The panel is one of Cedar wood for Strength, Vervain for Enchantment has been rubbed in before the paint applied. Alanna is in the foreground, sitting at the base of a large White Oak Tree (Independence) to the viewer's left. She is resting against the trunk, at ease even as her violet eyes are still watchful and alert, and the tilt to her head ( Read more... )

[Three days ago, Thom asked for help. A problem, a challenge - so Sario is back by the lake]

[prepared, and waiting.]

[Out the back, by the lake, is someone who has not been seen for a while. An artist, a plain-faced, olive-skinned artist with oddly intense eyes that contrast with his seemingly gentle smile]

[Sario Grijalva, painting a landscape of the lake and forest beyond]

[he leads Thom back to his room, and unlocks the door. Although he has left the windows open, it still smells strongly oil paints and linseed]

[the painting of Val and her brothers stands against a wall, drying in the dying sun]

This is quite a relaxed, intimate painting, with the three siblings looking up as if someone has just entered the airy, sunlit room. Peter is sitting at the head of a Cedar (Strength) table at the viewer’s left, legs crossed and a book open in his lap. Although he is only wearing a loose, white shirt with some simple black breeches, there is some ( Read more... )

Sario opens his eyes ( Read more... )

Sario was lying on his bed, shoes on the floor but still wearing his coat. He wasn't that tired, not really, but his eyes began to close as he dreamed ( Read more... )

In some ways, Sario had had a most productive week. In others, the man had done absolutely nothing. His sketchbooks, filled with little sketches and notes on the people of Milliways, were open over the floor in case he wanted to look in them, and there were several dozen sheets of paper on one of his stands, covered with ideas and lazy half- ( Read more... )

[hand still in his Lady's, Sario leads her back to his room. They still can't keep their hands to themselves, but that's alright and understandable.]

[once in his room, still smelling of the fresh paint from Tere's painting, Sario takes his shirt of with clumsy hands before kissing her again, pulling her towards his unmade bed in the corner.]

Tere is sitting on the bar itself, glass rows of brightly coloured bottles behind her. She is sitting up tall, cross-legged with a pale foot sticking out from underneath the heavy silk of her dress: toenails painted silver, with a white-gold bangle around her slender ankle that matches the bangles around her wrists. Her long black hair has been ( Read more... )