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Post by Jasper de Montchrestien (D) on Aug 11, 2006 6:41:46 GMT -5
I wasn’t entirely sure what impulse had made me offer to walk her home. Well, I was raised a gentleman even if I don’t act like one very often and the hungry eyes of the young man made me somewhat possessive. I didn’t like the idea of some pretty d’Angeline youth – everything I am not, in fact – overcoming her reluctance for assignations, at least not before she had modelled for me. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I realised how selfish it was. But such opportunities do not cross my path very often and perhaps I can be forgiven a little selfishness in the name of Art?
I was just about to offer her my arm … the pauper and the prostitute, what a fine pair we made … when the young man was suddenly upon us, advancing with slow steps as if we were deer he expected to startle. Unsurprisingly, it was not my alluring manners that had drawn him to us. I stood silent as he blurted out his conventionalities and, although my tongue fairly twitched to issue a sharp response, I kept my peace. After all, it was Khalidah he had addressed and not all of us are so eager to abandon our manners.
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
Sensual and Divine
Posts: 249
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Aug 11, 2006 22:02:05 GMT -5
I was startled by the young man's approach and even more so by his words. I felt self conscious suddenly and longed for a veil to cover my face. Women of the East never suffered this awkwardness, for no man save family and their husbands had the privilege of seeing them unveiled.
"Thank you, Messier Sellick. I assure you, we Servants are much as any other person. I too was once new to the City and stared much. But be advised, not all take so kindly to it. If you wish to see more Servants of Namaah, go to Her temple, or visit any of the Thirteen Houses. There they will not take offense." I stammered a little at first, but the last words held mild reproach. I still longed for my veil.
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Post by Shaye Sellick(D) on Aug 12, 2006 0:19:39 GMT -5
"Thank you Madame but that is another thing i wanted to approach you about." I stood up and straightened my jacket as worn as it was i hoped i looked even slightly presentable.
"You see i have been wondering where the thirteen houses lie within the city because i have a younger sister, Kathlene, she has been training at the local temple to be a servant of Namaah back home and it is her wish to come here to the City to learn from one of the great houses. I am here to try and get up money inorder to bring her here and find the house right for her and to help her with her dream." A blush began to cover my cheeks. I could not believe i was being this open but strangley i felt i had to be since i saw her in such a open state earlier.
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
Sensual and Divine
Posts: 249
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Aug 12, 2006 21:58:59 GMT -5
I spared a glance for the lavish Houses crowning Mont Nuit and remembered how they had looked to me the first time. I had thought surely a Sultan had lived there, not a den of flesh and pleasure.
"The Houses lie yonder, crowning this very summit. But gaining your sister entry is no easy thing. Each House holds true to their cannon, and selects adepts accordingly. If she fits any of those cannons, and comes with a letter of recommendation from the local temple, it is not a guarantee of acceptance. You should work on raising money first to bring here here, then petition the Houses."
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Post by Shaye Sellick(D) on Aug 15, 2006 16:21:34 GMT -5
my face lighted when she told me that the lavish houses were where i wanted to go but as she told me to raise money my face dropped.
"alas my lady i am one with little work experience and i knw not if i can get work good enough to bring her here soon. do you happen to know if any of the houses may be looking for guards or cooks or anything? i am desperate"
my head drops at desperate and hangs low on my chest.
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Post by Jasper de Montchrestien (D) on Aug 16, 2006 6:16:20 GMT -5
The conversation seemed liable to continue interminably. I was sure the young man was asking so many questions not because he needed the information but because he wanted my companion to answer. And I noticed she stammered a little she spoke to him. He was clearly making her uncomfortable. I concealed my impatience with difficulty, as the chill wind blew sharply about our ankles as it possessed teeth.
“Perhaps,” I suggested mildly, “if you are so desperate for employment you should consider asking at the houses instead of importuning strangers on the cold streets.”
