[Fic] "The Painted Sky," part 2 -- original, Ekanu
This is a continuation of The Painted Sky, part 1, which I wrote back in early 2004. It's an Ekanu story, set when she's about thirty years old, and when she's just danced the first round in her on-again, off-again relationship with Ain h'sut chung h'Ril (whom you have yet to meet, because I have yet to get very far in writing "Small Mysteries," the first story in which he appears).
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The Painted Sky, part 2
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Darei's full name and title meant, Ekanu learned, Ink Stone of the Colored Thread family, of the Honored Skilled Gentlemen. It amused her that he was named after such a strange object, but the rest of the name was fairly clear. His family worked with silk: they owned mulberry groves and factories, and hired people to tend the silkworms, harvest their cocoons, spin the thread, weave the cloth, and dye the fabric. Darei himself didn't spend much time in the factories, nor did he deal with the financial and social ends of the business. Instead, he worked in a high end derivative of the family trade.
Darei was a silk painter, and apparently a good one since he could afford to spend his afternoons and evenings showing a foreign woman around the city and buying her expensive meals.
Three days after their first meeting, Darei insisted on bringing Ekanu to meet his family.
"No, no, do not worry, I am not courting you," he said when she raised her eyebrows. "But I think you might be interested in our businesses, as a scholar, and I would like to paint you."
So Ekanu let him escort her back to her guesthouse where she shook out her two good dresses to show him, and the tunic and trousers she'd sewn herself, based on her memories of her mother's clothing. Darei liked that one best, and insisted she bundle it up and bring it along.
"It's unique! This is from your own people, the ones who are not from Estaria?"
"In a manner of speaking. Properly this would be made of reindeer hides or sealskins, with fur trim as well as beadwork, but skins and furs are harder to come by in the south, and they don't breathe with the changing weather. So I used cotton instead, from the Kaitaru, and fringed leather for the trim." Ekanu smiled as she ran the tunic through her hands. She hadn't lost her old skill at beadwork despite her years away from the Ice, and the patterns she'd chosen reflected both her heritage and her travels.
Darei snorted. "Cotton. We make some cotton fabric -- it's harder to spin than silk, but the coarse threads break less often in the new weaving machines. And it's easier to clean, so workers prefer it. But silk is the emperor of cloth -- you should make a new tunic of silk, to match your beauty." He smiled. "Listen to me! You must pay no attention when I start speaking of fabrics and dyes. It's my family's passion and we are all a small bit peculiar about it."
"I understand. I'm a little peculiar about music, myself," Ekanu said. "If you're very convincing, I might buy some of your silk."
"Impress my father and he may give you some free," Darei said with a pleased grin. "He's always interested in good publicity."
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The Ki'o'ien family lived at the border between the nobles' hill and the merchants' quarter. Their house had three levels, wide eaves, green-tiled roofs, and a small courtyard in the center, given over to a single willow tree, a neatly-raked rock garden, and a fountain shaped like a miniature waterfall that spilled into a pond for ornamental goldfish. Dinner was served on a low table in a room bordering the courtyard; the wall screens had been removed to let the warm summer air circulate freely between the garden and the house.
Ekanu was enchanted.
"Darei is too modest to say, but he design garden," his mother said in awkward Common when she noticed Ekanu's interest. "He has eye for beauty and proper place of elements."
"You are too kind," Darei murmured, smiling into a cup of wine.
"Someday people think you are so modest, you are proud," his mother said, as she scooped helpings of various dishes onto everyone's plates. "Balance, Darei."
Darei set down his cup and bowed from the waist. "Yes, Teitei'ouh."
Darei's father and sister laughed. His mother simply smiled and shook her hands helplessly.
Ekanu cradled her wine cup and tried not to feel awkward, either for forcing the family to speak a foreign language in their own home, or for missing the joke. Darei's father noticed her confusion, and said, "It's a small humor, Mistress Thousandbirds. Xinghua tells Darei not to be so modest, and he replies by giving her an address of great respect as well as the ostentatious bow. So he disagrees while agreeing."
Ekanu nodded gratefully.
"My son tells us that you are a University scholar," Darei's father continued, "and perhaps interested to learn about our work. My son also often exaggerates." He smiled at Ekanu, and winked.
The sense of inclusion nearly undid her. "Darei is not exaggerating, or not much. I like to learn about the places I visit, and one of my friends in Estara is a mechanist. He'd never forgive me if I didn't see your factories and describe the machinery to him in detail."
"A mechanist?" Darei's sister leaned forward, interest clear on her face. "What is his specialty? Does he work with waterwheels, with mines, with engines? We are having trouble in the city, you see, getting water to run a wheel, and I think an engine might--"
"Hsai'hui, be respectful," Xinghua interrupted. "Business for after meal."
"Yes, Teitei," Hsai'hui said, subsiding. She held Ekanu's eyes for a moment, though, sending a silent question. Ekanu nodded -- they would talk later, for all the good it would do. She was little use as a mechanist, despite Denifar's best efforts. Despite Ain's more recent efforts, too.
She folded thoughts of Ain underneath layers of silk and returned her attention to the meal.
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To be continued, at some point...
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Also, I have finished the rough draft of "Guardian" chapter 9. I hate the ending, though, so I'm not going to post it today. Maybe tomorrow. Failing tomorrow, then Saturday for sure. *angelic smile* See, it may take me a while, but I don't forget stories!
