RP/OWL: Que Peut Faire Une Erreur, Fera Une Erreur.
Date: 6 June 2005, early morning (backdated... you'll see why...)
Characters: Julian Avery, with a studious absence of The Lady Luck
Location: All over Northern France
Status: Private
Summary: Following the news he received the night before his wedding, the next 20 hours prove to be less than what Julian was hoping for.
Completion: Complete
Julian looked to the rosing skies over the French countryside, and knew that things were truly, utterly, pear-shaped.
"Merde," he hissed, both in reaction to the general situation, and the small wriggling body held fast between his hands. He was standing in a small copse of trees, attempting to post a letter. It'd been a while since he was last in France. He'd forgotten what the owls could be like. If he had a choice, he would have tried something more reliable and expedient in getting a message back to England.
Back to Gilderoy.
Unfortunately, he had no such luxury. Time was growing more precious with the approaching dawn. He couldn't wait any longer, if he was to give Gilderoy adequate time to contact their wedding guests. Julian was loathed to postpone things, loathed to upset his beautiful lover. But he was so close to catching up with Charpentier. He couldn't turn back now. He was risking much simply in stopping to 'commission' this owl. He was quite some distance from Calais now, between Dunkerque and the Belgium border. Uxem, he believed the little town was called. He'd been on the move since landing in France, coming off that Tunnel-Chunnel-Train... thing. It'd been a quick affair, leaving England, apparating over to Folkestone to catch the thing. Truthfully, Julian had wasted more time playing Muggle at the station than the under-channel ride actually took. Calais, which lay near the terminus, was large and unfamiliar enough to present some effort in locating his contact, Hélie Charpentier.
Still, there'd been plenty of time then to get back before the ceremony.
That is, before complications had arisen.
Once Julian had found Charpentier's place, he'd also found instructions redirecting him somewhere else. That'd taken more time from his constrained schedule. It'd been difficult, but not impossible, to follow the lead. To yet another lead. Apparently, Charpentier was mobile now, and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for him to follow. The reasoning for this was nebulous, but it appeared there was opposition to finding Carolyn. This was problematic, but not surprising after the snorkack chase Rochester had been lead on. It was difficult to say who was responsible and why, but some evidence suggested the hostilities were with the Carrow side of the family.
He was undecided as to whether a lack of Avery enemies was a fortuitous thing or not. After all, he'd collected enough of those to have kept him guessing until the next Cerealia. Yet, he would have had a better idea as to whom he was up against.
All this was neither here nor there at this moment, however. Trail after trail had slowly whittled down Julian's window of opportunity, and in Uxem he'd had an important decision to make. If he went back to England now, the trail would likely be lost forever. There was a chance he could find a new one later, but Charpentier was on the move, indicating the circumstances were not ideal.
... But he didn't want to do this to his Goldleaf.
Julian reassured himself that Gilderoy would understand, or at least Seti would lead him to understanding. He reasoned that yes, the wedding was important, but it was something they could do anytime. Carolyn's health and safety wasn't something he could put off until later.
"... Due to the delicate nature..."
There was also a child involved. His child.
A sharp nip from the owl brought Julian back to the moment. He swore, in French so the bird would get the full effect. He made sure to include details of his long association with kneazles. The feline nature of his smirk was the final stroke in negotiations. The owl became quite complacent. There was no more time for dallying or regrets. He attached the letter once he had extracted a promise from the bird, then sent his missive to the skies with a prayer.
Beloved,
By now, I'm certain Seti's told you of my whereabouts. I assure you I'm safe, but I have bad news. Things have gotten complicated, past the point where I have time or words to explain. Suffice it to say that I still haven't found Carolyn. It's horrible of me to ask this of you, but I need to stay longer. I'm so close to finding her, love. I just can't risk losing her now. I hope you understand how much it upsets me to postpone the wedding. I wanted to be married today. But things are intense here, and I'm not sure I can leave in time anyway. I don't know how long I'll be, but when I get back we will be married. You're all I want, my Goldleaf.
Please don't be upset with me. I'll send an update as soon as I can. Be strong, and know that I miss and love you.
Yours, Always,
Marcel
An hour later, now in Ghyvelde, Julian didn't give much thought to the weather reports coming in. He was in a pub, busily negotiating passage across the Belgium border.
