Private Tales The Failure of Nobility

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen caught that look from Edric, and even doing so sidelong, mostly in her peripheral vision, she knew what it meant: violence. That this sailor with the curious nickname of Mole still stood, still breathed, was a blessing that he would never know. Perhaps he needed his own Sibyl to have warned him of the danger he, in his base lechery, had tossed himself into.

She gave the smallest of nods to Edric, thinking that only she and whatever diplomatic efforts she could muster stood between relative peace and another "incident at Sene" that Edric could count upon his dormitory wall. Her heart wasn't beating nearly as hard or as panicked as it had with the Inquisitor, but that feel of liquid, acidic fear constricted her chest.

To Mole she said, "Well, if it is the Captain's orders as you say, then I am afraid we must do as my friend suggests and pursue our fortunes elsewhere. 'Tis a shame, I suppose. What coin doesn't spend, after all?"

Kristen turned sharply on her heel, hoping that her parting quote and their willingness to leave the negotiating table might persuade the sailors into amending their conditions for passage, or at least summoning a mate or the captain so that they might deal with them instead.

But as Kristen and Edric were walking away, all Mole did was call after them with a smug, self-assured air, "You'll be back."

Some distance away from the Allirian ship, Kristen stopped and shook out the shivering uncomfortableness, the lingering creeps which had been clinging to her hands, her feet, her shoulders and her neck. She let out a steadying sigh. "Alright, so that didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped. Which leaves us with the dwarves and the South Enders. Waiting for more options to arrive is...likely not a wise decision."

The dwarves. Kristen had never met a dwarf before, and so would be at a disadvantage in simply not knowing their mannerisms, their customs. They might not be particularly fond of them being Anirians either, should they find out. If a dwarf did accept you though, it was said that their hospitality was second to none.

The South Enders. Was it...true? What they said? That South's End was a bastion against a tear in Arethil, some maw-like cavern from which spawn of the Dark Ones intermittently crawled forth? If so, they'd make for hard warriors, and perhaps there'd be something of a kinship there for Dreadlords. Or they would just have no time for them.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric lingered for a brief moment, scowling at the man and considering if it might have been worth it just to break a bone or two...but a second later he turned and followed Kristen.

Though they had managed to make it through Sene without much incident so far, Edric wasn't eager to test the authorities. He knew that someone somewhere likely knew his face, even if the Guards on the streets didn't. Best to just get out of here.

A frown touched his face as they wandered down the dock, Kristen pointing out the two remaining ship. "I..."

His teeth clicked.

Edric had never paid much attention to the studies that had been directed towards them. He knew little about the dwarves, and next to nothing about the South Enders. After a few seconds he glanced at Kristen, and then shrugged. "Dwarves are closer."

The worst they could say was no.

As they approached the ship Edric couldn't help but notice the distinction of it from the others. There was a blocky-ness to the ship itself, the sails a bit more square, the prow accented with what appeared to be metal. It was a strangely elaborate ship. A catapult sat on it's deck interestingly enough, and at the gangplank stood a stout dwarf dressed in leathers.

"Greetings, Master Dwarf." Edric decided to take the lead this time, though he expected Kristen to break in when she wanted. "We're seeking passage to Vel Luin."

The Dwarf looked up towards the voice, a frown pulling at his lips which was barely visible beneath his beard.

"Not goin' to Vel Luin, Lad, nor takin' on Passengers."​

"Ah." Shit.

"But."​

Edric perked up slightly.

"We're makin' a stop over in Coraliv, and some of my men have come down with the sweat. Can you work a Sail?"​

The Dwarf looked up at Edric, almost as if studying him, then glanced at Kristen to do the same. The Initiate glanced at his companion. "Don't know much about sailing...but we can follow orders."

 

[Kristen Pirian]

The dwarves. All they needed to do was make a good first impression, Kristen supposed, and the dwarves ought to treat them fairly enough. The barrier of culture was something a trifle worrying, like coming up against a wall which she wasn't quite sure she could scale or not, but such concerns shouldn't chafe against their simple business anyhow. They were just trying to purchase passage, not engaging in a gala between notables of Vel Anir and Belgrath.

