Jaeyi has some family ties, apparently. (Vignette)
Thankfully, her bed was behind her when she sat down all of the sudden, only half-aware that she would be sinking on to her quilt and not the floor. At the precise moment when she got into the meat of the letter, she wasn't paying enough attention to know where she was really going to land.
It was written in a precise, clean hand that confused her at first: the son of a sailor writes so prettily? Why? Was he a harper, maybe? Her father had paid for her education; was that why he worked so much? To make sure his kids were educated? She didn't know much about him-- them-- except for a very vague cognizance of their existence, but here was this letter and here was this handwriting and here were all these questions she'd never thought to ask. And then even the questions were derailed.
She shook her head.
She started from the beginning again.
Jaeyi,
I'm sorry that this is our first contact. To keep things as clear and brief as possible, I'm your half-brother-- your father's oldest son. I know very little about you, and I apologize for my part in that. My father told my mother a few things over the years, and we know that you're a Baker Apprentice at Fort Weyr. Perhaps you would have been happier not to know us at all; if so, I apologize for reaching out to you, but we are leaving no stone unturned. To that end, I will cut to the meat of this letter.
My father is missing. He took a commission aboard a ship that left from Southern Boll last month-- a ship that, I'm sure you've heard, went missing. We pinned our hopes these last weeks on the possibility that it was simply lost in the storm, and that its crew might turn up safely after searching for them, but that's obviously not the case. We heard about the body that washed up Big Bay, but the details are sketchy as they come to us. As you are at Fort Weyr, perhaps you've heard more than we have?
If you know anything or have heard anything, we would appreciate if you could send word to us as soon as possible. Any letters sent to my care at Tillek Hold will reach my family. Please, anything that you might know about our father would help ease our minds, if nothing else.
Thank you,
Novrilem
She stared at it for some unknown length of time, until the absent flick of her index finger back-and-forth, back-and-forth across the corner of the hide finally penetrated her brain. Taking a breath, she tried to put some kind of answer in order, only to realize... what more did she know? What could she possibly tell them? She wasn't really involved like that, was she?
Well. If it was time to start asking for favors, at least she was in a damn fine spot to do so.
Later, she'd have to square with her emotions on this-- her father was missing, possibly dead-- but she needed to be able to tell this half-brother, this Novrilem something, and "Sorry, I was under the covers crying, good luck!" didn't have quite the right ring to it...
It was written in a precise, clean hand that confused her at first: the son of a sailor writes so prettily? Why? Was he a harper, maybe? Her father had paid for her education; was that why he worked so much? To make sure his kids were educated? She didn't know much about him-- them-- except for a very vague cognizance of their existence, but here was this letter and here was this handwriting and here were all these questions she'd never thought to ask. And then even the questions were derailed.
She shook her head.
She started from the beginning again.
Jaeyi,
I'm sorry that this is our first contact. To keep things as clear and brief as possible, I'm your half-brother-- your father's oldest son. I know very little about you, and I apologize for my part in that. My father told my mother a few things over the years, and we know that you're a Baker Apprentice at Fort Weyr. Perhaps you would have been happier not to know us at all; if so, I apologize for reaching out to you, but we are leaving no stone unturned. To that end, I will cut to the meat of this letter.
My father is missing. He took a commission aboard a ship that left from Southern Boll last month-- a ship that, I'm sure you've heard, went missing. We pinned our hopes these last weeks on the possibility that it was simply lost in the storm, and that its crew might turn up safely after searching for them, but that's obviously not the case. We heard about the body that washed up Big Bay, but the details are sketchy as they come to us. As you are at Fort Weyr, perhaps you've heard more than we have?
If you know anything or have heard anything, we would appreciate if you could send word to us as soon as possible. Any letters sent to my care at Tillek Hold will reach my family. Please, anything that you might know about our father would help ease our minds, if nothing else.
Thank you,
Novrilem
She stared at it for some unknown length of time, until the absent flick of her index finger back-and-forth, back-and-forth across the corner of the hide finally penetrated her brain. Taking a breath, she tried to put some kind of answer in order, only to realize... what more did she know? What could she possibly tell them? She wasn't really involved like that, was she?
Well. If it was time to start asking for favors, at least she was in a damn fine spot to do so.
Later, she'd have to square with her emotions on this-- her father was missing, possibly dead-- but she needed to be able to tell this half-brother, this Novrilem something, and "Sorry, I was under the covers crying, good luck!" didn't have quite the right ring to it...