricted to the college!"

 

[Fife]

Hearing Raigryn talk about himself was strange. Fife listened, as she always did, with her face relatively blank. The information filled in some of the blanks, but none of it came as a surprise. Except, maybe, that he had once liked feeling important. Raigryn was a fairly humble man now, but she could see it.

Imagining him youger was stranger than hearing him talk about his past. Her attention shifted from his brown eyes to his hair. What color had it been? There were still some dark patches. Black or brown, maybe? It was hard to picture. She was so accustomed to the silvery white.

Fife could feel the regret when he spoke, whether intentionally let or not. To her, Misery seemed purple, heavy like a fog that hung about a person and choked out the sunlight that was joy. It wasn't visible, obviously, but she sensed it just the same. Perceiving him at all was rare, unlike her frequent leaks and spillover emotions.

What was it that had sparked that regret in particular? Fife didn't dare ask; there were things she knew better than to prod into. If he wanted to tell her, he could, but Raigryn seemed incredibly private.

His rebound between moods wasn't the most graceful she'd seen him do. She would permit it, placing her curiosity back in its box. Looking slightly alarmed, Fife shook her head. Magical ankles that restrained her? She gave an emphatic shudder at the notion, and waved her hands in the typical no thank you sign.

That brought up several questions she had never asked about Empaths, but Fife sat up and put them away for later. They had wasted enough time. She was not eager to find out what Aretta would do if she came back and found them still sitting on their bums -- unwashed.

Glancing at the door, she looked at Raigryn and whistled the names of Dusty and Socks, then made a brushing motion against her opposite shoulder. He had been right. She would feel more settled seeing them put away herself.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Yes, even for the college I thought it was extreme," Raigryn said with a shake of his head. He had not seen such measures taken by a member of the faculty in his time there and it was all the more shocking for being applied to a family member.

"I tell you what, I'll walk down to the stables with you. Then I'll go and get my mandatory scrubbing."

Raigryn pushed up from the small table. He reached that small mental milestone of realising that they would be here for weeks now. The small bench would be for breakfast, writing lessons and perhaps just quiet one sided conversation in the evenings.

"Take a knife on your belt at least. It's almost unseemly to be without a blade here."

 

[Fife]

Without much ceremony, Fife turned on her seat and hopped up. She tucked away the paper and graphite and was ready to go when he mentioned a knife.

She looked down at her boot pointedly, gave it a little wiggle and looked dubious for a moment. The boot knife was too small to really fit well in her belt, so she got the other from her bag. Smiling and stepping lightly to the door -- or, rather, flap -- she ducked outside.

Cautious eyes swept the area before she went to see Dusty and Socks. The mute was smiling affectionately as she untied her pony and hissed in silent laughter as he pushed his head against her. Bossy little thing, demanding snacks or scratches. Fife rubbed his great big head and led him away from the rail to wait for Raigryn to show the way.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

At times he would think on what would have happened if Fife had robbed someone else. There were so many moments in his actions had changed so many lives. On that day he had changed the course of just one. You did not see many older people homeless on the streets of the big cities begging. They either died young or got drawn into a life of crime. He didn't care to imagine either route for Fife.

Fife looked so carefree when she was taking care of her pony. In those moments she looked the furthest removed from that world.

She probably needs some more company that isn't just a pony...and me, he thought to himself.

A cool breeze was climbing over the natural walls and introducing itself to the idemni. That was going to make the bathing all the more unpleasant.

He led them towards the stables. So little grass grew here. It was pale and coarse. There were shrubs and the idemni grew vegetables but few trees and almost no fruit. Raigryn could feel eyes on them all the way to the stables.

Word travelled fast through the small community as the stable master greeted him by name. Raigryn couldn't recall meeting him the last time that he came this way.

"You'll be safe here," Raigryn said. "And I mean all of here. I'll meet you back at the tent later?"

 

[Fife]

Schooling the smile from her face, she scratched Socks and led him after Raigryn and Dusty. She was not ignorant of the looks they garnered. More than once her gaze caught another before Fife quickly averted her gaze and kept pace behind her mentor.

They were all so subdued it was unnervingly quiet and peaceful here. Everywhere else had always been noisy -- a realization she'd never had until leaving Elbion for the first time with Raigryn. This oasis was almost as quiet as if no on inhabited it at all.

It was mildly unnerving. Fife had to pull hard at Socks' head a couple of times when the pony tried to stubbornly stop to eat the struggling grasses. He was small to an average person, but to Fife he might as well have been a full sized horse. She dug in her heels and tugged hard at his reins to get his head up enough to coax him after Dusty again.

The Idemni who greeted them called Raigryn by name, and she studied his face. The stablemaster. She commit it to memory, even though no name was attached with the face.

Her observation must have been noticed, because when she led Socks to his new lodgings, Raigryn assured her it was safe here. Not just in the stable, but the whole settlement. Glancing past him toward the rest of the stable, she chewed on her lip.

