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Post by Caraf Tewar on Feb 28, 2006 15:49:53 GMT -5
"What types of books do you like?" I asked him as we made our way through the afternoon bustle of shoppers.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 1, 2006 11:19:52 GMT -5
I thought for a moment, I'd read so many books over the years it was hard to know which were my favorites.
"I like some of the histories, philosophy, almost any poetry. I've read so much it's hard to really say which are my favorites. I have recently gotten into fiction, a few memoirs, and I think I like those best for the moment." Something clicked into place, de Mornay, I'd heard the name.
"Thelesis. I wonder if Jessamine de Mornay has some relation to her. Most likely. I wonder if she too writes, she has that dreaminess about her." I looked at Caraf, "Sorry, that happens sometimes, I never conciously think of things, they just simmer in the backround and something triggers them to the forefront. Makes for rather disconcerting jumps in the conversation."
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 1, 2006 14:57:18 GMT -5
"If you think that was disconcerting, you have obviously never spoken to my dear friend Vivien. He can make your head spin in the space of five words," I said with a chuckle.
I should try and see Vivien if I had time before the fete.
"Oh look!" I said, pointing to a store window. There was display of carved horses in all colors of the imagination. Some were accented with flowers and ribbons while others had armor and looked ready for battle. "Sara would love those!"
I had released Janyx's hand as we left the Night Court, but I grabbed it again and pulled him towards the shop, weaving around the other shoppers.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 1, 2006 23:18:10 GMT -5
I laughed at her enthusiasm as she held my hand and dragged me through the crowd. Inside the shop were more toys than I had ever seen. Caraf picked up and studied each horse. I was reluctant to touch them, instead watching her and playing with a cleverly carved and jointed snake.
One horse in particular caught my eye. A knight's mount, the color of old blood. I went pale, my vision fading in and out, the noise of the shop and Caraf's chatter crowded out by the roaring of a great river...
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 1, 2006 23:49:06 GMT -5
"What do you think of… " I asked, turning around.
Janyx was as white as parchment and looked as if his mind was far far away. I set down the horse I was holding and stepping over to him.
"Janyx?"
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 2, 2006 0:02:06 GMT -5
Caraf's voice and the touch on my arm snapped me back. I pulled in a shaky breath, let it out slowly, and felt the color return to my face.
"That horse, the red one. Like something from a night mare I can't quite remember. I'm so sorry, I am behaving most poorly. Forgive me." I stepped to her other side, away from the horse display and felt a measure of clam come back to me.
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 2, 2006 9:27:55 GMT -5
I glanced over at the horse, it looked like the others. If anything, more plain than the rest.
"I can meet you just outside if you'd like. I am just going to choose a couple an pay for them," I said turning back to Janyx.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 2, 2006 11:13:33 GMT -5
I swiped a shaky hand over my face, the sensations already drainging from me. I looked at the horse and only felt a residual shiver of fear. I hated not being able to remember. Hated the sensations that even benign objects could rouse. Caraf's puzzlement was more than shared.
"I'm fine, really... but I think I will take your offer, and wait outside, the air should clear my head." I gave her an appologetic look and slipped outside. I leaned against the building, breathing deeply, trying to remember.
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 2, 2006 11:38:59 GMT -5
Concerned, I watched him go outside. I shook my head and went back to the horses.
I chose a white one festooned with ribbons and a grey decked out in full armor. I paid the clerk and watched as he wrapped them securely. He handed me the package and I went out to where Janyx was standing.
"Are you alright to keep shopping? I would like to buy her some hair ribbons," I asked him.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 2, 2006 18:08:21 GMT -5
She exited the shop, a neatly wrapped package in hand.
"I'm fine, truly. It happens every now and then, something almost triggers a memory, but it never quiet comes to the surface. Here, let me carry that for you, the least I can do is be your beast of burden." I offered her my arm and we wandered trhough the crowds.
"If I am to indure ribbon shopping, I want a favor. I need a new book, and you will have to come with me and help me find a good one."
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 2, 2006 20:59:36 GMT -5
I smiled at Janyx, pleased he was feeling more himself again.
"That seems a fair trade," I said, pointing to the shop I wanted to visit. "You won't have much to endure with the hair ribbons, I promise. Sara has such beautiful long red hair, no one is for sure where she got it from. This is her tenth birthday and I just want to choose a few that look more grown up."