They approached the dwarven vessel, which for the life of Kristen looked much like a floating anvil with sails.

Edric hailed the dwarf and began the negotiation this time...and it was over just as quickly as it began. Well, count the blessings that Aionus provided, she didn't have to deal with Mole's lecherous gaze and words this time.

But.

Kristen's spirits shot right back up, and she tried to conceal at least some of her overly hopeful expression in regarding the leather-clad dwarf.

"Coraliv would be perfect," Kristen said. And it was! Vel Anir had gained control of the city, this much Kristen knew because some of Father's planned interests had been spoiled by the invasion and he had lamented it so for weeks. Once there, all they needed to do was get in contact with the nearest Anirian authority and they could secure passage back to the mainland and to the Academy. Simple! "And yes, we shall not only purchase but earn our keep. Whatever work needs to be done, we would gladly do it."

Edric

 

[Edric]

For a second the Dwarf seemed to think, as if considering the weight of them. He then glanced towards the ship and let out a grunt. His head tipped.

"Aye, well that'll have to do. Don't make me regret the decision. OKHI!"​

The Dwarf suddenly bellowed, and one of the sailors on the dock immediately turned his head. The other dwarf made their way towards them.

"No purchase necessary lass, if you come on my ship. You work. That'll be enough."​

Edric let out a long sigh of relief.

He had never, of course, worked on a ship before but it couldn't be any worse than some of the things they'd done at the Academy. There had been hard days of labor. Cutting down forests, carrying stone, once they'd even been sent into some mines.

It was something he'd never much minded, but only because his magic suited to the task more than most. "Thank you."

Edric said.

"Don't thank me yet, bad luck on the sea. Okhi here will show you to the bunks and around the ship, things might be a bit small for you Lad but...nothing I can do about that."​

The Initiate nodded his head.

"I'll learn to duck." Both the dwarves let out loud belly laughs, as if he'd told some grand joke.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen couldn't help but to smile. By the Holy Sentinel's grace, they'd secured passage out of Sene and, at least within the city proper, nary a fulfillment of Sibyl's dreadful words. And it was something of a sudden enlightenment for Kristen as well. Where humans had been nothing but sleazy trouble, the dwarves had accepted them, asking only for a fair return on the deal. She had heard her father, even her mother at times, disparaging dwarves (and not to mention elves, and a slew of other peoples) with unrestrained vitriol before. In general, her family, friends of the family, the nobility of Vel Anir, all of them painted a certain narrow picture of dwarves that here turned out not to be true at all.

To think that her trust had been leveraged so by those around her, to make her judge before she had even met a dwarf for herself! In the back of her mind, even her mistrust of orcs began to weather some scrutiny. Surely Duresh did not account for the whole of Orcish-kind.

Edric thanked them. As did Kristen, "Yes, thank you, indeed!"

Don't thank me yet, bad luck on the sea.

Oh. A little faux pas there. It couldn't be...all that bad, right? Sailors were a superstitious lot, that she knew, but what real harm could come of it?

The dwarf named Ohki escorted them up the gangplank. A few of the Arragoth Marines looked their way, observing mostly Edric and Kristen's hands, but aside from that stayed at their posts along the ship.

Walking across the deck, Ohki asked, "So where might ye be comin from? Or is Cortos yer home, and ye figure it's high time ye fill yer veins with adventure?"

Kristen nibbled on her lip. "Oh. We're refugees, heading east to escape a misfortune in the west."

A flick of her eyes to Edric. That was the preplanned story he'd come up with, the one mostly true, and the one Kristen didn't have a problem reciting. Any more specifics though, if such were necessary, she couldn't fabricate on the spot. Not without looking the part of a stumbling fool.

Edric

 

[Edric]

"Aye that's probably a good call."​

The dwarf said with a nod of his head, glancing back at the two humans for a moment. There was not even a hint of suspicion in his eyes, but then again Edric had no idea what that would look like for a dwarf. Was it the same way for them?

Surely it was. "Have you come to Cortos often to trade?"

Edric asked.