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
Sensual and Divine
Posts: 249
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Aug 16, 2006 17:02:20 GMT -5
He looked so dejected and pitiful, and had some noble objective in helping his sister. But I wanted little to do with anyone selling themselves to the Night Court. It just seemed so alien an idea to me. I looked helplessly at Jasper then back to the boy.
"Go to Eglantine, speak with the Dowayne there and see if she can assist you in finding a place in one of the Houses. Tell her your wish for your sister, and I am sure she can advise you better than I. I would accompany you, but-" but what? I was going back to the House... " My patron and I needs must be on our way to his lodgings. Blessed Elua be with you." I wrapped my arm through Jasper's and cuddled next to him. Mother Ishtar, let him pick up on my ploy!
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Post by Shaye Sellick(D) on Aug 17, 2006 21:04:18 GMT -5
"i am sorry sir if i have offended you in such a way but i am just a simple country boy. i know not how to navigate this city or as it seems talk to those of a higher postion here than my self."
i bow to Khalidah.
"thank you my lady i am forever in your debt for this."
i stand and walk away towards the high houses thinking to my self howi was warned about how i would be treated here. i thought it was going to be diffrent. i thought i would find nothing but nice people. i guess i had just had my first lesson of the city.
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Sept 2, 2006 18:56:05 GMT -5
I watched the young man leave, my arm still entwined with Jasper's. How very strange this afternoon was turning to be. After the man was well out of sight I let go of Jasper's arm and smoothed down my cloak.
"I'm sorry for the lie, claiming you as my patron I just- could think of nothing else to divert him. He was a most- unusual person I think." A trifle anxious, I looked back the way he had gone, toward the Houses. Drat. No doubt he would do as I had bade him and seek out Eglantine. And I couldn't very well show up right after him with the lie I had told him. I sighed heavily. No doubt I'd need to find something to do for a few hours.
Preferably someplace warm.
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Post by Jasper de Montchrestien (D) on Sept 4, 2006 9:38:09 GMT -5
I stiffened momentarily as Khalidah turned her body into mine. Perhaps there are some advantages of threadbare clothing; I could feel the supple lines of her body, the play of the delicate muscles of a dancer beneath skin I could readily imagine soft and silken to the touch. I’m sure in that moment I looked very much a patron i.e. an utter idiot. I put a clumsy arm around her. It didn’t take very much at all to let a possessive look settle over my features. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to really be a patron, to have that sense of utter power and possession over another person. The idea of it made me a little bit uncomfortable, but was not without a shameful appeal.
The youth was bowing and making his apologies to us. He looked so desolate, I almost felt a little guilty for having been so brusque to him. But then I’m a brusque sort of person. One of the benefits of being nobody is that you don’t have to worry about other people’s consequence.
“Unusual?” I repeated. Khalidah still looked a little discomposed. I noticed that she withdrew her arm from mine the moment the young man was out of sight. I rather missed the warmth.
“It seemed to me like he was selling his sister. Are you all right?”
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
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Posts: 249
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Sept 4, 2006 21:57:24 GMT -5
"I'm cold is all. I'm always cold in winter it seems, it feels as if the wind bites right through my clothing and into my skin." I turned my face back to him and smiled faintly. I was always complaining of the cold and no doubt he thought me as silly for it as everyone else.
And he was selling her, but at least she wanted to be sold. I had had no choice, and wanted no part in helping anyone else enter into the service unless they truly wanted it. And who was to say what the young woman wanted and what he said she wanted were the same. I chaffed my arms, trying to get some warmth back into my circulation but it was futile.
"Jasper- would you be terribly upset if we did in truth go to your lodgings, and began sketching today? I don't want to go back to the House and run into him, and reveal my lie. If you have clients, I understand and will find elsewhere to hide for a while." I worried my lower lip between my teeth for a moment before forcing myself to stop. Fidgeting was unbecoming of a lady, so my mother had always admonished me.