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 2, 2006 22:51:31 GMT -5
So many colors, all neatly laid out, or hung from stands. The ribbons were something entirely alien to me, but lovely. I found a few that matched Caraf's gown perfectly. I'd get them when she wasn't looking, as a thank you. Another ribbon caught my eye, this one the color of brightest saffron. It reminded me of Meda's Kritian gown, all bold reds and yellows on black. Don't forget those magnificent tits. I smiled wryly.
"Tell me about your family, Caraf. You speak so lovingly of them, I want to know more."
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 2, 2006 23:16:40 GMT -5
I picked up a lovely ivory ribbon shot through with gold and turned to the greens.
"My parents met in the market. My mother, Deidre, was a maid in a noble's house and my father, Mateau, was delivering items from the farm. They fell in love instantly and courted until my mother could leave her position. They were married and lived on the farm. Three years later I showed up, four years after that came David, and then four more years and Sara joined us," I told him.
I choose a pair of green ribbons and another from the yellows before looking at the floral ones.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 3, 2006 21:28:43 GMT -5
I smiled, she looked so wistful and happy talking about them.
"My foster mother and her husband married in much the same way. She had long ago finished her marque, but refused to wed Lord Nocte until I was officially dedicated and accepted into Heliotrope. They live in the City still, with my foster siblings. Andre is the eldest, just fourteen, and already acting like a man. Avassa and Desiree are ten and eight. Mother is convinced that one of them will end up at Jasmine."
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 3, 2006 23:16:03 GMT -5
I chose a very adult looking black and white floral ribbon and headed towards the clerk.
"Are you close with any of them? Sara and David are so close they are almost like twins separated by years instead of minutes. I love them both, but there is something extraordinarily special between them," I told Janyx as I paid the clerk and she coiled the ribbons into a small bag that I tied on my belt.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 4, 2006 13:51:27 GMT -5
"Not peticularly close, no. I'm thirteen years older than Andre, and much of the time he and the girls were growing up, I have been at the Night Court." I went quiet then, thinking. My marque had been finished nearly six years ago, and I had not left Heliotrope, even though my foster mother urged me to do something with my life. I supose it was familiar, and that's why I stayed.
"Do you intend to stay at Heliotrope once your marque is finished?"
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 4, 2006 16:43:16 GMT -5
"Oh yes," I said as I came back to near where he was standing. "I can't imagine spending my life anywhere else. I love my family, but Heliotrope is home. I will stay as long as they let me. They will have to drag my wrinkled, ugly old body out the front door and bolt it behind me when they tire of me," I said with a laugh.
"And you? Your marque is finished, yes? Do you plan to stay until they kick you out?"
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 5, 2006 20:15:50 GMT -5
I gave her a wry grin, "Well, I haven't got anything else to do, so I'll stay until they make me leave. I love Heliotrope, and the Night Court, but sometimes, well, sometimes I feel like I should be doing something else. I just don't know what it is supposed to be."
I offered her my arm again, and we left the shop. I would come back for the ribbons. "Now that the torture of ribbons is out of the way, is there aught else, or can we go look at books?" I teased.
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 5, 2006 20:26:47 GMT -5
"Oh the things you have endured for the sake of chivalry," I said with a laugh as we exited the store. "I am yours to direct now, lead on good sir!"
I thought about his reaction in the book store and what he said about not knowing what he should be doing.
"Forgive me if I am being presumptuous. Have you ever visited Gentian? They might be able to help you remember or figure out what it is you are supposed to be doing. My dearest friend is an adept there, he has a talent with cards. Or he could suggest someone else if you'd like."
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 5, 2006 20:32:59 GMT -5
We walked sedately to my favorite booksellers. I listened to her suggestion and gave it some thought.
"I should try again. I went a few times, when I was much, much younger. I even asked my foster mother's mother, she was a Tsingani wise woman, skilled in the dromonde. Niether could tell me anything usefull, just that something terrible had happened. Maybe your friend could help, maybe not. It would be nice to know though, once and for all."
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 5, 2006 22:46:51 GMT -5
"If you do decide to try again I am sure Vivien would be happy to help either through a reading or suggesting someone else," I said.
Before I could say anything else I had to jump out of the way as a boy went running past, a loaf of bread in his hand and a store owner right behind him. I laughed as the boy stopped suddenly, dashing behind the store owner and heading off in the other direction. The owner stopped, shook his head and began to walk back in the direction from which they had emerged.