"Once or twice before. It's a long journey for us, but tends to pay off."​

A nod tipped the young Initiate's head. From what he understood most dwarves, if not all, made their homes in the mountains of the Spine. He had never heard of another large group of them anywhere else, though that didn't make it true.

Slowly they were lead onto the ship, Okhri showing them around, pointing out a few things and eventually leading them into the bottom of the ship. True to the dwarf's wards, Edric had to duck as they went below deck. Kristen, did too for that matter.

"This is the main mess, Gren over there's our cook."​

A dwarf dressed in leathers but with an apron waved to them, only a small amount of surprise on his face.

"We got twenty two crew aboard, including you two. Space is tight, but...well we got plenty of food and drink, so at least that will have ya sorted."​

The man seemed...surprisingly chipper Edric noted.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Phew. The dwarf was nowhere near as noisy as the Inquisitor had been, and he didn't pry. Kristen certainly appreciated the mission-minded head he had on his shoulders. Or his politeness. Or his sparing use of words and small talk. Whatever it was that kept what interest he may have had from spilling over into another question.

Normally Kristen would've been fidgeting with a mounting need to carry on the conversation, but these were far from normal circumstances. It was just easier for everyone involved this way.

Kristen ducked along with Edric to go below deck. On a number of occasions at home and at the Academy, Kristen could've sworn that the uppermost tip of her ponytail brushed the overhanging portions of the portals she passed through whilst going from room to room. Always a phantom feeling--the doorways were all large enough to accommodate Sable comfortably--but it was one that hounded her nevertheless. Here though, in the cramped confines of a ship not built for humans, the tip of her ponytail did brush against the top of the doorway. So that's what that truly felt like!

Kristen waved to Gren once introduced, saying, "Hello," in her most cordial tone.

Ohki led them to the bunks. And if Kristen was near crouch-walking to traverse the lower decks, when she saw the size of the bunks, looking like rectangular pockets carved into the sides of the ship, she knew she was going to have to bunch her knees up to her chin in order to sleep, as if she were four years old again and terribly afraid of thunderstorms still.

Seeing the look on Kristen's face, Ohki gave a resigned shrug. "I did say space is tight."

"No, 'tis fine. 'Tis plenty, in truth. Your generosity more than makes up for said tightness. Mayhap if I didn't have the gall to grow to such an unbecoming height there'd be nary a problem!"

Kristen laughed politely, a trifle awkwardly, and her mouth was hidden behind a hand, the tips of her fingers. Hopefully her attempt at a joke went over well with Ohki...and didn't annoy Edric too much.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Ohki chuckled.

"Aye well, ye long legs do have a tendency to grow a bit too much."[/color]​

The dwarf looked both of the humans up and down for a moment, then glanced towards one of the bunks. It was the same motion that Edric made, and he couldn't help but bite down on his tongue for a moment. Then he posed a question. "Any chance we could sleep on the deck?"

He wouldn't argue the point, but...well the bunks were a tad too small for him. Edric had no idea about Kristen, but squeezing into that tight of a space would feel like going back into the box.

"Oh! Aye. If you'd like! Gets a bit cold at night out at sea but nothing a blanket and a cuddle can't cure, eh?"​

Ohki looked at the two humans with a rather brazen wink.

Edric's cheeks didn't color, but an odd sort of look crossed over his features as he understood the dwarf's meaning. His head tilted slightly to the left, and he found his tongue utterly tied.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

She made a dwarf laugh. How splendid! That went over well. Well, indeed.

Kristen perked a quizzical eyebrow then at Edric's question. Sleep on the deck? Putting aside the obvious lack of space in the bunks, how wretched did the mattresses appear to Edric? Certainly sleeping on the hard deck would be no better! Worse, even. How queer that he had taken the blanket that night outside of Sibyl's tower in the oasis and he would now eschew the bunks in favor of the deck. Oh...well, thinking about it, the same could be said of Kristen herself in reverse: eschewing the blanket, taking the bunk.

Hmm. Well. It would be quite cramped. Mayhap another night of hard accommodations on the deck itself would do well to raise her resilience and tolerance for--

...but nothing a blanket and a cuddle can't cure, eh?

And the dwarf winked.

Kristen straightened her body so sharply, trying instinctively to assume a proper noblewoman's posture for a hasty retort becoming of such, that she banged her head on the ceiling and let out a small groan of pain and cradled the soreness with a hand. One eye shut and one eye open, she said with a trace of sheepishness she just couldn't conceal, "I, um, I-I am afraid I must decline the option of the deck. Certainly it would be rude of me to suggest through my actions that your own accommodations here below deck are insufficient for myself, your honored guest!"

A lightning flick of her eyes over to Edric and back to Ohki. A lightning tongue to match:

"With Edr--Ed, with Ed, he's taller than I. Larger. More muscular. He doesn't curl up so well, your own eyes can attest! I can curl up perfectly well. Mother always said it wasn't my cleverness that made me so adept at hide-and-go-seek but my astonishing foldability. She didn't actually use that specific word, I believe I'm misquoting her, b-but it's true! A blanket and a bunk 'tis all I need, Master Dwarf, and I will be plenty warm and plenty comfortable. Absolutely! Certainly! Yes. Right. Of course."

She took in a huff of air. Let it out.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric and the Dwarf looked at one another as Kristen's babble began to fill the room. She talked a mile a minute and wasn't shy about it. Ohki seemed at ease with it though, letting the noble talk her way through everything before he finally nodded his head.

"Aye, well...ye do what's best for you."​

The dwarf finally said, looking to Edric for some sort of confirmation.

He only shrugged in response. It had taken him some time to get used to Kristen's...overly ambitious way of talking. Edric wasn't entirely sure still that it wasn't some sort of clever tactic she held, but...the more time he spent with her the more he realized that probably wasn't true. "I'll still take the deck."

There was no way in Kress' good grace that he was fitting inside that bunk.

"Alright. We'll be tipping off in an hour or so. You can help load some of the cargo in the meantime."

Edric nodded his head, throwing down what little possessions he had in the bunk where he should have been sleeping. Then he turned on his heel, not waiting for Kristen to follow him as Ohki directed both of them back down onto the docks.

The next hour was spent carrying crates, loading barrels, and stowing things in the depths of the ship. By the time a call went out that they were leaving Edric was covered in a sheen of seat, standing on the deck of the ship and leaning against the forward railing.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Oh. Praise Aionus, that was better than expected. When she got to talking like that, Kristen felt as though she were a runaway wagon rolling down a hill, only coming to a stop naturally once the ground leveled out or catastrophically if unbalanced enough or if a wheel struck some haphazardly placed rock. Neither happened.

So that was sorted, and now it was time to earn their keep, as the dwarves had asked.

An hour later, Kristen was dizzy with fatigue, her arms flopping about with all the consistency of wet noodles as she walked up the gangplank for the final time. Hair stuck to her temples, to the back of her neck, the sweat like glue. But at least she was sweating, and there had been no shortage of water to quench her work-parched throat--some blessings only took shape once you compared them to the privations of the past.

Kristen plopped down on the deck beside Edric, hunched and sitting cross-legged, still breathing a touch heavier from the manual labor. Tempted as she might be to lay completely on her back, legs given the opportunity they would lack later to stretch out in their entirety, she didn't want to look completely like a lout (and a weakling) in front of the generous dwarves.

"I feel like...I've just run another one of Proctor Magomo's laps...around the entirety of the Academy."

She tried to let out a little laugh, but breathy exhales vaguely an impression thereof were all she could manage.

Her fatigue, as well, had made her somewhat complacent. Uttering the word Proctor and Academy without thinking about it, however quietly it might have been. The dwarves on deck all had their own duties to attend to, and they were off doing them--if any of the nearest of them heard, they either didn't care or kept their curiosities to themselves.

"You do this sort of thing with ease."

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric glanced towards Kristen for a moment. "It's my magic."

His voice was quiet, near silent so that none of the dwarves heard him speak. Their hosts had been kind so far, almost overwhelmingly so, but Edric had no intention of letting them hear exact details of who they actually were.

Not now.

"I can do these types of things for a lot longer." He explained. "All i need is a bit of life around me and..."

