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 Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:22 pm
Elysia Kavanagh Slowly, Lorelei reached up with both hands trembling and undid the quick knot Caroline had made. The blindfold fell down to her lap, revealing her new scarred and pitted face. One eye still refused to open, covered as it was with a barely healed sore. The other was clear blue - not Lorelei's green.
But the spark inside that one eye was the same, her usual melancholy look multiplied a thousand-fold at this newest tragedy. As she looked at Leax for the first time in months, she fell forward a little, heaving with choked sobs, bandaged hands supporting her on the deck.
Slowly, though, she lifted her face back to his.
"You find me in pieces."
In the dark of his cloak, Vanna snuggled close, shivering in fear and confusion as to what was going on. Her mother was hurt, she was scared... but Leax was here, and Leax was good. He was good. "I find you troubled. But without you, I'm troubled." He didn't know what else to say- but he came forward, and knelt next to her on the deck. He touched her face, reaching out, though his other hand supported the girl beneath his askew cape. "My beautiful... broken girl."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:24 pm
Menelie [I love Vanna. She's adorable.] Suddenly he's sorry he asked. "Tut tut," he says, taking her hands into his. "Don't fret yourself, Angelique. Come with me, we'll get you cleaned up, and some food in your belly, and you'll feel acres better." His manner is gentle, loving. His heart goes out to the young woman. To be unceremoniously dumped out of one's life...it must be horrible. She followed him, even though he was different than anything she had ever known- like a kitten scorned from its mothers care may turn to a human hand- accepting a new world when the one it comes from has refused it. His hand was so large, and hers so small, but she did not let it go, or falter.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:26 pm
Lorelei drew back at first, face distorted with fear, uncertainty, grief. But then she yielded, drawing close enough to lean into his touch, to reach out and stroke his cheek in turn.
"I... I wanted to find you. After I left, back near Enallas... back when the caravans separated... we've been through so much since then, my sisters and I, but my thoughts..." Another choked sob. She turned her face away for a moment, cheeks burning red where the fair skin was still visible. "Were constantly on you."
She shifted on the dock, drawing closer again, now reaching out to hold Vanna through his cloak as well. "But now, when I finally see you again, a spell gone wrong has left me sick and deformed, and I've fallen upon such great tragedy. I don't know what to do, Leax. I don't..."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:26 pm
Valelldia "Nereid Isle..." Valelldia said, silent for most of the mother-and-daughter transaction, and the subsequent spill of an easy secret. "is several weeks away, by boat. I wouldn't want you to go alone, you'd be very far away from us, especially as we would continue travelling. I wouldn't want you to leave us, sister." She put a comforting, dark hand on Lesh's shoulder. "Perhaps we can talk to the caravan about travelling to the Isle."
"You're right...Of course I couldn't leave." Leshya'e said with some hesitation in her voice. There was still something eating at her. "Our banya said something about the shore...about the 'key' waiting at the shore...I can't ruin Anezka's chance, but I don't even know what we're to be searching for"
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:29 pm
Elysia Kavanagh Lorelei drew back at first, face distorted with fear, uncertainty, grief. But then she yielded, drawing close enough to lean into his touch, to reach out and stroke his cheek in turn.
"I... I wanted to find you. After I left, back near Enallas... back when the caravans separated... we've been through so much since then, my sisters and I, but my thoughts..." Another choked sob. She turned her face away for a moment, cheeks burning red where the fair skin was still visible. "Were constantly on you."
She shifted on the dock, drawing closer again, now reaching out to hold Vanna through his cloak as well. "But now, when I finally see you again, a spell gone wrong has left me sick and deformed, and I've fallen upon such great tragedy. I don't know what to do, Leax. I don't..." He silenced her, dark fingers lain flat against lips not her own- but curse-given. Then he pulled it back. "We will fix it. Together, we will fix it. It's what I came to tell you," he said, softly, almost in tears himself, as he lay a hand atop hers, where she rested it on Vanna through the cloak. "I'm leaving my caravan. I don't want to be alone, anymore."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:31 pm
"We'll visit the dressmaker's first, then get a bite to eat." A polite man would ask the lady her opinion, but what this injured dove needs now is someone to tell her what to do. He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. His hands are warm and dry, and mostly soft but for the fiddler's callouses on his fingertips. He begins to talk about himself, spin his humble tale into a colorful tapestry to distract her from her own troubles.
"I was born a gypsy, the second son of my parents and soon followed by four more children. I've twin sisters a bit older than yourself, Angelique. My family and I traveled all around the world, offering entertainment to the poor and selling things to the rich. When I was old enough, I made my way away from my family and out to make a place for myself in the world. I joined another caravan, a trading caravan, and stayed there for many years. When the head died, we split things up among ourselves and went our separate ways. And I ended up here in the Port." He smiles at her. "And it's being here that's led me to you, Angelique."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:32 pm
Maeko-Hana Valelldia "Nereid Isle..." Valelldia said, silent for most of the mother-and-daughter transaction, and the subsequent spill of an easy secret. "is several weeks away, by boat. I wouldn't want you to go alone, you'd be very far away from us, especially as we would continue travelling. I wouldn't want you to leave us, sister." She put a comforting, dark hand on Lesh's shoulder. "Perhaps we can talk to the caravan about travelling to the Isle."
"You're right...Of course I couldn't leave." Leshya'e said with some hesitation in her voice. There was still something eating at her. "Our banya said something about the shore...about the 'key' waiting at the shore...I can't ruin Anezka's chance, but I don't even know what we're to be searching for""I don't think that your fortunes both meant... the same piece of the trirune, but differed parts." Valelldia was, through means of her own keeping, knowledgeable of the meij fortunes that spread throughout her caravan. "There is something else here, at the shore that might help you, I would say, Sister." She looked over the vast crowd. "I saw Gwynna walking earlier, with a man with wings. Perhaps he might be able to aid you."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:32 pm
She looked up at him, eye wide and lips parted in shock. Her brow furrowed. "Leax? What... do you mean...?" She twisted the hand he covered, interlacing one or two of her fingers with his, even as she stroked Vanna gently with another.
