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Post by Walid bin Kasseem(D) on Mar 1, 2008 12:41:15 GMT -5
Because you never did ask, did you now, hypnotized as you were by the fatal beauty at the table?
I kept my expression pleasant as I bit back the tart reply. Simpering child! He’d let her wrap him around his finger, and had discarded the yarn as easily as a playful cat.
“Then confess your curiosity,” I said with an open gesture. “Ask away.”
Inwardly, I shrugged. I could dissemble if I needed to. Would I fool both? Maybe not. In the end, it mattered little. The news of my would-be courtship of the Dauphine would soon come to light at the Fete.
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Joras Timbule (I)
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A distant past is closer than you think
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Post by Joras Timbule (I) on Mar 2, 2008 13:30:16 GMT -5
He showed little reaction outwardly towards my question. I could tell, after a few glances towards him when he wasn't looking, that he could show emotion. However, he seemed to be trained in concealing it, for not many people could act as passive as that unless they had a great deal of experience or training, which led me to believe he was a prince of quite high status.
"Where are you from then, Mas'ud?" I asked him. I might be able to guess who he REALLY was from that. Granted, I did not know much of foreign affairs. I breathed audibly, then took a sip of my wine, and looked at the knot in the ceiling for a bit, then decided Mas'ud was much more interesting to watch as he formulated his answer.
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Post by Noelle d'Aubigne on Mar 3, 2008 15:34:46 GMT -5
Mas'us. I neigh snorted as Joras called him that, and the foreign prig continued to play act as if he were no one important. Yes, granted, in Terre d'Ange he truly wasn't that importantly - likely not as much as he'd like to think himself being. But he was royalty, no matter the distance between our realms, and I would not risk earning political irritation this early in the game. Not over something so small as a name.
I listened. And I observed, however much I kept my focus at the table before me and the cards in my hand. Walid had thieved mine before I'd had a chance to draw new ones, forcing him to to keep the balance right in the table. I played "Favorite Adept" on him, forcing him to lose his turn once as I drew new cards, not bothering to speak again. My lips missed the kiss they might otherwise would have received, and I was lacking the mood to strike out with something more than this at the moment. Taking a few cards from the deck, I drew new ones.
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Post by Walid bin Kasseem(D) on Mar 7, 2008 12:28:02 GMT -5
I looked at Joras, and tried to assess him. There was scheming behind those youngish eyes – and he didn’t seem so boorish. If I’d had the assurance of his silence, I might have tipped him off. Instead, I decided to dissemble. Under Noelle’s quiet gaze, my reply was natural, and given with a shrug. “Might your really wish to know, traveler,” I said offhandedly, “I come from Sa’ud.”
If he really had enough knowledge, it would tell him exactly who I was, without using the words proper, and it would be acceptable, for then his erudition would be a warrant of his behavior. If he did not – my identity would be safe for a while longer. I gave them both a shrug. I was only trying to escape the demands of my station for a short while.
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Joras Timbule (I)
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Post by Joras Timbule (I) on Mar 9, 2008 20:41:06 GMT -5
Studied as I was, I had skimped on my knowledge on the Eastern world. Now I looked back and wished I had spent more time on it. Nevertheless, the princes of Sa'ud were known for their articulacy. Mas'ud... lacked that expressiveness.
I had heard the rumors of a prince of Sa'ud in Elua, and even hoped to speak to him of trade prospects. The goods were of amazing quality, or so I heard, and there were some things to be had there that one could not get elsewhere. Perhaps Mas'ud would be able to help me out though...
"Sa'ud?" I asked rhetorically "Certainly a good place for trade. Do you know of any suppliers who might be interested in a contract? Silk is expensive to buy from local merchants." I threw a grin in to loosen him up. He seemed very tense every time I asked about him.
"Ah, and it comes to me now" I added, referring to the game, "I suppose I shall play this, then." I laid out the Heavy Hand card. I dumped my cards onto the discard pile, motioning for the others to follow suit. "I suppose you can keep the cards you were drawing, Noelle. It would be two times you had to discard the ones you were drawing, and you could always just redraw it anyways."
I was ready to groan in frustration with Noelle, who still evaded me. I just could not figure her out. I gave her another of my smiles as I began to draw.
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Post by Walid bin Kasseem(D) on Mar 11, 2008 14:49:35 GMT -5
I discarded my cards, not unpleased for it. The D’Angeline woman had prepared a set that didn’t play out so well, I’d decided. That also meant Armageddon was off the table, though perhaps I would draw it again.
“Yes, it is a great center for trade,” I replied. “Contact with Ch’n through Sa’ud is very easy.” I had almost considered getting a Chn’se wife – they were beautiful, skilled. But we had a lot of trade relations with them, and if I had not travelled to the Eastern Kingdom, I’d nonetheless enough knowledge of them to sate my curiosity. The West though, had retained a measure of exotism and mystery, and that had fostered my quest.
I had contacts and routes at my disposal, but just then, I had no reason to tip him off. However… “There is an embassy here,” I noted absently. “Have you contacted them?” I remembered the fellow – he was falling in disgrace for his lack of proper moral conduct with some D’Angeline lords, one Gabriel Shahrizai in particular. However, until a replacement could be sent here, my father tolerated that he give some information. Given my presence, though, most of the important decisions fell to me.
My gaze fell to Noelle. I wondered what she made of all this.
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Joras Timbule (I)
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Post by Joras Timbule (I) on Apr 1, 2008 6:14:48 GMT -5
So there was a Chn'se embassy here. That would be very helpful in getting my hands on some silk at reduced prices. 'Tis a marvelous material to work with, but it is also marvelously expensive. I replied to Mas'ud openly "No, I have not gone to the embassy as of yet, but now that I know there is one I will be taking a trip soon. My thanks" I grinned.
Noelle had sat rather quiet through our conversation, and I thought she was rather bored by it all. She did not seem the sort to enjoy speaking of prices for hours. I looked her way and asked "So M'lady, do you have any interesting stories? Or should that responsibility then fall to me?" I retained a chuckle, already recalling a tale during my travels in the countrysides of Terre d'Ange.
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Post by Noelle d'Aubigne on Apr 5, 2008 9:17:20 GMT -5
One thing I'd learned in my years that at times it's better to stay quiet, or have minimal supportive conversation, to learn more about those around you. I wasn't attempting so much this time to unearth possibly hidden secrets about those two that sat at my table, but I wasn't opposed to it, either. And there conversation left little room for my opinion. Not that it mattered at the moment.
When Joras turned the table of conversation to me, I looked up at him as I sweeped my hair back over my shoulder again, moving the dark locks from my view. "It would depend on what you'd consider interesting, I suppose," I answered, a teasing sparkle lighting my eye for a flickering second. I glanced at Walid to include him in, though by the time I'd looked at him the tease was gone, and I looked back at Joras to await his response.
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Joras Timbule (I)
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A distant past is closer than you think
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Post by Joras Timbule (I) on Apr 5, 2008 12:58:13 GMT -5
Again she vaunted her elusiveness! I do not know whether or not it was her nature to do so, or if she was doing it for her own ends, but it certainly aggravated my attempts to size up her character. She was a nice person, I reckoned, but she needed to relax a lot more. It would do her much good to let loose and relieve some of the stress and feelings she was hiding.
Too, she had evaded my question. I decided to tease her back and pin her down in one short dialog. "I'll not speak for our friend here," I indicated Mas'ud and grinned devilishly , "but I would love to hear anything you have to say."
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Post by Noelle d'Aubigne on Apr 5, 2008 15:01:48 GMT -5
How bold of him, to speak in such a way that I couldn't tell if he were mocking me or merely teasing. My dark eyes took him in, scanning over his face, noting the way he grinned and indicated to the princeling. "Aye," I said dryly, "I should guess you would."
Abruptly I smiled and shook my head, laying my cards on the table. "I have a sister, a few years younger than I," I said, thinking as I tucked my hands into my lap. "She was determined one day that she could ride a green broke filly that had been born two years prior; mottled brown and white, the filly really was pretty." And my sister had fabulous taste as well. "Our father refused her the ability to do so, so she snuck out at night and stole away to the stables. She'd talked one of the stable boys into meeting her out there and saddling the filly up, so when she finally arrived at the arena..." I stopped, my grin growing a little more. Not a fake one, but honest and amused. "She lasted all of a few moments on her before the filly bucked her off. My sister got up again and tried; half the night she was out there, and when the next morning came she went out again and took her out. My father saw how the filly responded to her, and gifted her the horse."
I smiled, my fingers twining against themselves. "Of course, that was following a month long house arrest."
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Post by Walid bin Kasseem(D) on Apr 14, 2008 9:46:07 GMT -5
I'd stayed quiet during the exchange, my cards folded on the table - it seemed perhaps the game was at a halt, or maybe even at an end. Content to listen to the story, I took a sip of my drink, and stayed quiet, looking at them both, not pretending aloofness, but rather quietly listening to a conversation that could be entertaining, or perhaps even interesting. What I thought of the sister's misadventure, though, I kept to myself, having nothing of note to share, though I honored the tale with an amused chuckle.
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Joras Timbule (I)
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A distant past is closer than you think
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Post by Joras Timbule (I) on Apr 25, 2008 6:05:47 GMT -5
I outright laughed at the punchline, I found it so humorous. There really was not much to be said about the story, which was a simple tale of the first time her sister rode a horse that was completely unbroken. She was skilled at delivering the punchline, though, and there was just something in her face that made me burst out in laughter. I covered my eyes with my left hand so as to seem less rude.
When I finally caught my breath, I apologized, "I'm sorry, Noelle, the look on your face just then..." I chuckled in remembrance. "It was a great rendition."
We had all but abandoned the game at this point, being more interested in idle chatter. 'Twas all the same to me, not meeting people too often anyways. I couldn't find much to say, so I let the conversational leader's baton fall to Noelle.
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