Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 13, 2011 16:20:33 GMT -5
"In Caerdicci," I corrected. "Where I come from, La Serinissima is a city states of the Caerdicci Unitas. Like a steading, we have our own rulers."
I looked at him appraisingly for a moment. He'd never left Skaldia, I supposed. If he ever chose to leave then he could very well travel the world.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 13, 2011 17:10:22 GMT -5
I nodded, repeating the names. Caerdicci. It sounded like a bird's call.
“Will you tell me of your homeland?” I asked, quietly after I'd swallowed a piece of meat. “Nothing – this isn't an interrogation. Tell me what you want, about the folk, about your music, about what you like.”
I just wanted to dream a little.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 13, 2011 18:10:43 GMT -5
He asked me to speak of home, and even if i hadn't wanted to, I could picture it clearly, everything that was beautiful and familiar and mine.
"It's a city on water," I began. "To get around you have to travel by gondola, through the canals. From our palazza you can see everything, all the buildings and the Temple of Asherat, in the old style of architecture. Sometimes when I'd hide from my mother, I'd just watch the city below, the traders and lovers and the boats weaving through the veins of water. At night the whole city lights up, especially during the Carnivale where everyone wears masks. That was my favourite time of year, the most festive time, and for a while I could pretend that I wasn't me."
I stopped abruptly. I hadn't meant to go on; I didn't realise I missed it so much, the city at least. The people, barring Silvana, I could care less about.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 13, 2011 19:06:11 GMT -5
I listened and listened, nodding, closing my eyes from time to time as I tried to imagine the world she was describing.
Cities on water – there were those, up by the flatlands, but I didn't expect that they had anything called a funny name like Carnivale, involving masks. That set me to wonder if it was religious, or aught else, but for now, I preferred to ask her another question instead.
“Why did you want to pretend you weren't you?” I asked quietly, my eyes on the ground where I was starting to draw runes, haphazardly, a strange meaningless doodle to occupy my hands.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 14, 2011 5:27:01 GMT -5
"Because if I were anyone else, then I might have been loved better. No political intrigue, no people with ulterior motives trying to curry favour with my family who would use me as a pawn for their ambitions."
I'd answered without thinking, for a moment forgetting that he was Skaldic, and the enemy. Curses, he had made me vulnerable by making me think of home.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 15, 2011 0:46:17 GMT -5
I listened, and it occurred to me that I could not comprehend what she was talking about, not really, or only if I took the first part of her statement and blocked out the rest.
I shrugged, went on with my doodle, wondering how powerful she was, then, if she was such a covetted individual.
“Would you sooner be in my place?” I asked after some thought, and my tone was even, thoughtful. I was trying to decide if I wanted hers or not. She might have been like Johanna, I decided.
It wasn't a bad place, if that was the case.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 15, 2011 4:18:09 GMT -5
"In some ways yes. I'd rather be free to make my own life than be reliant on a husband. Free to make my own choice to leave," I said pointedly.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 15, 2011 14:04:58 GMT -5
I thought quietly for a moment, changing my drawing scheme from runes to trees that were awkwardly reaching upwards.
“Do we ever have a choice?” I mused to the both of us. “If I leave, and go to Terre d'Ange, I will be shot on sight, for being the enemy. If I go to your country, I will be a barbarian, suited to no good.”
I didn't add, if I free you, I die. If I run with you, we both get killed, or worse.
I paused, looked up at her. “Life is difficult, at times, but it is still life, Arianna. And I cherish mine, regardless of its horror.”
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 15, 2011 16:55:12 GMT -5
"The world is a vast place," I watched as his strokes became branches, reaching up and outwards. Something we should have been aspiring to. "Even if Terre d'Ange were to reject you, or the Caerdicca Unitas, there are hundreds more countries that won't."
In any case, his words rang true. No matter how awful I'd believed my life before, I hadn't tried to end it. Or perhaps I was just too cowardly to, though I'd like to believe I'd never reach that point no matter how difficult it became. But I would never agree in just waiting around if I knew that life wasn't going to get better where I was. "There is no point living a life that you're not happy with. Better to overcome the obstacles to find that happiness than to stay where it is comfortable." Hypocritical of a woman who was about to escape from one gilded cage to another, but it still made sense.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 15, 2011 17:49:39 GMT -5
I shrugged again, listening to her as I kept drawing in the sand, now making a sort of cloud above the tree, something puffy and fluffy that looked and felt awkward.
“I believe that happiness is born within, not without,” I said slowly. “You were happy when you were singing, before I came. That can never be taken away from you.”
I paused, scratched my beard, and sighed. “I like your voice and I like when you sing. But I don't want to make you stop, if it makes you happy. I think you should sing more.”
… I was becoming inane. Why was I becoming inane, suddenly, talking to this captive girl?
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 15, 2011 19:06:25 GMT -5
"Il silencio è d'oro e la parola è d'argento. Speech, or song in this case, is silver, but silence is golden," I said. I didn't reiterate that if I was caught singing in anything other than Skaldic I would be punished for it, I should be more careful in future about who is listening. "Singing is only a temporary joy at any rate. Whenever the song ends I'll always remember that I'm here and not like to leave any time soon."
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 15, 2011 19:17:27 GMT -5
“It's a reprieve, at least,” I said with a little, sad smile. I took a breath, and said, softer, “-- would you sing, if someone accompanied you with an instrument?”
The bird was cooling on the plate – I didn't mind. Whatever would be left could be salted for later, or thrown to the dogs. It was no loss, either way.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 15, 2011 19:24:28 GMT -5
"If someone accompanied me... yes," I said slowly. Though what were the chances of that happening here? "You know someone who plays?"
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 15, 2011 20:11:22 GMT -5
I looked into my hands a moment. Were they fighter hands, or a musicians? They were callused in the way that hands are when they constantly pull strings – and I did this in both capacities.
I gave her a small, lopsided smile.
“I might,” I replied. “But the player might get in trouble for playing with a captive, and he would have to be very discreet, if he were convinced.”
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 15, 2011 20:23:08 GMT -5
Against my better judgement, I was lured in by the idea. I had not heard an instrument since I had been taken, and I missed the sort of melody that could be created by one's hands. "I would not betray the player. I would trade him a song for a song."
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 15, 2011 20:57:58 GMT -5
“Music might betray the player,” I replied quietly. “If it happens in the open. But the player might be found, practicing about, next time you're sent to pick berries.”
I tried to look stern, but for a split moment, my eyelid moved, and I found myself giving her a quick, fleeting wink.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 16, 2011 0:10:53 GMT -5
I blinked in surprise. Had he just winked at me? "And what sort of instrument should I be listening for when this player is practising?"
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 16, 2011 1:18:42 GMT -5
“Not a horn, at any rate,” I replied, and found myself smiling a little at a rare joke. “It would drown out any singing. Just listen, I'm sure you'll know. I'll make sure the player knows too.”
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 16, 2011 5:09:21 GMT -5
There was a marked difference in his appearance when he smiled, for all that it was slight. It accentuated his sharper features, making him seem more D'Angeline than a Skaldi with a habitual scowl.
"Then I shall keep an ear out for a practising musician playing something other than his horn."
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 16, 2011 10:48:26 GMT -5
I nodded, just the once, and smiled at my feet, feeling strangely happy for this odd deal I'd just struck with the girl.
“-- you're not hungry anymore?” I asked after a moment.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 16, 2011 22:54:30 GMT -5
I shook my head at his question. "In any case, I should be getting back in case they miss me."
Standing, I dusted off my skirts and looked up at him, a little shy now that I'd come from rather disliking him to... I don't know. Actually seeing him as someone other than a barbaric Skaldi who contributed to my predicament. Still, a part of me was wary, I could not get too comfortable, except it was nice to not have to pretend to obedience, even for a little while.
"Thank you," I gave a small nod then walked slowly back to the main camp, my head humming with songs of confusion.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 16, 2011 23:44:17 GMT -5
I gave her another little smile and waved, saying nothing, and letting her go, simply. I couldn't figure out why, but it seemed to me that silence was the best answer.