(Except "More or Less the Same," I suppose, but I started that one with the caveat that I might never finish it, and even there I do mean to get back to it someday after I rewatch BtVS season 4. And "Strange Likenesses," of course, but one of my current goals is to bang out some sort of ending for that story, if only for my own peace of mind.)
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The Painted Sky, part 2
---------------------------------------------
Darei's full name and title meant, Ekanu learned, Ink Stone of the Colored Thread family, of the Honored Skilled Gentlemen. It amused her that he was named after such a strange object, but the rest of the name was fairly clear. His family worked with silk: they owned mulberry groves and factories, and hired people to tend the silkworms, harvest their cocoons, spin the thread, weave the cloth, and dye the fabric. Darei himself didn't spend much time in the factories, nor did he deal with the financial and social ends of the business. Instead, he worked in a high end derivative of the family trade.
Darei was a silk painter, and apparently a good one since he could afford to spend his afternoons and evenings showing a foreign woman around the city and buying her expensive meals.
Three days after their first meeting, Darei insisted on bringing Ekanu to meet his family.
"No, no, do not worry, I am not courting you," he said when she raised her eyebrows. "But I think you might be interested in our businesses, as a scholar, and I would like to paint you."
So Ekanu let him escort her back to her guesthouse where she shook out her two good dresses to show him, and the tunic and trousers she'd sewn herself, based on her memories of her mother's clothing. Darei liked that one best, and insisted she bundle it up and bring it along.
"It's unique! This is from your own people, the ones who are not from Estaria?"
"In a manner of speaking. Properly this would be made of reindeer hides or sealskins, with fur trim as well as beadwork, but skins and furs are harder to come by in the south, and they don't breathe with the changing weather. So I used cotton instead, from the Kaitaru, and fringed leather for the trim." Ekanu smiled as she ran the tunic through her hands. She hadn't lost her old skill at beadwork despite her years away from the Ice, and the patterns she'd chosen reflected both her heritage and her travels.
Darei snorted. "Cotton. We make some cotton fabric -- it's harder to spin than silk, but the coarse threads break less often in the new weaving machines. And it's easier to clean, so workers prefer it. But silk is the emperor of cloth -- you should make a new tunic of silk, to match your beauty." He smiled. "Listen to me! You must pay no attention when I start speaking of fabrics and dyes. It's my family's passion and we are all a small bit peculiar about it."
"I understand. I'm a little peculiar about music, myself," Ekanu said. "If you're very convincing, I might buy some of your silk."
"Impress my father and he may give you some free," Darei said with a pleased grin. "He's always interested in good publicity."
---------------------------------------------
The Ki'o'ien family lived at the border between the nobles' hill and the merchants' quarter. Their house had three levels, wide eaves, green-tiled roofs, and a small courtyard in the center, given over to a single willow tree, a neatly-raked rock garden, and a fountain shaped like a miniature waterfall that spilled into a pond for ornamental goldfish. Dinner was served on a low table in a room bordering the courtyard; the wall screens had been removed to let the warm summer air circulate freely between the garden and the house.
Ekanu was enchanted.
"Darei is too modest to say, but he design garden," his mother said in awkward Common when she noticed Ekanu's interest. "He has eye for beauty and proper place of elements."
"You are too kind," Darei murmured, smiling into a cup of wine.
"Someday people think you are so modest, you are proud," his mother said, as she scooped helpings of various dishes onto everyone's plates. "Balance, Darei."
Darei set down his cup and bowed from the waist. "Yes, Teitei'ouh."
Darei's father and sister laughed. His mother simply smiled and shook her hands helplessly.
Ekanu cradled her wine cup and tried not to feel awkward, either for forcing the family to speak a foreign language in their own home, or for missing the joke. Darei's father noticed her confusion, and said, "It's a small humor, Mistress Thousandbirds. Xinghua tells Darei not to be so modest, and he replies by giving her an address of great respect as well as the ostentatious bow. So he disagrees while agreeing."
Ekanu nodded gratefully.
"My son tells us that you are a University scholar," Darei's father continued, "and perhaps interested to learn about our work. My son also often exaggerates." He smiled at Ekanu, and winked.
The sense of inclusion nearly undid her. "Darei is not exaggerating, or not much. I like to learn about the places I visit, and one of my friends in Estara is a mechanist. He'd never forgive me if I didn't see your factories and describe the machinery to him in detail."
"A mechanist?" Darei's sister leaned forward, interest clear on her face. "What is his specialty? Does he work with waterwheels, with mines, with engines? We are having trouble in the city, you see, getting water to run a wheel, and I think an engine might--"
"Hsai'hui, be respectful," Xinghua interrupted. "Business for after meal."
"Yes, Teitei," Hsai'hui said, subsiding. She held Ekanu's eyes for a moment, though, sending a silent question. Ekanu nodded -- they would talk later, for all the good it would do. She was little use as a mechanist, despite Denifar's best efforts. Despite Ain's more recent efforts, too.
She folded thoughts of Ain underneath layers of silk and returned her attention to the meal.
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To be continued, at some point...
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Also, I have finished the rough draft of "Guardian" chapter 9. I hate the ending, though, so I'm not going to post it today. Maybe tomorrow. Failing tomorrow, then Saturday for sure. *angelic smile* See, it may take me a while, but I don't forget stories!
(Except "More or Less the Same," I suppose, but I started that one with the caveat that I might never finish it, and even there I do mean to get back to it someday after I rewatch BtVS season 4. And "Strange Likenesses," of course, but one of my current goals is to bang out some sort of ending for that story, if only for my own peace of mind.)