"Just one exciting moment after the other today," I said with a laugh.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 6, 2006 12:19:59 GMT -5
"All we need is a parade, or for it to rain. But I suppose the rain is more likely than the parade." I looked up at the sky, which was crystal blue. "Maybe not." I smiled back.
We reached the bookseller's shop, I held the door for Caraf as we entered. The rich scent of leather, bindings and paper hit me. I don't know why, but that slightly musty smell always made me smile in anticipation. I loved the feel of leather bindings under my fingertips, the sounds that pages made as you turned them, and best of all, loosing yourself utterly in the words.
"Alright, you have a mission. Find something that looks interesting, but that you think I've never read."
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 6, 2006 16:34:11 GMT -5
"One quick stop at the ribbon store and now you feel the need to cloak me in a mission?" I said, grinning.
I narrowed my eyes and tried to look wicked, which wasn't easy since I was also trying not to laugh and grin. "I accept your mission, on the terms that if I do find something interesting that you haven't read you have to buy it and read it," I said. "Plus, if you enjoy it I get one trip to the ribbon store with you, no complaints allowed."
I stuck out my hand for him to shake. "Deal?" I asked, letting the grin break through.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 6, 2006 20:33:21 GMT -5
"I think I'm being swindled somewhere in this deal, but I thik I'll risk it. Deal." I shook her hand, enjoying the moment. It wasn't often I experienced playfulness.
"So I'll start down this row, and you that one. We'll meet up in say, twenty minutes and compare finds?"
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 6, 2006 22:12:06 GMT -5
"See you then," I said, spinning around and heading down my aisle.
I was determined to find something for him, not just to win but to find him something he would enjoy. I trailed my finger along the spines of the books, enjoying the various textures of the covers. I remembered what he said about liking fiction and memoirs at the moment, so that helped narrow my search. My eye was caught by a book with a bright blue binding and I opened it, but after a even just a brief skim I was bored by the plodding prose about a long ago war.
I turned around to look at the other side of the aisle. I started to move on to the other end of the row when I noticed a book on the bottom shelf. I knelt down and opened the black leather cover. It was the story of a soldier from Alba. It was written as a series of letters to the woman he had fallen in love with on a visit to Terra d'Ange, an adept at Heliotrope. I smiled and began to read more. My heart ached at the longing in his words, the way his very soul was divided between his duty to his Cruarch and the love of his life.
I looked up, realizing I must have been kneeling there long enough that it was time to meet Janyx. Standing, I headed back, book in hand.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 7, 2006 18:19:22 GMT -5
I'd found a few potentially interesting volumes. Mostly histories, and to my secret delight, a book of translated Hellene poetry. All things Hellene caught my interest right now, especially Meda. I forced the thought of her from me.
I watched Caraf approach, a book in hand. I grinned. "So what have you found for me, bright eyes?"
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 7, 2006 19:04:55 GMT -5
I didn't know if Janyx would really like the book or not. It had reminded me of him last night, speaking of this woman he thought he might love.
"A tale of a man torn between duty and love, not knowing if he should follow his heart or stay the path that life had shown him," I said, handing him the book and smiling.
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 8, 2006 12:46:22 GMT -5
I took the book, eyed it dubiously and looked at Caraf's smiling eyes.
"Is this a hint, bright eyes?" I skimmed through a few pages. I'd read it, but doubted I would be returning to the ribbon seller with Caraf any time soon.
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Post by Caraf Tewar on Mar 8, 2006 23:14:10 GMT -5
I made a face and stuck my tongue out at him.
"Not in the least," I snatched to book away from him and held it behind my back. "I was rather taken by the little bit I read, so I'll buy it. You can stick to your stuffy historical memoirs that speak to your morose brooding nature. After I've finished the book, if you are very very very nice to me I might lend it to you."
I swirled and headed towards the clerk. "Besides," I called over my shoulder, laughing," you never said what would happen if I didn't accomplish my mission."
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Post by Janyx nó Heliotrope (I) on Mar 8, 2006 23:21:37 GMT -5
I rolled my eyes at her immaturity and made a face at her right back.
"How terribly remiss of me! No forfeiture if you failed in your mission. I suppose it's too late to add one now?"
I followed her to the clerk, my 'stuffy memoirs' under one arm.
"So what do I have to do to get you to lend me the book, bright eyes? Not more ribbon shopping, that would just be cruel."
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