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 Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 10:16 am
She smirked, tilting her head ever-so-slightly to one side. "I did, but there was a lot about that night that people have trouble...remembering quite right. I'm just makin' sure I've got my facts in order." Lochlan shifted beneath her. "Is that how the Ward-tree sprung up? A whole mess o' yer lot bled there in the Wardwood? Or was that a more purposeful thing?"
She'd always been curious about the wood and the seemingly revered tree at its center, but so far, no one had been able to tell her overly much about it.
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Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 1:49 pm
The thought that she might be able to successfully send a pudding to the wicked wolf prince seemed to please the girl greatly. Oh, adults often said things that they did not really mean - empty promises, papa called them - but Llyr was a spirit, wasn't he? He wasn't supposed to lie. Already, she was puzzling out how best to coax a pudding out of Cook, and how she could find Llyr again once she had it.
This distracted her for some time, but other things were being said and she was not entirely sure what to make of them. She was, however, pretty sure that she did not like this new woman - she didn't seem to like Llyr and the things she said didn't seem very nice. Livy frowned at her and Abel fluttered down from his nearby perch to land on the wall next to his young mistress.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:26 am
"Ah, yes," Llyr said, acknowledging Soibhan's point with a slight, stiff tilt of his head, as if the gesture didn't come naturally to him. "I regret that Gwyn's glamour was such an unpleasant experience—" here he hesitated minutely "—I have never known him to be especially skilled at weaving enchantments, and I can only speculate that it was his madness which lent it such a unique flavor."
His eyes flicked downward from Soibhan and he neatly adjusted the cuff of his sleeve over the exposed portion of the scar on his wrist, with a certain air of fastidious vanity.
"As for the original ward-tree," he said when he was finished, "its creation was also a purposeful act. I won't elaborate on the details given the present company, but a great many spirits not only bled but gave their lives to make it. If you can imagine," he went on, and when he looked up at Soibhan again his eyes were cruel and glittering, "dozens of my kind, so ancient that you could not mark their birth on any human calendar, dead in a single instant."
Llyr was then distracted by Abel's arrival; his eldritch expression grew reserved once more. "Is this bird your familiar?" he inquired of the young witch. He was, clearly, attempting to change the subject.
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Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:39 pm
That sounded...very sad. Livy was very young, but she was not completely unfamiliar with death. It was still distant in the way that such things tend to be until they become personal, but she knew it to be an unhappy thing. Like most little girls, Livy would much rather everyone were happy - especially the people she liked, such as this interesting man.
So, she smiled up at him, her pride and affection clearly apparent, and said, "Yes, Abel is my friend." For in truth, she saw him as more of a friend than a servant. Indeed, though he usually went along with her wild plans, the rook never hesitated to make his disapproval known when he felt the need. "Have you met many others? I am certain there is no finer rook."
The rook in question regarded the spirit with glittering green eyes.
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:07 am
Soibhan's eyes narrowed as his focused a little more sharply on her own. She could imagine it indeed, and the thought left a sour mark on her mood. Spirits. She didn't know all that she could about them, which bothered her. Not knowing everything about your enemies, or allies, if Llyr indeed was such, could be dangerous.
Even deadly.
When the rook gave Llyr an out for the topic change, Soibhan scowled and began to play with Lochlan's dark mane to keep from opening her mouth again. There was so much she still wanted to ask him, but now was not the time for most of it. The little girl had already given her a disgruntled little girl look for interrupting.
"He's indeed a fine rook, lass," she said, her own way of apologizing to the young girl.
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Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2013 12:58 pm
The comments from the newcomer startle Darcy out of her reverie, and she wonders at that cold look Llyr gives her as he speaks of the Wardtree. She'd never really considered the exact origin of the tree, before, though if what's said of the Masque is true she can understand where the conclusion came from. The idea of so many dying for it's creation, however, is disturbing. She thinks back on the accounts of history -- the War of Flowers, and the Great War with the Wolves. She thinks of Gwyn. Wolf Prince.
Blood and death, all around, and lately it seems that things are headed that way again. The thought makes her shiver.
She wishes the child wasn't present. She would have liked to have asked Llyr a few things but it doesn't seem appropriate, given the company.
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 8:00 am
"I've met many rooks in my time," Llyr replied after Soibhan had spoken, meeting Abel's gaze, "but I agree—he is a very fine bird. My House has always held his species in high regard." He paused, and then tapped his long, slender fingers on the back of his other hand. He was given to such extreme stillness that this unnecessary gesture might have been some kind of tell, though of what exactly was unclear. "Do you possess any skill at divination? Foretelling?" he asked eventually.