Edric trailed off, shrugging. "I suppose it's my gift."

Though he'd never thought of it as one.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

A realization struck Kristen, one with enough force to momentarily jolt her eyes fully open and send her brows racing up her forehead.

"Wait..."

Her quiet tone then matched Edric's own. From an awareness of the subject (that she'd been lacking before), but a little more so under the paling implications of what she was thinking.

"Were you...in the desert..."

She canted her head in a curious, canine fashion.

And a light touch of accusation crept into her whispering voice. "Were you leeching life from me...?"

Edric

 

[Edric]

"No." He said with a shake of his head.

Edric had most definitely considered it, but doing so would have been counter-productive. If he'd decided to kill Kristen and simply go on without her he would have utterly drained her dry, but he'd wanted her to survive. Mostly to stick it to the Proctors who had sent them on this fucking mission.

"It would have only made it harder. on myself" He explained. "Taking from you would have eventually meant I'd have to carry you, or I would have killed you."

Sometimes it was difficult not to take more, especially when he was tired or worn. "My magic is not always...precise."

He had trained for years to gain control over his abilities, but even after near a decade there were moments where he simply...couldn't do it. Those occasions were few and far in between, but when they happened it almost always ended in a massacre.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

"Oh," she said.

That first part made practical enough sense that even Kristen could get it. If he'd drained her to invigorate himself, only to then be stuck with hauling her body over his shoulder, well...she was no Liza. And even Liza, small as she was, would've been a dreadful--deadly--chore to carry all that way across the desert.

The second part...she was still mystified that he hadn't killed her. She didn't want him to kill her, heavens no! But, morbid as it was, the fascination was there. Before this mission she'd known next to nothing about Edric. Only what she'd gleaned in passing from the conversations and comments of other Initiates. And those comments painted a very particular picture. A very brutal picture. And phantasmal aches summoned at the mere recollection of the wheat field attested to it.

Yet.

That same wheat field, what was said there, attested to something else as well. Something beyond the narrow description manifested of sparse commentary.

Kristen seemed content with the answer for a moment.

Then, as if possessed by a new spirit of being, a sly smile crossed her features.

"But how do I know you weren't taking a few surreptitious sips here and there? Hmm?"

The calf of his near leg was closest to her, and she gave it a playful nudge with the tips of her fingers.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric raised an eyebrow as Kristen gently prodded him. For a moment he bit his tongue, stopping the cutting remark that he would have lashed out at her with.

Kristen still did not understand the Academy, or rather how things had once been. Even a subtle touch like that, a small quip about ones magic…a year ago it would have been seen as something nefarious. There had always been a desperate scramble to hide ones magic, to conceal as much as possible.

The fact that he'd already told her as much as he did was a minor miracle. Perhaps brought on by better influences in the last few months.

So instead of cutting her down, instead of insulting or just walking away Edric tried to remind himself just how little Kristen knew. She was in a way, a stranger in a strange land. Being told only small pieces but never understanding the truth of the Academy. What it had once been and what it still represented for many of them.

Including Edric.

"Guess you'll never really know." The Initiate answered finally, flickering a small smile towards his companion.

A second later the sound of a whistle broke through the air, it's pitch high enough that it made Edric flinch. He looked up, glancing towards one of the dwarves holding a strange metal tube. He made a signal, and then he felt the ship sway for the first time as they began to pull away from the docks.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Gosh, was that...a smile? On Edric? He had a sense of humor? Mayhap Astra herself would be shocked to know it!

A touch hyperbolic for the sake of mirth--he'd smiled on a couple other rare occasions throughout the journey--but still Kristen was glad to see it. This was what she had seen (or rather, heard) in the wheat field. The Academy had shaped Edric into a weapon, but he was not merely a weapon. Beneath that razor's edge, perhaps buried under a mountain's worth of brutal conditioning and at the very core of his being, there was yet a heart that beat with an irrepressible humanity.

Faintly, she thought of Evangeline.

The whistle made Kristen start, but she settled back down quickly enough. After the scorpion, the nomads, and the Inquisitor, she was quite a bit jumpy, it would seem. She grabbed hold of the railing and used it as support for her to stand.