Then again, silence was something I enjoyed, too.
The next day, I kept my ears open – and as I suspected (old habits die hard), the woman eventually gave Arianna an order to go pick some roots and berries.
Smiling to myself, perhaps a bit more than I usually did, I made for my hut, found my harp, and took it to a thicket full of berries.
There, I played, just arpeggios to start, to warm my fingers, then a quiet fugue which I'd been working on all this past week.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 17, 2011 1:14:46 GMT -5
One of the bossier women had sent me off to pick berries further afield, making sure it was somewhere I had to walk a fair bit towards. The old hag was punishing me for a spilling ale all over the dogs that morning, but oh well. With a twisted smile I remembered Kai's vague invitation. It would be funny indeed if...
Then I heard it, the small leaps of an arpeggio on a harp, melding into the beginnings of a fugue. Putting down my basket, then furtively glancing around for anyone nearby.
"Kai?" I said uncertainly.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 17, 2011 1:21:49 GMT -5
I smiled, but didn't look up from my harp or stop playing, instead responding with music, a quick improvisation on the chorus of that song she'd sang the previous day in her language – in Caerdicci, I reminded myself.
She sounded a bit unsure, a bit unsettled. Considering how hostile she was at first, it was... heartwarming.
Not a feeling I was very familiar with, that.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 17, 2011 1:35:18 GMT -5
It was him, the little excerpt from the song I was singing yesterday was enough to convince me. I picked up the basket and continued towards the thread of music, finding him at last behind a rather dense bush of berries.
He was intent on his performance, his face wearing that universal expression of every musician who gets lost in their piece. So I merely sat quietly on the grass near him, listening.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 17, 2011 12:17:53 GMT -5
My answer given, I'd slipped back seamlessly into playing the fugue, and looked up from my harp, still playing, to gaze at Arianna.
I gave her a little smile, then, even as my thumbs and indexes pinched strings into a harmonious chord, and I spread my fingers on the harp, to beckon an arpeggio that reminded me of the rain.
“Sing,” I said to her, simply, “but not too loud, you know how it is.”
We were taking a risk, she and I. Both of us, really, could get a whipping – though she could also get forced, and the thought was unbearable.
That made me nurture a thought I'd never entertained before – but it would be an extreme measure, and it may never come to that, thank Freija.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 17, 2011 18:00:22 GMT -5
I looked around again, to make sure no one was within earshot, then began to sing, very quietly. It wasn't any song I knew, so I sang the words of Caerdicci proverbs, following the tune that Kai played on his harp.
It was nice, such a strangely pleasant moment amidst the horrors of my captivity, and I wondered why he'd be doing this.
He's trying to be kind, isn't that what he said yesterday?
If I'd not heard him play I might have still doubted that, yet I didn't believe one could create such music and be soulless. It made it harder, knowing that he was sincerely good hearted. Asherat, it was so much easier to cope hating them.
My voice caught, mid word and I stopped singing for a moment.
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 17, 2011 19:44:20 GMT -5
By all the gods, but her voice. It was the voice of an angel, though she had the temper of a demon, betimes.
I played, harmonizing with her, not singing, leaving her that plane to express herself, reveling in her mysterious, musical language. I found myself thinking of that place where she came from, which I imagined grand and full of light, complex, too, with tall buildings.
Nothing like here.
She stopped singing, and I brought the song to closure, finding a major chord.
“What is it?” I asked, still very quietly.
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Arianna Corelli
Aristocrat
Future Duchessa Bellazza; House Corelli
Posts: 121
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Post by Arianna Corelli on Jul 17, 2011 20:36:26 GMT -5
"This is madness," I kept my voice low and looked away. "I mean not just this, the fact we are even speaking to each other at all. What'll come of it, do you think? When they find out you've been fraternising with a prisoner? What's the point when in the end we cannot be friends."
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Post by Kai “Ill-Begotten” Ungewollt on Jul 17, 2011 22:48:10 GMT -5
“You think too much,” I said quietly. “Leave it. If things get too complicated...”
I closed my eyes, sighed, looked back at her again.
“Arianna, do you trust me?”
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