|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat May 23, 2009 8:47 pm
Xerris moved around her brother's herb patch, sorting and selecting. She had worked hard to achieve her station; she stood high among the doctors. And why wouldn't she? After all, she had had the best teacher in the world.
While she moved restlessly, she spoke to herself, naming the various plants and how best to make use of them.
"Wild yam, good for colic... Ladies fingers, relieves depression and fatigue; also good for moving the bowels... Feverfew, for fevers obviously but of course good for aches and pains of all sorts too; and, take enough of it, purgative... What else? What else? Ah, Valerian; sedative. Verbascum flowers for respiratory problems..."
As she named them, Xerris snapped off the parts she needed and gently laid them aside. Unfortunately the weather was beginning to turn and a breeze had begun to pick up. Cursing, she tucked her wings tight to her sides and began the process of gathering up all that she had collected. Such was her luck, it had never much improved..
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 8:32 am
Shrugging internally, the chestnut began to spiral towards the ground; the blue mare might know where her brother was, and if not he supposed he could talk with her for a while. It was probably time he got to know more of Dahak's family, after all Dahak's mother was now Tactical Adviser to his mother, it was important for him to know about people who were close to the Queen. Haha, Royal Adviser and Tactical Adviser for parents, all of Dahak's family must be very proud to come from such good blood!
His hooves touched the ground lightly, and Aeolus tucked his wings in beside his flanks. "Greetings," he said with a nod to the blue mare, "have you seen Dahak today by any chance?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 4:04 pm
"No, as a matter of fact, I have not," Xerris replied curtly, annoyed at the interruption. She didn't yet realize she was talking to a prince of the royal family but, even if she had, she wouldn't have much cared at the moment. She tended the sick and the injured; they were her top priority.
Muttering darkly, she again tried to rein in the herbs she had picked but the wind kept pushing them further out of her reach. Finally, she could take it no longer.
"Drek," she cursed, stomping a hoof. "Damn the wind, damn my luck for bringing it and damn everything else too!" Sighing gustily, the blue mare looked skyward and closed her eyes, taking a moment to regain her patience. Then she finally turned her gaze on Aeolus.
'Pretty,' she thought, studying him for a brief moment then returning to the business at hand. "You'll have to excuse me," she added, by way of apology. "Stress, nor ill luck, does not become me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 4:36 pm
Aeolus scowled slightly. Alright, her blood was good, but her manners were terrible! The apology was all very well, but that was no way to have spoken to a superior in the first place... It was different when he got to know people. He wouldn't mind a snap from one of the young soldiers he often socialized with, wouldn't be able to stand it if they were always formal and polite in fact, and he would accept it from this mare's father because of his higher standing but this girl... Who did she think she was? Did she think her connections made it alright for her to speak so disrespectfully to a prince? If she did, she had another thing coming.
"You are excused," he said with a slight nod, looking her up and down again with slightly pursed lips, and trying to recall which sister she might be... Xerris. He thought. He wasn't quite sure, but he thought this one was Xerris. "Xerris, is it not?" he quizzed, rearranging his wings by his sides. Dahak would probably be back before too long, and with luck this mare's manners would improve. If not, well, he'd damn well put her in her place.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 8:44 am
A scowl followed up by an appraising look, complete with pursed lips? Xerris had to raise an eyebrow at such scrutiny. No one looked at her like that but her father and that was because he was always so disapproving. Still, this particular stallion's reactions amused more than annoyed her. The blue-brindle mare wanted to smile but that might not be prudent so, smiling with her eyes, she returned his scrutiny without a trace of meekness.
"I'm Xerris, yes. And you are?" she inquired, trying to sound polite. By the way he acted she figured she should probably know his name but damned if she had any clear idea on who he was. She met a lot of nequus on a day to day basis; she simply didn't have the capacity to remember all their names. She did, however, always remember faces and their accompanying ailments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:00 am
For a few moments he just stared at her in silence. Okay. She was the daughter of the Royal Adviser, and yet she had no idea who her royals were? He could hardly believe it! Had Xla'lanan and Undine been negligent?... Ah. Well. Those two. They expected initiative. He supposed if she had never asked, they wouldn't have told her. Dahak had told him once his mother liked to let him make his own mistakes. His father... well they were less than close. The Royal Adviser had never liked magic... never liked magic. Oh yes, he remembered Dahak saying one of his sisters was fixated with magic, or had been at one point, and had gone on to be a doctor. That explained why she was up here at least... And he still hadn't responded to her.