"Do you know how aghast my father would've been, just two short years ago, if he knew what manual labors I've toiled away at most recently?" Her shoulders raised up and then dropped back down, the gesture punctuated by a resigned (yet distantly hopeful) sigh. "Times change."

As the first set of sails were being unfurled and fastened, Kristen looked at her hands. Dirty, yes, but beneath that dirt some small creases and imperfections, the beginnings of the rough indentations of a working life. Certainly nowhere near as hard and callused as Edric's, oh no, nor would her more feminine skin ever match the firm consistency of his own. Yet some tiny trace of that utter softness, that which had been carefully preserved, was gone.

Edric

 

[Edric]

”Perks of nobility, I guess.” He said, not dropping down onto the ground again but instead leaning on the railing.

His last two ship journeys had not gone…well, and this time he intended to enjoy it. At least the parts that he thought one was supposed to enjoy. He watched as Sene began to push away, drawing distant on the river bank as he stood there.

It was…a pleasant sight, one that he found himself enjoying. ”What’s your family like?”

Edric asked.

It was not often that the Initiates, any of them, knew their family. A few of them did of course, Liliana, Trix maybe, but not in the way that Kristen did. Plus, he was hardly inclined to ever speak to those witches. Least not any more than he had to.

Yet he couldn’t help the curiosity of it. Edric remembered his family well enough, a brief few glimpses. The expression on his mothers face when she’d found out what he was, the way that his father had looked at him when the Proctor’s had come to take him away.

He supposed all of them still wondered what it was like to have a family.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen blinked a few times, wearing her surprise on her sleeve as she glanced over. But then she smiled pleasantly, looking out over the water and the departing sight of Sene and Cortos as the ship sailed along. She felt comfortable about speaking openly, so long she stayed mindful of keeping her voice so that it carried only between herself and Edric.

"Well, where might I even begin? I suppose there is no better place than to say without equivocation that I love them all dearly.

"My father is a kind, if busy, man. He is not the Head of House--that would be Uncle Tobias--but he is busy enough attending to the matters of his own landholdings, which I suppose have only become more intricate with the advent of the Republic. Still, as I was growing up, when I did see him my heart would always swell with joy, and I would without fail go running with arms outstretched to him, and he would pick me up and spin me around and kiss me on the cheek and I...I very much enjoyed it. When he could spare an hour or two to devote solely to me, or to me and the rest of the family, those are among my most precious of memories.

"My mother taught me how to behave as a proper noblewoman should. She could be stern at times, yes, but she was never mean-spirited nor anything of the sort. Even as a young child, I could see that it upset her when I, in my juvenile foolishness, committed some infraction which necessitated her disciplining me. I, um," She laughed softly, "I used to be quite the 'cookie monster,' so she called me. My favorite were--or rather, are--snickerdoodles. I would sneak into the kitchen and badger the servants until they retrieved a handful for me and then, so inadept was I in matters of a covert affair, would inevitably get caught. I told childish lies as to how I had come to accumulate such a bountiful hoard of confections and my mother saw right through them--and I am glad that she did! In time, I came to police myself, for I did loathe to see the pain I caused my mother with such tomfoolery.

"And then there is my elder sister Amelia. Mother herself says she did not raise me alone, but rather that Amelia contributed as much as she did! Amelia is twelve years my senior, so she already had upon her shoulders the burgeoning weight of responsibility which, I will say, she did bear with grace--even if I was too young to truly appreciate it at the time. She would depart from Vel Anir when I was but eight years old, and I sorely missed her everyday she was gone, missed those days when both father and mother were too occupied and Amelia was there to play with me and entertain my rambunctious energy. We have kept correspondence though, even after I enrolled into the Academy, and I am hoping dearly that I shall be able to see her again in person soon.

"My cousin Val! Well, Percival, but everyone calls him Val. He was quite funny, those few times I was able to spend a significant amount of time with him. Some among House Pirian would say some rather disparaging things about him, about how he chooses to spend his time, but...for my part, I have not let this hearsay dim my opinion of him in the slightest. When..." She almost mentioned the Battle of the Blades, her kidnapping, and stopped herself cold, rephrasing, "...something tragic happened, when I was utterly inconsolable because of it, he was there. He was the one who got through to me, and he lifted that awful pall from my shoulders. I...I will never forget that."