Besides, the storm wasn't supposed to become severe until it had passed over his area.
Characters: Julian Avery, with a studious absence of The Lady Luck
Location: All over Northern France
Status: Private
Summary: Following the news he received the night before his wedding, the next 20 hours prove to be less than what Julian was hoping for.
Completion: Complete
Julian looked to the rosing skies over the French countryside, and knew that things were truly, utterly, pear-shaped.
"Merde," he hissed, both in reaction to the general situation, and the small wriggling body held fast between his hands. He was standing in a small copse of trees, attempting to post a letter. It'd been a while since he was last in France. He'd forgotten what the owls could be like. If he had a choice, he would have tried something more reliable and expedient in getting a message back to England.
Back to Gilderoy.
Unfortunately, he had no such luxury. Time was growing more precious with the approaching dawn. He couldn't wait any longer, if he was to give Gilderoy adequate time to contact their wedding guests. Julian was loathed to postpone things, loathed to upset his beautiful lover. But he was so close to catching up with Charpentier. He couldn't turn back now. He was risking much simply in stopping to 'commission' this owl. He was quite some distance from Calais now, between Dunkerque and the Belgium border. Uxem, he believed the little town was called. He'd been on the move since landing in France, coming off that Tunnel-Chunnel-Train... thing. It'd been a quick affair, leaving England, apparating over to Folkestone to catch the thing. Truthfully, Julian had wasted more time playing Muggle at the station than the under-channel ride actually took. Calais, which lay near the terminus, was large and unfamiliar enough to present some effort in locating his contact, Hélie Charpentier.
Still, there'd been plenty of time then to get back before the ceremony.
That is, before complications had arisen.
Once Julian had found Charpentier's place, he'd also found instructions redirecting him somewhere else. That'd taken more time from his constrained schedule. It'd been difficult, but not impossible, to follow the lead. To yet another lead. Apparently, Charpentier was mobile now, and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for him to follow. The reasoning for this was nebulous, but it appeared there was opposition to finding Carolyn. This was problematic, but not surprising after the snorkack chase Rochester had been lead on. It was difficult to say who was responsible and why, but some evidence suggested the hostilities were with the Carrow side of the family.
He was undecided as to whether a lack of Avery enemies was a fortuitous thing or not. After all, he'd collected enough of those to have kept him guessing until the next Cerealia. Yet, he would have had a better idea as to whom he was up against.
All this was neither here nor there at this moment, however. Trail after trail had slowly whittled down Julian's window of opportunity, and in Uxem he'd had an important decision to make. If he went back to England now, the trail would likely be lost forever. There was a chance he could find a new one later, but Charpentier was on the move, indicating the circumstances were not ideal.
... But he didn't want to do this to his Goldleaf.
Julian reassured himself that Gilderoy would understand, or at least Seti would lead him to understanding. He reasoned that yes, the wedding was important, but it was something they could do anytime. Carolyn's health and safety wasn't something he could put off until later.
"... Due to the delicate nature..."
There was also a child involved. His child.
A sharp nip from the owl brought Julian back to the moment. He swore, in French so the bird would get the full effect. He made sure to include details of his long association with kneazles. The feline nature of his smirk was the final stroke in negotiations. The owl became quite complacent. There was no more time for dallying or regrets. He attached the letter once he had extracted a promise from the bird, then sent his missive to the skies with a prayer.
Beloved,
By now, I'm certain Seti's told you of my whereabouts. I assure you I'm safe, but I have bad news. Things have gotten complicated, past the point where I have time or words to explain. Suffice it to say that I still haven't found Carolyn. It's horrible of me to ask this of you, but I need to stay longer. I'm so close to finding her, love. I just can't risk losing her now. I hope you understand how much it upsets me to postpone the wedding. I wanted to be married today. But things are intense here, and I'm not sure I can leave in time anyway. I don't know how long I'll be, but when I get back we will be married. You're all I want, my Goldleaf.
Please don't be upset with me. I'll send an update as soon as I can. Be strong, and know that I miss and love you.
Yours, Always,
Marcel
An hour later, now in Ghyvelde, Julian didn't give much thought to the weather reports coming in. He was in a pub, busily negotiating passage across the Belgium border.
Besides, the storm wasn't supposed to become severe until it had passed over his area.