Curious, how this woman continuously spoke in riddles, undoubtedly trying to trap her, but why? She wouldn't have come here if she hadn't known. Tracking down every single female Goodman would be a futile and time consuming process.
Perhaps she had an aversion to saying his name. She wouldn't be the first, but Ixians didn't seem the type to allow such weakness, especially concerning males. "I am aware of you,Duchess" she admitted. "But my husband and I have tacitally agreed to never come in contact."
Even in a land as big as the OZ and the fact that Zero would likely never move in Ellie's circles would not explain how they managed to avoid the other in over a decade and a half.
"It didn't seem to serve any purpose to seek you out. I'm... not fond of the heat," she added, referring to the Ixian weather.
She likely wouldn't be expected back at the farm before the storm had disappated. She gave the insulation index of Kieran's outfit some thought. Good enough for most weather but unacceptable for storms, particularly the one blowing outside. "Are you certain I can't offer you something to make you more comfortable?" She looked the way of their spectators, peering in around the corner. Caught, as one they looked away. "Perhaps Louise would get us some tea?" she asked her. Louise had the grace to look guilty for eavesdropping before hurrying off to fetch said tea.
So be it then, that's what she got for assuming how little the O.Z would know about the royalty of IX, then again she had been there for a while now and word was likely to be spread. "Your husband?" Kieran questioned in an amused tone, more then amused she was ready to break into hysterics at any moment at that word.
"It's understandable. The only reason I came to find you is because I was around," With that her attention shifted to the woman with new eyes, Fenella was examining her clothing, no doubt amused by it as most people were and that was fine. IX wore different things based on functionality of what they needed to do, if not a warriors uniform then training threads, and in her case leather outsider clothing to let people know she was not from here.
"I am as comfortable as I will be in the O.Z," Kieran assured, her eyes moving towards the corner where people were listening in - she had no doubts. "Tea is not required." But she could hear a woman's feet shuffling off to get it anyway.
Ellie answered Kieran's remark with an amused look of her own. She waited until Louise returned with the tea. "Thank you, Louise," she smiled at her. Louise smiled back before disappearing out of sight, though undoubtedly not out of earshot.
Taking one of the cups, Ellie poured out some for herself. Taking a restorative sip, Ellie finally spoke. "I thought I was in love once. And then later I thought maybe it was just an inner ear imbalance...
"We spent an evening snowed in on the side of a mountain watching the northern lights." She paused in rememberance. "It was probably the most dramatic moment of my life. But in the end I realised I'd learned two things." She took another sip. "The first is... that it's easier to think you're in love than it is to accept that you're alone. And the second is that it's very easy to confuse love with subatomic particles bursting in the air." She smiled suddenly. "Well, I also learned that I should have my ears checked more regularly."
Inner ear imbalance, that was an interesting way of describing it. Far from how things had gone with her and Zero but it was interesting, and amusing all the same. "Mm." Kieran replied as Ellie recalled a previous encounter with him, already pouring herself tea despite her previous resistance to the idea of a refreshment, she needed something to pretend to be busy with.
"For some people, I'll agree that it is." She was fine with being alone, but at the same time she would prefer to have someone to spend time with, it did get well - lonely, without another person. That was her life and she accepted it, she loved it and cherished it to be honest. Her experience with Zero had proven that what she'd been raised to believe was more true then what anyone could realize.
"How did it end, between the two of you?" This is what she was most curious to know. Even if it was a bit personal to ask, it wasn't as if it was just some stranger - in a way at least. They'd shared a husband, and they had both lost one as well.
The tea was restorative. She suddenly remembered the over-fisherman and hoped that the Tin Men had taken care of his needs. "It ended... badly. He and my 'caretaker' had sought to kill me... so they could use my wealth and status to have what they wanted.
"Unfortunately, her hold over him faded once I had 'died' and he strangled her. He found out I was alive and we didn't seek each other.
In a way, our divorce was a funeral, our 'settlement' such as it was, the reading of the will."