"I could go on," Kristen said. "Evangeline is a Pirian in all but name. Oh! Pardon me, Proctor D'Amour, I mean. Remember how she offered that dance class to our fellows in preparation for the First Annual Solstice Ball? Well...she gave me a few lessons in her spare time when I was twelve years old and was just taking my first tender steps into adolescence. She is a woman of many talents, and I adore her so. But do keep my comments confidential! I know that it is highly improper for me to speak as such now, given her station and mine!"

Kristen sighed wistfully, at last looking to Edric again. "There are a great many things from my yesteryears that I miss dearly. Yet, such is life. Mayhap I once was the Darling Daughter of House Pirian, but that Daughter has grown up--and I've more growing to do yet. So I must look forward. I must."

All this talk of family. It sparked a question she desperately wanted to ask Edric. But, given what happened in the wheat field, the question was one too dangerous to ask aboard this ship.

She'd file it away. For later. And her heart trembled with both paling fear and eager anticipation for its asking.

Edric Val Pirian

 

[Edric]

"Ah." Edric said softly.

As Kristen explained her family, as she told him of those that supported her, loved her, surrounded her with opportunity and care he felt nothing.

There was not a flicker of jealousy.

There was not a brash of anger or rage.

There was simply nothing. A hollowness set into his chest. A great, vast abyss that simply sat there, as if it were pushing away every emotion he could possibly have felt. Edric watched Sene fall away in silence as the current of the river pushed them away, stared ahead.

Yet his eyes seemed to focus on nothing. "That sounds nice."

He said, his voice quiet enough that it was hard to hear over the wind.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Heartbreaking.

Utterly heartbreaking, to hear Edric speak so. Which was to say, so little at all. A small pang of guilt came over her for drowning him in the gigantic tide that was her recounting the life she'd led and the loving family she enjoyed. She'd scarcely an idea of his own family--but this was the ghastly norm of the Academy. No one was forthcoming about their life prior, and the only reason she was happened to be because of her unusually late admission into a wholly new era.

Mayhap he once had a loving family too. Mayhap he wished for one. Mayhap it was something in-between. She couldn't know.

Yet the quiet with which he spoke attested to a pain sharper than any blade, deeper than any wound. She yearned to let him know that someone had heard him--that he wasn't alone and it wasn't for nothing. She felt the mighty urge to just reach out and touch him.

So she did.

Kristen reached over and slid her hand atop Edric's own, the tips of her fingers threading between his. She looked to him and smiled and her ponytail fluttered lightly with the wind.

"If you want it, Edric," she said, "sunshine is never more than a day away."

There could be better times. There could always be better times.

Just over the horizon, where the rising sun promised a new dawn.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric frowned slightly, staring down at the hand which now covered his.

A year ago, such a thing would have been the precursor to a knife in the back. A way to get close to him just to ram a blade through his lungs. The impulse of that thought still lay there in his mind, and Edric had to actively force himself to keep his palm still.

Fingers curled on the railing for a moment, pressing enough to gently dent the hard wood that had been so well crafted by Dwarven hands. A slow, long breath flowed into his lungs as he considered Kristen’s words.

”Maybe.” He said quietly.

They had now passed by Sene completely, the city in their wake as the fields and farms surrounding came fully into their view. Edric let his eyes linger of them for a moment, and then slowly pulled away. ”Maybe.”

The question was, what would that light cost him?

Edric glanced at Kristen for a moment, flashed her a smile, and then went to go find the Captain to ask what he should do.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

What little Edric had said by way of response was likely the best she was going to get. His interest in hearing of her family was surprising, but his reticence in speaking of his own was not. She wouldn't try to force it. If he wanted to speak on it, he would. Mother's oft-told positive saying may help him, or it may not.