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Post by Jasper de Montchrestien (D) on Sept 19, 2006 10:04:32 GMT -5
“I’m always cold, too,” I said. “But having been born in this damp, chilly country I don’t think I have anything like your excuse. I know it’s not the act of a gentleman to watch a lady shiver but if I give you my coat I’m afraid I might lose an extremity. At the very least though I can offer you my arm again. Perhaps we can share what little warmth we possess.”
Her request took me by surprise, inspiring a curious mixture of eagerness and dread … dread because I would have no chance to make my mean little lodgings any less mean. I suspect you can tell a lot about the heart of a man from where he dwells and I dwell … well … I dwell in disorder. It’s clean disorder but my mother would call it mess. And nothing betrays my complete unsuitability for the life I lead quite like my rooms.
“I’ll need to clear some floor space before you can pose anywhere,” I said, with what I hoped was a self-deprecating smile. “Or, for that matter, get inside. I’ve just moved in you see … and I’m still decorating. A bit.” I realised I was babbling and closed my lips firmly on my lies. “But you’re more than welcome. You don’t have to wander around in the cold because I was rude to a stranger.”
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
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Posts: 249
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Sept 19, 2006 17:11:29 GMT -5
Gratefully I stepped close to him again and slipped my arm through his. He was right, his coat was thin, and he had no spare flesh on him at all. But he was slightly warmer than I, and I would not refuse his kindness.
Smiling faintly at him I craned my head to look at him, "Oh, I'll even help you tidy up, if that is your wish. But truthfully I don't mind. I am imposing on your hospitality after all, and it would be unspeakably rude to complain of your messy ways, now wouldn't it?" A hint of humor laced my words. How like a man to be eager to start something new, yet fear my reaction to his previous messes. My own rooms were tidy not for any love of order on my part, but simply due to a lack of material possessions.
"Come, I think walking will warm us up more as well. And rest assured, I will still think you a talented artist, even if you are a poor housekeeper." I felt strangely giddy. This whole afternoon was so surreal, and I was doing something so unlike myself to become free. It felt good.
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Post by Jasper de Montchrestien (D) on Sept 20, 2006 8:49:41 GMT -5
I could feel her cold hand upon my arm even through my coat and shirt sleeve. She really was unsuited to this climate. I saw how the wintery brightness lent her a pallor that had no place upon her features, and the marbled grey sky seemed to leech the brightness from her eyes, such a contrast to the glow and the grace the sunlight had given her. I vowed that I would find it again with my pencil.
I felt a smile tugging at my lips, despite my reluctance to reveal too much of the truth of my circumstances. “You might change your mind when you see it,” I said. “But you can always make a run for it. My shop is very near. And at least it will be warmer inside. I may even be able to offer you a drink of some sort.” Maybe. If mould had not set in.
I led her briskly through the winding streets to my tiny shop, squidged between the bookshop and an apothecary. The latter, at least, was useful. The shop was clean and scrupulously well-maintained – the less said about the rooms above the better.
“If you don’t mind my asking … why are you here?” I asked, fiddling ineptly with my keys. I hadn’t meant it to sound quite so awkward but I was curious, and I have always been bad at resisting the urgings of curiosity. “I mean, what brought you here, to Terre d’Ange, to Eglantine? Would you not be happier somewhere …" Else? "Warmer," I finished.
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Khalidah Clavel (I)
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Comtesse Clavel, House Clavel, Former Eglantine adept
Sensual and Divine
Posts: 249
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Post by Khalidah Clavel (I) on Sept 21, 2006 22:10:34 GMT -5
Patiently I waited for him to open his door, taking in the smell of herbs on the cold air. It wasn't pleasant, more comforting than anything else, the smell was. His question made me pause, and think.
There were any number of ways I could answer, had answered, that same question. I told him the one I privately thought.
"Kismet, I think. Fate brought me here, for some purpose, I'm not sure what, but for a reason. Else the events that have happened to me would be nothing but capricious cruelty on the part of the gods. I doubt it's a very grand purpose, but there is one, and it gives me hope." My face was serious as I told him, as it so often was. "And there is no harm in curiosity, I do not mind."
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