"I'm sorry that it happened like that," Which she was being honest about, it sucked to have a relationship end badly, especially for that reason. It had been in the back of her mind when she had gotten married to him, not to tell him of her status that could have not only ended very badly for her but for him as well should he have tried to exploit Ix.
"Just escaped with your life then," Kieran mused softly, taking a drink of the tea and frowning at it. It wasn't that good but it wasn't exactly bad either, it was somewhere in the middle between being sour and slightly tasteful. The O.Z had an interesting taste on good things.
"Be glad you haven't seen him since your .. divorce."
A faint smile crossed her face, "No he doesn't." Kieran said after a moment of her own silence, a nice trip down memory lane wasn't exactly what she had been looking for when she came here. More like stories about how much they'd like to stab him or something, Zero wasn't a total ass, just mostly, and he deserved it, if you asked her.
"I need to return to the palace. It was interesting, meeting you."
Perhaps she had an aversion to saying his name. She wouldn't be the first, but Ixians didn't seem the type to allow such weakness, especially concerning males. "I am aware of you,Duchess" she admitted. "But my husband and I have tacitally agreed to never come in contact."
Even in a land as big as the OZ and the fact that Zero would likely never move in Ellie's circles would not explain how they managed to avoid the other in over a decade and a half.
"It didn't seem to serve any purpose to seek you out. I'm... not fond of the heat," she added, referring to the Ixian weather.
She likely wouldn't be expected back at the farm before the storm had disappated. She gave the insulation index of Kieran's outfit some thought. Good enough for most weather but unacceptable for storms, particularly the one blowing outside. "Are you certain I can't offer you something to make you more comfortable?" She looked the way of their spectators, peering in around the corner. Caught, as one they looked away. "Perhaps Louise would get us some tea?" she asked her. Louise had the grace to look guilty for eavesdropping before hurrying off to fetch said tea.
Reply
"It's understandable. The only reason I came to find you is because I was around," With that her attention shifted to the woman with new eyes, Fenella was examining her clothing, no doubt amused by it as most people were and that was fine. IX wore different things based on functionality of what they needed to do, if not a warriors uniform then training threads, and in her case leather outsider clothing to let people know she was not from here.
"I am as comfortable as I will be in the O.Z," Kieran assured, her eyes moving towards the corner where people were listening in - she had no doubts. "Tea is not required." But she could hear a woman's feet shuffling off to get it anyway.
Reply
Taking one of the cups, Ellie poured out some for herself. Taking a restorative sip, Ellie finally spoke. "I thought I was in love once. And then later I thought maybe it was just an inner ear imbalance...
"We spent an evening snowed in on the side of a mountain watching the northern lights." She paused in rememberance. "It was probably the most dramatic moment of my life. But in the end I realised I'd learned two things." She took another sip. "The first is... that it's easier to think you're in love than it is to accept that you're alone. And the second is that it's very easy to confuse love with subatomic particles bursting in the air." She smiled suddenly. "Well, I also learned that I should have my ears checked more regularly."
Reply
"For some people, I'll agree that it is." She was fine with being alone, but at the same time she would prefer to have someone to spend time with, it did get well - lonely, without another person. That was her life and she accepted it, she loved it and cherished it to be honest. Her experience with Zero had proven that what she'd been raised to believe was more true then what anyone could realize.
"How did it end, between the two of you?" This is what she was most curious to know. Even if it was a bit personal to ask, it wasn't as if it was just some stranger - in a way at least. They'd shared a husband, and they had both lost one as well.
Reply
"Unfortunately, her hold over him faded once I had 'died' and he strangled her. He found out I was alive and we didn't seek each other.
In a way, our divorce was a funeral, our 'settlement' such as it was, the reading of the will."
Reply
"Just escaped with your life then," Kieran mused softly, taking a drink of the tea and frowning at it. It wasn't that good but it wasn't exactly bad either, it was somewhere in the middle between being sour and slightly tasteful. The O.Z had an interesting taste on good things.
"Be glad you haven't seen him since your .. divorce."
Reply
Reply
"I need to return to the palace. It was interesting, meeting you."
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment