The Bright One

[lionbright]

There's a dark, slender boy walking toward the house, his bewitching face as pale as salt at the moment, and he's dressed for travelling in the dead of winter at least a thousand years ago.  He has the bearing of a prince and a warrior, for all that he's never seen a battle, and carries no weapon.  The sheath that held his hunting knife is empty.

Comments

[thesunbird]

Telemakos looks down at him curiously from the porch, where he's crouched with Athena, sharing food with her.

[lionbright]

[t: does he see Mordred??? as I'm going to hell anyway...]

[thesunbird]

might as well. he's just kind of lurking.

[lionbright]

[well, in THAT case...]

He turns to finish climbing the stairs, and sees Telemakos, and stops cold again.

[thesunbird]

Telemakos eyes him a little more warily, and gathers Athena up into his arms.

[illgotten]

Mordred follows the look, and stops too. "You," he says, with a certain weariness.

[lionbright]

This is even weirder than the first meeting, because this kid doesn't just remind him of Medraut in some unidentifiable way: this kid really does LOOK like Medraut.

He glances back at Mordred again, wildly this time.

"What is this place? All fetches of my brother--But you said I would not be followed! My own mind betrays me--"

[thesunbird]

Telemakos pulls Athena back along the porch railing, frowning now almost sternly. "Who is he?" directed at Mordred.

[illgotten]

"How exactly the hell should I know?" He looks at Lleu with renewed misgiving. With forced dryness, he says, "Take it easy. You're scaring the children."

[princesstena]

Which is a lie, at least as far as Athena is concerned. She keeps one fist knotted in her brother's shirt, and watches with wide-eyed interest.

[lionbright]

Lleu, paying no attention to either of these two, faces Telemakos directly and issues a command in a voice of dreadful imperial frost that brooks no argument.

"Look up. Look at my face a moment."

[t: i am shameless.]

[thesunbird]

And Telemakos does, not without some defiance, stares clear-eyed up at him, head held erect.

[illgotten]

Mordred watches from the sidelines, sharply. This can't end well.

[lionbright]

"You're Turunesh's son."

[thesunbird]

"Yes! Do you know her? Have you seen her?" He starts up.

[lionbright]

"No..." He adds slowly, "I was talking about her, with Medraut, two nights ago. Three. Whatever, I've lost count, I've not slept since before... He didn't say they'd had a child--"

Instantly he works out what Athena is, and corrects himself "--children."