"My name is Aeolus," he said curtly, "that's prince Aeolus, by the by. I would have thought a doctor of good standing might at some point her her life have trouble to discover the names and faces of the royal family." People who showed such disrespect did not remain of good standing for very long. If she was good at what she did he didn't want to drag her down, but she needed to buck her ideas up a bit! Every new member of the herd was required to recognize the royals before they were allowed to join, but this girl who had lived here all her life had just never bothered. It was unbelievable, really truly unbelievable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:05 pm
'Royalty, hmm?' Well, that explained the glower and the holier-than-thou attitude. The looks of disapproval she could live with; she'd tolerated that sort of thing from Xla'lanan her whole life. The attitude was what she didn't much care for. Xerris supposed it wouldn't be the best idea to get on his bad side but she wasn't prone to holding her tongue either. If he were the Queen or the heir, she might just give a damn. But he wasn't so why should she care?
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she said, holding back on the sarcasm only slightly. "But, as a doctor, I find getting to know the names and faces of those I take care of on a grander scale than memorizing who's who in the royal family. I have never once treated any of you and one would suppose that it wouldn't be my place to socialize with your sort anyway. Now, if you'll excuse me. Good luck finding Dahak.." she said, finally managing to gather up her herbs and turning in one graceful move.
'The nerve of some people!' Xerris thought, shaking her head as she began to walk away. She cared for the herd and its ideals, yes, but her job was tending the sick; not stroking the ego of her "superiors".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 2:44 pm
He did not care for Dahak's sister in the least. What kind of Katilenuck had never bothered to find out who the royals were? It wasn't even as if there were many of them! Not only had she not bothered, but she behaved as if she was proud of not having bothered, as if she had a right to behave as she was behaving...
She was turning her back on him!
Aeolus did not like to think of himself as a spoiled bratty prince who couldn't stand it when people failed to grovel, but this girl enraged him beyond words. He had not asked groveling, he found such behavior false and suspicious in fact, couldn't stand suck ups. What he did expect was recognition and a little respect. If she wasn't going to give that to him - and he had given her the chance to make up for her mistake - then clearly giving her a position of responsibility in the herd had been foolish.
Teeth bared and ears pinned flat against his skull, Aeolus sprung forward and placed himself in front of the blue mare. "Don't you dare turn your back on me!" Snarling at the impudent little wretch, he lashed out viciously with his fore hooves. She had been given every chance to apologize, but she had not taken it. Apparently the daughter of his mother's closest adviser thought herself too important to trouble with her superiors. That was a thought that needed to be beaten out of her head in short order.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 5:27 am
In the face of his violent outburst, Xerris simply took a step back, just enough to move out of his reach. Then she shook her forelock out of her face and turned sad blue eyes on him, watching him. She showed no fear; more like something akin to pity. But not pity for him.
"Yes, that's right. Face everything you don't agree with with violence. That's always the way to solve any problem, correct? It is you, and those like you, who make my job more difficult. You are the ones who send the injured to me in droves. Ceaseless, never-ending waves of broken bones and rent flesh..."
The blue mare trailed off and looked away, blinking back tears. She hadn't meant to show so much emotion but there it was. Taking a deep breath, she turned her gaze back on him, a hurt in her eyes that went deep, probably deeper than this stuck-up princeling could ever fathom.
"I am tired, Aeolus-hallah. Old beyond my years. Heartsick of all the blood and death that surrounds me on a day to day basis. I humbly ask that you allow me to continue my work, provided it will leave your dignity intact and your sense of superiority in place." She very wisely, surprisingly enough, kept herself from adding 'Not that anyone need worry over that. You were born feeling superior'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 6:48 am
Aeolus pinned his ears back, enraged at her accusation. "It may surprise you to know, wench," he snapped, "that you are the the first I have needed to teach a lesson in that manner. Never before have I met one with such a thick skull and so very little respect for the chain of command. You disgrace yourself, and more disappointingly you disgrace your family. Cheek I can take, mistakes I can handle if they are corrected by I will not stand for some slip of a girl behaving as if she is my superior."
It disgusted him to think that this thing was related to his dearest friend, and his mother's two closest advisers. How she could have sprung from Xla'lanan and Undine he had no the faintest idea. Pah. What kind of doctor got weepy over blood anyway? They were the Katilencuk! They fought. They did not cringe and flee.
"I highly doubt," he went on, "that you get 'droves' of citizens coming to you injured by their superiors. This is, you see, because most of them understand where respect is due, and give it as such. Blood and death; sneezes and snivels." Tossing his head contemptuously, Aeolus turned away from the blue mare. "Be on your way Xerris," he said, voice going chill and level, "but do not surprised if your actions this day have consequences." So saying, the chestnut stallion bunched his muscles and sprang away; after only a few strides he was in the air, soaring away from the wretch who did not deserve to call herself Katilenuck.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
