Conversation (Summer Challenge, Chocolate Chip Mint)
‘Verse: ☼ The Sun, Radiant ☼
Challenges/Toppings/Extras: Summer Challenge ‘14: Special Brownie #16 (One morning I woke up and I knew) & Akutaq #13 (muskeg), Chocolate Chip Mint #20 (uncomfortable)
Rating: PG-13
Title: Conversation
Summary: A queen’s two consorts.
Notes: Sooo close to Gold level…
It was early morning when Vasyasa woke. He wasn’t sure what had ejected him from his formless dreams at first, but as he blinked in the pre-dawn light he realized that Ruhana was gone, and, more importantly, remembered why. It must have been hours since the guard had interrupted their rest to make the dual announcements, but Vasyasa had been allowed to sleep and he was both annoyed at and touched by this.
No matter. He was awake now. Vas put his feet on the marble to the side of the four-poster and stood up, letting the chilly stone force him further from dreamland. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he set about getting ready for the day.
Silks arranged, bangles up and down his arms, rouge applied, and he looked very much the Queen’s consort he was. Growing up the son of the wealthiest war-dealer in the city had made him used to comfort, but he had lived through his father’s rage when the Emerald Agreement dried up business, too. He thought this made him more aware of the adverse consequences of even the most clear-cut decisions the Queen could make. While he would never measure up to Ravir’s worldliness - the Watwanyasan man had been all over the country, and even to the West, both before he knew Ruhana and at her behest, and had known true poverty besides - he was no coddled noble’s son. No one would think he was anything else, though, dressed in the silks and jewels, and that was how he liked it. He had learned from Ravir that the enemy that underestimated him was the enemy easiest to defeat.
He checked the throne room first, but Ruhana was not within. Instead, he found Ravir lounging on the dais, leaning back against the side of the empty gold seat. The other consort had quill in his hand, and as Vasyasa began to cross the large room, Ravir leaned forward and scratched something on a roll of parchment lying on the floor nearby. An inkwell sat next to the parchment.
Working on his letters again? Vas thought. He left the area rug behind and stepped out onto the stone that dominated the hall, sandals treading as quietly as possible, as Ravir had taught him. Nevertheless, his footsteps echoed, and Ravir glanced up, finding him immediately despite the acoustics of the room making his location difficult to pinpoint from sound alone.
It was just the two of them in the hall, Ravir doubtlessly having sent the ever-present guards away to wherever the Queen was.
“Morning,” Ravir said. He glanced at the parchment, a frown tugging at his lips, and abruptly rolled it up. “Bah! I’m getting nowhere.”
“Letters?” Vas settled at the foot of the throne, glancing sidelong at Ravir but not looking directly at him.
Ravir sighed. “Yeah. Ruhana’s off in a meeting and wanted me to come, but the day I can stand those Fallstari advisors is the day Arambh freezes over, so now I’m just waiting. Figured it’d pass the time, but…” He waved the roll about in frustration. “I guess it’s not to be.”
“Eh, who knows,” Vas mumbled lamely; the subject of Ravir’s education - or lack thereof - was awkward for him. Ravir was determined to learn what he’d missed growing up in the Brushback, but Vas still found himself in the rare position of knowing something Ravir did not.
Ravir was silent for a moment while Vas stared down the hall to the double-doored entrance. “The assassin is down in the Pens,” he said eventually.
Vas shuddered. The Pens? Gods. “You got him?”
“Of course. Coward like that… well.”
“I’ll have to hear that story. How far did he get?” He twisted himself to face Ravir, but the other consort wasn’t looking at him. His head was tilted back and he was tossing a small knitted ball from hand to hand.
Ravir did not open his eyes, but the ball flew neatly back and forth. “Nearly to Lalit. Stuck himself in the muskeg.”
Muskeg… Vas had long since learned what Ravir’s strange vocabulary translated into, but on occasion it still threw him when he was talking with barely an accent one minute and using his Brushback terms the next. “That’s a way, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. He got a bit of a head start and was running on fear the entire time, but I caught up to him easily enough. Just had to follow the trail of snapped twigs and blood - he cut himself in the thicket outside the city, but I don’t think he even felt it.” The ball stilled its arc and Ravir opened his eyes. “I toyed with him, yeah. Let him get a bit farther than I could have, but he was never going anywhere. He expected to die by my hand.”
Vas snorted and shook his head. “Fool. If he thought you would kill him without interrogating him first…”
Ravir hummed in agreement; the ball resumed flight. “Yes, well, I’ll be down to the Pens soon enough. Give him some time to stew first.”
“I’ll never understand how you can enjoy doing that, but I’m glad you do, in any case.”