She remembered the way back to their tent. He'd sent her on walks on her own to see Dusty and Socks in Belgrath. He would likely be quicker about his unwilling bath than she would be about brushing the horses until she wasn't so anxious. It would be safe, as he said, or it wouldn't; there wasn't any sense worrying about it either way.

Fife nodded at last with a deep breath. She had nothing to say on the matter, so she put her hands to work unfastening the saddle.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn found the sheltered end of the oasis exactly as he remembered it. The gentle river became a wide lake in the middle of the settlement. Where it narrowed and forced a cove around the downstream river the Idemni had grown a border of thick bushes. It stood out as circle of green in quite a barren land.

The sun was already low when he followed the path that wound through the foliage. There was a rhythm to life here and a strict order. Women at sunrise, men at sundown.

On a row of large rocks was an arrangements of clothes. His own would stand out against the ruddy brown outfits the Idemni wore.

Even as he started to undress one of the Idemni, shameless for their complete nudity, walked up and held out a small wooden box.

"Soap. Take soap," he said insistently.

"Yes, yes soap," Raigryn agreed. "Barbarian wash," he muttered when the man had walked away.



Raigryn went straight back to the stables to find Fife still there. His hair was loose and still damp. After the ride here using a pumice stone to scrub the grime away had been quite pleasant. Then of course had come the lavender soap. And then there would be the same thing every single day.

"Well, that's that done."

 

[Fife]

Fife dragged the saddles and blankets off of their backs, then traded their bridles for rope tethers. Brushing the pony first, the mute took her time. Sweeping away the red dust and grit, she let her thoughts melt away. Each brush stroked dust and worry from pony and mind. Each pass of the comb through his mane and tail untangled the knots in her muscles. She had been worse since they'd been jumped in the deserted inn, but Fife was settling again.

She had finished Socks and was already working on Dusty's tail when Raigryn came back. Whistling her impressed wow, she refrained from teasing him. He'd clapped back pretty hard at the fancy gala, and he seemed genuinely chuffed about having to bathe every day.

Not teasing him was hard, though. Since leaving Elbion, Fife had shown more and more of a personality beyond half-feral child. Poking the bear was one of the rare means of expression she could still show without a voice. And now that they were in a place that found facial expression crass, she had even less modes of expression.

Saving any jokes for a later day, she gestured between them and the exit before making a generalized circle to them and the horses in the stable with the other hand. She held them both up like scales. Do we need to go or can we stay?

Fife held up the brush, brushed once through Dusty's tail, them pointed to his mane. She was almost finished. Lifting the horse's tail, she offered it and the brush to him.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"The horses can stay here overnight," said Raigryn, taking the brush to finish the job.

"The Idemni keep more donkeys and beasts of burden but there is some grazing space beyond the south edge of Indretar we can take them to tomorrow.

"And I can see you holding back that smirk. You're doing well to hold it until tomorrow. When I will be doing the same thing when you come back all sullen after one of the Idemni had scrubbed your back, washed your hair and braided it."

 

[Fife]

Even when she was being nice and only thinking of teasing him he clapped back. Fife could keep her expression moatly void with some effort, but the color that flashed across her cheeks was impossible to stop. The thought of bathing within sight of other people was bad enough. Having them bathe her?

Fife conveniently had to give him her back to brush Dusty's mane. Insufferable grouch! Next time she would be catty about it. Fife thought baths every day sounded nice, unlike someone.

Working in silence, she had planned on stopping with having only combed the knots out of his mane, but piddled around a little longer to put a few braids up behind his ear. Stubbornly keeping herself faced away, she finally peered back over her shoulder to check if he was finished. The half-glower lost its effect because the woman casting it didn't even stand up to his armpit.

Fife could be somewhat indignant, generally in good fun and not out of malice. Perhaps she wasn't as good at receiving his returned volleys. People had chased her like a rat in their kitchen and called her some of the worst things imaginable, but none ever teased her.

She sniffed and went under Dusty's neck to pat Socks and step into the stable thoroughfare to wait for her mentor, still stubbornly keeping her red face turned away.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

He used no magic to pick up on her mood. Raigryn had spent a lifetime around humans whose emotions he could read. Fife too would learn to link emotional state with physical cues. She was probably well into that journey already.

"Oh come on. Its not that bad. Definitely good to get the grime out. I didn't mean to take it out on you, I'm just grumpy because my hair smells of flowers now."

He tapped his brush against a wooden door to loosen the dirt that had been brushed off. It billowrd down to the floor in a small cloud.

"They make good food here," he called out to Fife, who was out of his line of sight. "It's spicy though. They do a lovely dish of dumplings and slow cooked goat."

 

[Fife]

Fife glanced back when he apologized and she was already coming back to stand closer to him when he mentioned food.

Her feet paused and she told herself she wasn't giving in. Any time she got remotely cross, even playfully, he plied her with talk of good good and drink. He had mostly convinced her to wear a dress on the promise of sweets and champagne.

But she was weak and he knew it. Arms crossed, she came back and looked at him with narrowed eyes. He said it so casually, and hadn't even turned to look at her.

It worked, and that almost made her genuinely angry. Straightening, she huffed and spent a little longer fighting herself before she huffed even louder and turned to sign.

A little spicy or really spicy? she asked, fanning her hand in front of her mouth for the new word between familiar ones.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"How spicy? Well it's usually served with goat's milk for a reason, but it's not like they use the peppers grown in southern amol kalit. You'll be fine. Probably. Try a small amount first. Hungry then?"

He allowed himself a small smirk out of the corner of his mouth and then held both palms up as if requesting a truce.

"Come on, there's a communal tent just beyond where we are. For those Idemni with no time to cook they take turns cooking in a big pan. They don't really have the same family concept as you might expect from Elbion. Women raise children whilst still doing their jobs and men are expected to get out of their way and look after themselves."

 

[Fife]

Fife didn't know if she trusted his judgement on spice levels. He'd shrugged off beverages as alright for her in the past and wildly underestimated how poorly her tolerance was. This was also the same man who kicked her into trouble feet first to see how well she swam. She had refrained from telling him she couldn't actually swim out of a small fear he'd throw her into the nearest body of water and test a teaching theory.

She pointedly looked away again when he asked if she was hungry, crossing her arms once more and nodding. He knew she was. When wasn't she hungry? He finished brushing and stood, her (mostly) feigned attitude fell away, and she put her hands down to walk beside him.

Watching him as he spoke, Fife shrugged on the concepts of family. She honestly didn't know what he might have considered normal. Her eyes cast away, she shrugged signed like she was touching the heads of children shorter yet than her. She flipped her hands palm up and lifting them in a rising motion, and finished by tapping her chest. Kids raised me.

Thinking about those children was a strange feeling. They had come and gone so quickly from her life or were only vague spectres only remembered like dreams -- but they had been the closest thing to a family she'd had. She owed her life to them for getting her to an age she could fend for herself.

Ghosts and a confession she didn't want to linger on.

The sun was almost down in the sky and Fife looked around the camp as it was swathed by night. Eyes scanning the various tents, she gestured to the group and looked up at Raigryn, making the sign for house. Are those all homes?

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"You only knew children," he mused. Raigryn had slightly missed the attempt to mime 'raised' but he had arrived at a close enough conclusion.

Fife had no real sense of what a typical family was. It was something she had probably been vaguely aware of from observing those who had homes and jobs. Raigryn had known Kings and Queens once. It was hard to imagine such a vast gap between your own life and then next rung up.

"Mostly homes, but a lot look empty now. Many serve other purposes. Same as any other town. They're always ready to leave in a hurry; they don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past."

The approached one of the largest tents. The scent of the big pot of steaming food escaping the tent flaps to reach them already.

"I don't know what life you might have ever envisaged for yourself Fife," he said suddenly, "But you know you can always count on me now."

Almost cruelly, he slipped into the tent and the bustle before she could form a response.

 

[Fife]

He was close enough with his interpretation. Fife didn't want to dwell on it after she'd expressed it anyhow. She felt a little silly, always wanting to confide things. But there was an allure to being able to tell somebody what had only lived in her mind all of these years.

Putting aside the strange yearning to be known to another person, Fife looked out at the houses and bit back a sad frown. This was what was left of them, and they lived in tents out of the fear of what had happened in the past. Oddly enough, it was something Fife could understand. She nodded. They had built a city here but were ready to leave it at any moment. That resonated inside of her.

She could identify their destination by smell and sound alone. Whatever was being cooked inside was spicy and she could see the light from within through the sliver of the tent flap.

Fife hadn't expected Raigryn to speak, and the comment left her blinking up at him. As soon as he said it he was stepping inside the tent, and Fife was left outside. Stumbling mentally, she stepped quickly to follow him and left that statement to be processed later.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

It was the loudest place they had been so far. The strong, spicy scents lingering in the air joined by a gentle hubbub. It was the excitable noisespl one would expect over communal dining.

"We'll just get some food and head back to our tent," he explained.

There was a stack of wooden bowls that has been scrubbed to within an inch of their life.

"Careful not to touch any food that you're not taking." The idemni really were rather paranoid about cleanliness.

There were several big pans that had been seated on clay fire pits. They bubbled and steamed and elicited a low growl from deep in Raigryn's belly. He took a roll of something they made that was like bread, then spooned a large helping of a dark brown dish. There were chunks of goat falling apart and several other root vegetables to bulk it out. He set it down and poured himself a mug of goat's milk.

"The yellow one might be a bit milder," he informed Fife.