House of cards, you fall hard

[anjelsword]

Aniki is by the lake, reading under a streetlight as the day winds down. Her expression is... well. She doesn't look like she's enjoying herself. Eventually, just before true dark, she closes the brown-covered book in her hands and sets it on her lap. She stares up at the bugs bouncing off of the edges of the light, going from silhouette to halo as

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[magelet_daine]

Daine is nearby. She was curled up as a wolf, trying to feel a pack, any pack nearby, but... nothing. Nothing like the wolf packs she was used to, anyway. It made sense, of course, but she couldn't help wanting to try. She has just finished pulling on her tunic and breeches, and is holding her boots, when she hears Aniki's... outburst.

She moves closer, her eyes wide, and approaches cautiously, like she would an injured animal. "Ma'am? Are you all right?"

[anjelsword]

She snorts a bit, looking at the wreckage, and then raising an eyebrow at Daine. "Oh, indeed. I'm right as rain."

Forgive the sarcasm, Daine. She's... well. Had about the same day as you.

[magelet_daine]

Daine hugs her boots to her chest and flushes. Really, Aniki isn't that much older, a couple or three years at most, but... well. "I... I just meant..." She can't really find words, and she grumbles under her breath.

"Mithros, Mynoss, and Shakith, I don't think this day could get worse."

Right. Deep breaths. "I'll just... let you be, then... ma'am." She starts to back away, even if she is worried about this woman's... capabilities.

[anjelsword]

Shock and disbelief break over Aniki's face in the same instant. That's just--no. The gods can't be that dead set on laughing at her.

"What... what did you just say?"

She takes a step toward Daine, then glances at her sword, then scrubs at her face in frustration with her free hand. "Wait, lass. Don't go."

[magelet_daine]

Daine stops, a bit surprised by that reaction, and shakes her head. "Oh, I just... I've had a bit of a day, that's all." She smiles a little sympathetically, and nods to the debris. "You did too, by the looks of it."

[anjelsword]

"Bit of a day." Aniki snorts, quietly. She takes a step closer. "Mithros. You said Mithros, didn't you?"

She isn't going to get her hopes up. She isn't. It would be stupid.

...oops. Too late.

[magelet_daine]

"Ye-es?" Daine says slowly. She's worried, for a moment, that this is someone who enjoys these stories that apparently exist, but then...

Well, the sword. And she seemed upset, after all...

"My name is Daine Sarrasri," she offers, as a way of testing this other girl, and figuring out what exactly is going on.

[anjelsword]

That. Does not sound like a local name. "Aniki Forfrysning," she says. "Came down to Tortall from Scanra."

Her face is very blank, searching Daine's own expression. She could be joking. Maybe. Or, you know, not.

[magelet_daine]

And this would be the point where Daine lights up a bit, because how depressed can you really be when you've finally found someone from your home in such a strange place. Okay, Galla and Scanra aren't the same country, but they both went to Tortall, and the point is that she knows where Scanra is, she grew up knowing it.

"I came down from Galla, a couple years back," she says, almost shyly, mostly gratefully and relieved.

[anjelsword]

And here, have an actual smile, Daine! A tired, half-amused, vaguely cynical smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Your day. Mightn't have included anything about storytelling. Books. Would it?"

[magelet_daine]

"Apparently, there is a series of books about Tortall. And some of them are about me." She shrugs a little, and scuffs a toe in the dirt. "I don't see why. It's not like I'm the most important or interesting person in the war. Lady Alanna's much more interesting, she's the only female knight in the whole kingdom."

Yes, Daine, but you have wild magic. That counts for something.

[anjelsword]

"Hang on--only female knight?" That's not right. "What about the Lady Sabine? Has she finally got herself hauled up to Executioner's Hill? Chop off one of his majesty's fingers this time?"

And there are others. Aniki knows there are.

[magelet_daine]

Daine looks at her curiously.

If there are so many books, and some of them happened years and years before the rest, and the Rift being what it is, it stands to reason that they could be from vastly different times. "Women weren't allowed to be knights for a long time," she says. "Lady Alanna dressed as a boy and won her shield before people knew she was a girl. What year is it, back home, for you?"

Abrupt question is abrupt, but that'll help clear things up.

[anjelsword]

Aniki's frown deepens. She has a baaad feeling about this. "247, Human Era. It was the end of 246 when I was brought here."

She doesn't remember any Alanna from the histories she knows, and a woman like that would have caught Aniki's attention. So, either she's not as well-versed as she thought, or...

...or those other stories were about Tortall's bloody future.

[magelet_daine]

"450, Human Era," Daine whispers. "It was almost 451. I've probably turned 15 by now."

There were still Lady Knights in 246. Daine's not as knowledgeable about Tortall's history as she'd like to be, so she doesn't know if there's anything important happening then and...

It's very odd, to say the least. Disappointing, truthfully. Just a bit.

[anjelsword]

Aniki feels a bit sick. She sits back down with a thump. "So then. It's true. The lot--it's all true."

No. She shouldn't assume. She can't assume that. "You'd not have happened by a certain... shop. Today. A book shop?"