Ravir tilted his head towards Vas. “I don’t quite get it either,” he murmured.
Challenges/Toppings/Extras: Summer Challenge ‘14: Special Brownie #16 (One morning I woke up and I knew) & Akutaq #13 (muskeg), Chocolate Chip Mint #20 (uncomfortable)
Rating: PG-13
Title: Conversation
Summary: A queen’s two consorts.
Notes: Sooo close to Gold level…
It was early morning when Vasyasa woke. He wasn’t sure what had ejected him from his formless dreams at first, but as he blinked in the pre-dawn light he realized that Ruhana was gone, and, more importantly, remembered why. It must have been hours since the guard had interrupted their rest to make the dual announcements, but Vasyasa had been allowed to sleep and he was both annoyed at and touched by this.
No matter. He was awake now. Vas put his feet on the marble to the side of the four-poster and stood up, letting the chilly stone force him further from dreamland. When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he set about getting ready for the day.
Silks arranged, bangles up and down his arms, rouge applied, and he looked very much the Queen’s consort he was. Growing up the son of the wealthiest war-dealer in the city had made him used to comfort, but he had lived through his father’s rage when the Emerald Agreement dried up business, too. He thought this made him more aware of the adverse consequences of even the most clear-cut decisions the Queen could make. While he would never measure up to Ravir’s worldliness - the Watwanyasan man had been all over the country, and even to the West, both before he knew Ruhana and at her behest, and had known true poverty besides - he was no coddled noble’s son. No one would think he was anything else, though, dressed in the silks and jewels, and that was how he liked it. He had learned from Ravir that the enemy that underestimated him was the enemy easiest to defeat.
He checked the throne room first, but Ruhana was not within. Instead, he found Ravir lounging on the dais, leaning back against the side of the empty gold seat. The other consort had quill in his hand, and as Vasyasa began to cross the large room, Ravir leaned forward and scratched something on a roll of parchment lying on the floor nearby. An inkwell sat next to the parchment.
Working on his letters again? Vas thought. He left the area rug behind and stepped out onto the stone that dominated the hall, sandals treading as quietly as possible, as Ravir had taught him. Nevertheless, his footsteps echoed, and Ravir glanced up, finding him immediately despite the acoustics of the room making his location difficult to pinpoint from sound alone.
It was just the two of them in the hall, Ravir doubtlessly having sent the ever-present guards away to wherever the Queen was.
“Morning,” Ravir said. He glanced at the parchment, a frown tugging at his lips, and abruptly rolled it up. “Bah! I’m getting nowhere.”
“Letters?” Vas settled at the foot of the throne, glancing sidelong at Ravir but not looking directly at him.
Ravir sighed. “Yeah. Ruhana’s off in a meeting and wanted me to come, but the day I can stand those Fallstari advisors is the day Arambh freezes over, so now I’m just waiting. Figured it’d pass the time, but…” He waved the roll about in frustration. “I guess it’s not to be.”
“Eh, who knows,” Vas mumbled lamely; the subject of Ravir’s education - or lack thereof - was awkward for him. Ravir was determined to learn what he’d missed growing up in the Brushback, but Vas still found himself in the rare position of knowing something Ravir did not.
Ravir was silent for a moment while Vas stared down the hall to the double-doored entrance. “The assassin is down in the Pens,” he said eventually.
Vas shuddered. The Pens? Gods. “You got him?”
“Of course. Coward like that… well.”
“I’ll have to hear that story. How far did he get?” He twisted himself to face Ravir, but the other consort wasn’t looking at him. His head was tilted back and he was tossing a small knitted ball from hand to hand.
Ravir did not open his eyes, but the ball flew neatly back and forth. “Nearly to Lalit. Stuck himself in the muskeg.”
Muskeg… Vas had long since learned what Ravir’s strange vocabulary translated into, but on occasion it still threw him when he was talking with barely an accent one minute and using his Brushback terms the next. “That’s a way, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. He got a bit of a head start and was running on fear the entire time, but I caught up to him easily enough. Just had to follow the trail of snapped twigs and blood - he cut himself in the thicket outside the city, but I don’t think he even felt it.” The ball stilled its arc and Ravir opened his eyes. “I toyed with him, yeah. Let him get a bit farther than I could have, but he was never going anywhere. He expected to die by my hand.”
Vas snorted and shook his head. “Fool. If he thought you would kill him without interrogating him first…”
Ravir hummed in agreement; the ball resumed flight. “Yes, well, I’ll be down to the Pens soon enough. Give him some time to stew first.”
“I’ll never understand how you can enjoy doing that, but I’m glad you do, in any case.”
Ravir tilted his head towards Vas. “I don’t quite get it either,” he murmured.