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Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:20 pm
Livy sniffed haughtily and proceeded to ignore Soibhan. If she had known that her presence was preventing the adults from talking about the really interesting things, she would have been even more miffed. As it was, she smiled at Llyr's approval of Abel and cocked her head slightly to the side while she considered his question. The gesture may look elegant when she grows up, but it only made her look like an inquisitive bird at her present age.
It was only recently that she had learned to think of her skills as a rare power. She was so accustomed to them that they had always simply been a natural part of her. As such, it was rather difficult to explain - how would one describe sight to the blind or sound to the deaf?
"I know the when of things," she said, wondering whether that made sense to him. Livy didn't get any grand visions like other people, or read cards or have dreams. She just knew. It will be safe to sneak out in five minutes. It's going to rain tonight. Something bad is going to happen to Mister Bernstein tomorrow morning. It was not flamboyant or particularly strong and it was sometimes sporadic, but it was enough to help her out and occasionally unnerve others.
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Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:51 pm
Llyr inclined his head in an angled nod like the courtly half-bow practiced among the nobility. If he was indeed a spirit as he claimed, It was likely that that was where he had learned all of his human manners. "Then it's probable the spirit your ancestor bred with long ago was from the house of autumn," he said. "We may be distantly related. I doubt you are one of my own descendants; I haven't been with more than two or three human women, and I'm not certain whether any of them produced a child. But it would be interesting, if you were."
He then looked at Darcy, leaning forward an increment to see around Olivia with one hand against the breast of his jacket to keep the book from falling out. "Did you wish to say something?" he inquired politely.
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:15 am
She's been enjoying the conversation, thus far, what little of it there has been, and has been pondering the last of Soibhan's words. For a moment, her thoughts consume her and it's not until Llyr speaks to her, directly, that's she's pulled from her musings. The address is so unexpected that she blinks slightly, before smiling -- a mix of amusement and some sort of warmth that brightens the startling green of her eyes.
"Oh, I always have plenty of things I wish to say," definitely some mischief, there, and her smile takes on a different sort of edge, though not an unkind one. "Though I don't think my current train of thought is suitable to the moment."
She pauses, then, and glances at Abel, as if seeing him for the first time, "What a fine bird! I have the strangest dreams, sometimes, regarding birds. Do you ever have strange dreams, Llyr?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:14 am
It was an interesting thought, indeed, to wonder whether Livy still had a relative or two amongst the spirits - or indeed, if Llyr himself might be a distant relation. He said it was unlikely, of course, but the thought was still intriguing. Perhaps she could call hum uncle. Mother would have fits.
She giggled.
When Llyr addressed the other woman - Lady Darcy? - she turned to look at her politely. Livy even graced her with a smile when she complimented Abel. The rook, of course, was unmoved.
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:24 pm
"I can't say that I do," he replied, which could have meant any number of things. He returned his attention to Olivia and asked gravely, "May I be excused for a moment? I believe this other witch would like to discuss some things with me in private; although," he added, "if you are not easily frightened, and if you snuck along the other side of the fence and eavesdropped on us, we wouldn't be held responsible for you overhearing a thing or two."
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Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 8:31 pm
"Of course," Livy said with an innocent smile. Oh, yes. She liked this man very much. Though she may have considered eavesdropping by herself, Llyr was all but inviting her to do just that. It was only be ungrateful of her not to play along.
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Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:50 am
"Thank you," he said, and slowly stood from the fence. He kept one hand braced against the stone as he did so to help himself up, and his face tightened briefly in pain; for the briefest of instants his patrician features seemed to distort, replaced by something horribly gaunt and staring — but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared, like the flash of a deer's tail fleeing through a shadowed wood. The hand he held against his coat had begun trembling.
"Forgive me," he said afterwards. "I am still recovering from my exertions yesterday, and the amount of iron in this place is upsetting. Would you like to speak over there?" he asked Darcy, indicating a tree several yards down along the fence, and then nodded to Soibhan. Naturally she, too, was invited.
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Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 3:36 pm
Why is he doin' this? Bein' here? Putting himself through pain like that...
Soibhan still wasn't willing to see any benevolence in the spirit, and she hadn't decided yet if it was because she feared him or simply mistrusted him. There was a good chance it was both, but as of yet, she had no reason to fear him. Gwyn on the other hand.
At his nod, she nudged Lochlan forward, the stallion unenthusiastically plodding along beside Llyr and this other woman she hadn't caught the name of. A hedgewitch maybe?
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