"To stay... with me? With Vanna?" Her voice barely rose above a whisper. She was scared, afraid to hope. But the way he looked at her...
Vanna cooed, squirming a little in the cloak. She could barely hear them, voices muffled by fabric. But she could feel the warmth between them, feel the calm, protective touch on her. She was calming, slowly, soothed by their touch and by Leax's heartbeat.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:35 pm
Menelie "We'll visit the dressmaker's first, then get a bite to eat." A polite man would ask the lady her opinion, but what this injured dove needs now is someone to tell her what to do. He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. His hands are warm and dry, and mostly soft but for the fiddler's callouses on his fingertips. He begins to talk about himself, spin his humble tale into a colorful tapestry to distract her from her own troubles. "I was born a gypsy, the second son of my parents and soon followed by four more children. I've twin sisters a bit older than yourself, Angelique. My family and I traveled all around the world, offering entertainment to the poor and selling things to the rich. When I was old enough, I made my way away from my family and out to make a place for myself in the world. I joined another caravan, a trading caravan, and stayed there for many years. When the head died, we split things up among ourselves and went our separate ways. And I ended up here in the Port." He smiles at her. "And it's being here that's led me to you, Angelique." "I have heard all my life that gypsies are but... wandering thieves of a magic they cannot hold," her voice, raspy and sweet, was as his hand: both warm and dry, and she spoke as one both flustered and unburdened. "But I have seen so much meij at work, and now, when is the time that our secrets are unbound before the others..." she fell silent for a measure. "It is supposed to be a thing of joy, you see... Baptiste," she said, testing his name as she looked up into his eyes, "we are open to our sisters and brothers like we never are- and it is something that binds us together." She couldn't say more than that. She had shamed herself, and even if what she believed was real, that didn't stop her from feeling like a blossom blown into the wind.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:37 pm
Elysia Kavanagh She looked up at him, eye wide and lips parted in shock. Her brow furrowed. "Leax? What... do you mean...?" She twisted the hand he covered, interlacing one or two of her fingers with his, even as she stroked Vanna gently with another.
"To stay... with me? With Vanna?" Her voice barely rose above a whisper. She was scared, afraid to hope. But the way he looked at her...
Vanna cooed, squirming a little in the cloak. She could barely hear them, voices muffled by fabric. But she could feel the warmth between them, feel the calm, protective touch on her. She was calming, slowly, soothed by their touch and by Leax's heartbeat. His voice choked, and he nearly sobbed. "We've known each other so short a time... but, would that my heart find another I'd rather only look on you for the rest of my days. Let me take care of you. And Vanna."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:40 pm
Something broke inside of Lorelei, something akin to floodgates, and she crumpled against him, careful to lean against Leax so that Vanna was cradled - still unseen - between them. She rested her head against his shoulder, hiding her face against his neck as she cried the few tears she had left.
"Please, please," she whispered, clinging to him. "Stay with us. We need you... I need you."
The need was strong, different from the need she'd had for Shamira. Leax, she felt, would fix things. He'd help her find a way out of this whole mess. And then they would be happy, and raise Vanna together.
Vanna cooed, snuggling up against her mother through the cloth. She pressed her little baby hands to her mother's face through the fabric, gently. Her eyes glowed in the darkness.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:43 pm
Baptiste smiles at the use of his name. "My name sounds like a flower coming from your voice," he says as they near the dressmaker's. "And perhaps it is time you get a new outlook on gypsies. We are wanderers, true, and the magic that governs our lives is uncontainable. But it is no less beautiful than the White magic that has given you purpose, Angelique."
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:46 pm
Elysia Kavanagh Something broke inside of Lorelei, something akin to floodgates, and she crumpled against him, careful to lean against Leax so that Vanna was cradled - still unseen - between them. She rested her head against his shoulder, hiding her face against his neck as she cried the few tears she had left.
"Please, please," she whispered, clinging to him. "Stay with us. We need you... I need you."
The need was strong, different from the need she'd had for Shamira. Leax, she felt, would fix things. He'd help her find a way out of this whole mess. And then they would be happy, and raise Vanna together.
Vanna cooed, snuggling up against her mother through the cloth. She pressed her little baby hands to her mother's face through the fabric, gently. Her eyes glowed in the darkness. He held her waters of emotion- a gate against her flood, and said nothing- only stroked her tortured hair and murmured wordless responses against her ear.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:47 pm
Menelie Baptiste smiles at the use of his name. "My name sounds like a flower coming from your voice," he says as they near the dressmaker's. "And perhaps it is time you get a new outlook on gypsies. We are wanderers, true, and the magic that governs our lives is uncontainable. But it is no less beautiful than the White magic that has given you purpose, Angelique." She warmed to something in his words- maybe all of his words, and allowed herself to be lead, both in what he said, and what he did, taking her nearer a shop.
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:48 pm
It took five, nearly ten minutes for her to regain her composure. But then she straightened, drawing away from him, looking into his eyes.
"We have to find a way to fix this... whatever it is. I want... I want to be able to see Vanna again." She glanced down at the girl, hidden. "She must be getting hot," Lorelei whispered, reaching down to grab the blindfold.
Another searching look at Leax. "You will guide me, right? I trust you to."
And then she tied the cloth back around her eyes with a faint smile.
A second thought - Marissa and Caroline. She stood, turning towards where they must have stood. Her cheeks colored. "Ah..." she said, unsure of just what to say.
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