(Untitled)

[trytobegood]

It had been just over a month since I was displaced to this strange and mysterious island, and I found myself missing Terre d'Ange and my loved ones there more than ever. My time in Tiberium and Lucca had been somewhat different; even if I had at times despaired of ever seeing home again, I yet knew where that home was located in relation to my

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[loveofmasters]

Florence had, in her opinion at least, finally found something to do that could occupy her mind that didn't involve chess. Leaning against a rock at the beach's treeline, she held in her lap two books, identical save for the languages. Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, in English and Hungarian. She had no idea if she'd be able to teach herself the language of her birth, she'd forgotten it, pushed it away like so many other things in her youth but she wanted to try.

The real challenge was she'd never read the language before in her life, she'd been only five when she left home and she'd learned to read in English. But it was something, at least, until she found someone who could speak it to help her. In the meantime, she just tried to sound out the syllables in the hope that something would click. Focused and with her head down, she almost missed the sound of the approaching horse, looking up only in time to see it barreling closer, kicking up sand in it's wake.

Thinking she recognized the rider, she put her hand up in greeting, not sure Imriel would even see her sitting there.

[trytobegood]

I saw the figure at the treeline, and would have continued on, as the Bastard's endurance was strong and he'd yet to start showing any signs of fatigue. But then she raised a hand in greeting as we neared, which prompted me to take a closer look, and I realized it was someone I knew. Reining in hard, I managed to get my horse to a stop not far past where she was reclined, and I dismounted, walking the Bastard back over to her.

"Good day, my lady Florence," I greeted her, inclining my head slightly with a smile. After my ride, I was in high spirits. "How does the day find you?"

[loveofmasters]

"Well enough."

It was easy for Florence to smile, being called a lady was just rare enough that it flattered her, not to mention reassured her that there were people that were further out of time than she was. Not that it was a good thing, being so out of touch, but knowing she wasn't the only one who must look at some of the things on the island in wonder... reassuring.

And he certainly looked easier on that horse than she ever could. There was a grace to it she could admire."That's a beautiful horse, where did it come from?"

[trytobegood]

"I think the question may not be where, but how," I replied as I ran a hand along the Bastard's neck. "This is my horse from home, though I did not think to see him here. He was not with me when I arrived."

[loveofmasters]

Considering for a moment, Florence stood and approached warily. She had no experience with horses whatsoever, but it seemed Imriel knew what he was doing and she didn't see the harm.

"I've heard of this, things appearing, gifts. I was given the impression they were meant to be cruel, but this hardly seems that.."

[trytobegood]

I kept my hand tight around the reins, but The Bastard seemed to be of a mind to impress, and he stood still and mild, allowing Florence to approach. "I am glad for his arrival," I explained, "but I believe there is a lesson in this, as well. Mayhap not cruel, but simply a reminder, of things I once foolishly believed."

[loveofmasters]

"And what was that? If you don't mind my asking." It seemed important to him, regardless, and Florence wanted to help him if she could. He seemed a nice enough young man and as she held out a hand, she allowed the horse to sniff at her fingers while she waited for an answer.

[trytobegood]

"It is....a complicated story," I demur with a polite smile. I am more at ease than I once was with such lines of inquiry, and granted, I was the one to bring up the subject. But there are still subjects I am not willing to go into detail on in the company of those I do not know well. "In brief, I was young when I was given this horse, and still prone to seeing the world in black and white."

[loveofmasters]

"Black and white is easy." Remembering who it was she talked to, slipping back into French was a courtesy and a privilege. She should have slipped back sooner, and Florence berated herself for the mistake. The least she could do for a new arrival was respect his native tongue.

"It makes choosing sides simple and it never is in real life." Communist and democrat, it should have been so easy to hate Anatoly, for the country he represented, the life he led, but she loved him. She couldn't help it, even knowing that he was with someone else.

[trytobegood]

I appreciated the switch to D'Angeline - French, they called it here. I could have continued on without trouble in Cruithne (English, I reminded myself), but there was a certain comfort in speaking my native language.

"No, it isn't," I agreed. I had one thought it was easy to believe I hated my mother, but now, I was not entirely certain.

[loveofmasters]

"Have you settled in here well? found everything you need?"

As shocked as she had been upon arrival, she would only imagine how it had been for Imriel. Electricity, technology, all of it had to be like, well, like magic to someone who arrived like they were an extra in a period movie.

[trytobegood]

"It has been - quite an adjustment, to say the least. Many of the things here which seem commonplace to many others are entirely new to me," I replied with a smile that was somewhat wry, but edged with wonder. I had never thought to see such things - machines that laundered clothing with minimal human interference, lights that came on with the mere flick of a switch and required no flame or fuel, stoves that required no wood, and many other oddities.

"I am - adjusting," I continued. "Taking things as they come."

[loveofmasters]

"That's really the only way to do it, I guess."

Reaching out with a slightly unsteady hand, she touched the horse, feeling the velvety fur beneath her hands. He was a beautiful animal and likely useful here, if only for being able to get from one end of the island to the other without wearing out one's feet.

"He really is beautiful, does he have a name?"

[trytobegood]

The Bastard stood patient under Florence's touch, lowering his head so she might better reach. "His actual name is Hierax, but I have never called him that," I explained. "The Tsingani who bred him called him the Bastard, and that was the name that stuck."

[loveofmasters]

It took a moment for her mind to translate the name, they didn't exactly teach the curse words in her college classes. In the end it was remembering an article she'd translated for Freddie that let her make the connection.

"Bastard?" Chuckling, Florence obliged the animal, giving him a friendly scratch. She wished she'd brought some fruit or veggies to snack on, she would have offered him one. "I take it he has a strong personality, then?"

[trytobegood]

"Very," I confirmed with a smile, somewhat proud of how my horse seemed to be determined to acquit himself well under the attentions of a lovely woman. It was as if he knew he was the subject of our conversation. "He's been a good horse, even if he is difficult at times even for me to control."