He went to go find the Captain, and Kristen was left momentarily thinking back to the wheat field. How easy it was for Edric to engage in such violence, and here, how difficult by contrast it was for him to simply speak and be heard. Kristen acknowledged that she was the precise opposite--and why shouldn't she be? Edric endured something she never would. All of the Initiates who, ostensibly, were her peers had endured it. And it left them all in such a state that was heavy upon the tongue and twice so upon the heart to give voice to. For what they had gained, a price had been paid.

Zana, Eva, Selene...you paid that price too.

Kristen thought on this, the streams of said thoughts a mixture of light and dark.

She went to go follow after Edric, but Gren, the vessel's cook, appeared above deck and waved her down. Kristen went over and the dwarf offered her a choice: whatever labor the Captain was offering, or give him a helping hand down in the mess. Listening to the steady vote of "Aye" from her aching arms, Kristen volunteered for kitchen duty.

Turned out, the dwarves of this vessel, the Kammerund Stoutguard as she had come to learn, had a little tradition upon leaving port. Instead of the usual fare of seagoing rations, which weren't exactly exciting to one's tongue, Gren brought out fresh meats procured while at port and cooked up a fine and hearty supper for the first night back out at sea. Lifted spirits well, he said.

And Kristen made a discovery. "You...goodness, you have an actual oven onboard?"

Gren barked out a laugh. "Ha! What kind of shoddy shipwright designs his vessel without one? Come on then, lass, save yer gawking for better things and get that fire kindled in there."

Hours later, plates of cooked Cortosan beef were served to an eager and hungry crew.

When Edric came down, Kristen greeted him with a happy smile (it wasn't often she was actually allowed to try her hand in culinary pursuits!) and handed him a plate. "I cooked it myself! Gren instructed me on how to achieve a desirable sear on both sides, and there's a sprinkle of Cortosan spices upon it--surely you can smell them."

Being a noblewoman who had been waited on hand and foot for the majority of her life, she took a large amount of pride in doing so mundane and common a thing by her own hands.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric had found the Captain in short order, and after a quick lesson in the works of a deckhand had been set to task.

The young Initiate had joined some of the other Greenhorns, those who had only come aboard the ship at the beginning of the journey. There were two of them, both dwarves of course. One named Tilly and the other Tally. They were apparently brothers, and from what Edric came to understand quite young by Dwarf standards.

Which of course meant both of them were well over fifty.

A few foibles befell Edric as he followed the twin dwarves around the deck, but by the time he went below both Tilly and Tally commended him for the job he had done. It helped that Edric could carry almost twice the weight of anyone else on board, and apparently seemed half as tired doing it.

"And that's when I found out she wasn't a woman at all!"​

Uproarious laughter carried out behind him, and Edric couldn't help but smile.

Despite everything he'd ever been taught...despite what the Academy had told him. Edric found himself liking these dwarves.

As he stepped down into the galley he found Kristen, a plate of some of the best smelling food he had ever had the grace to scent thrust into his hands. Eyes widened for a moment. "Wow."

He said quietly, glancing down at the meal.

"This is..." Edric looked up at Kristen. "Much better than what we get at the Academy."

Did dwarves always eat this well.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen flushed, demurely dropping her gaze and running a hand through her hair, and her smile carried into her tone. "Well, d-don't be so hasty with the praise before you've had a proper taste!"

There was a part of her, the fifteen year old part, the part which had been shaped and sculpted into a prim and proper noblewoman all throughout her childhood and into the early years of her adolescence which adored the praise from Edric for this achievement--however pedestrian said achievement might have been. The other part of her, the one year old part, the part which the Academy's new regimen had begun to mold, hated that she should feel so, that what praise she did receive was for something so mundane and unremarkable and unworthy of what she could be. The former of the two was stronger in the moment, and indeed was the supporting pillar of her pleased smile.

Kristen folded her arms on the counter and leaned over. Leaned more, rather, given the tight spaces of the dwarven vessel.

"I do hope you like it. Cooking has been an interest of mine that I've never truly been allowed to pursue."

Mindful of their company, Kristen nudged one of Edric's hands with the back of hers and asked, "Surely there's something similar for you? Some latent passion of yours that you'd dearly enjoy the opportunity to try?"

Edric