(no subject)
Pineapple #24. You've Got Some Explaining to Do
with Butterscotch and Sprinkles
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1230
Word Count : 685
Continuing with Kinari's story.
“Is that…the prince?” Kinari asked with a furtive bob of her head toward the ring of figures at the center of the camp, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her companions now, who had taken it upon themselves to show her the ropes -- or perhaps they’d been ordered to do so by Ronalta, they hadn’t said and she hadn’t the nerve to ask -- the Branimir twins, exchanged dubious looks.
Tara choked on a laugh. “Is that the- No, one of the rebels. He made himself a pretty crown, so we let him go prancing about the camp in it.”
That earned her a sharp smack across the arm from her sister that nearly led her to drop her skewer into the fire.
Eyes settling back on her own dinner as she slowly turned it among the flames, Kinari flushed. “It’s just that he seems…well, he seems so…normal.”
“What?” said Tara with another laugh. “You thought we might carry around a little palace for him? Or were you expecting him ten feet tall and glowing?” She dodged to the side as Sherin swung at her again.
Growing a shade redder still, Kinari squirmed in place. “I don’t know what I’d expected.”
Sherin frowned at her. “Haven’t you been to court?”
“Not really. I mean, I’d only just started schooling…”
Tara pulled her stick from the fire and twirled it in front of her, eyeing the meat and peppers impaled along its length with a scowl. “So what’d they send you here for?”
“Well, I’ve been training since I was small,” Kinari offered, meekly. As if that had any real bearing on the decision to dispatch her. The school had wanted to be rid of her, just like everyone else.
Tara jabbed her food back into the flames with a loud “hmph.”
For all their outer similarities, Sherin was a bit more tactful. “Well,” she said, “we leave school and court behind here. And birth,” she added with a wrinkle of her nose at Kinari’s silver hair that had her blushing again. “We’re all soldiers now. Even the prince.”
Kinari ventured another look at the prince and his party. They were gathered near a fire like the rest of the troops, but rather than roast their own dinners they were now being served with platters. “So who is that with him? Besides Ronnie, of course.”
“Ah, well,” said Sherin, “Perhaps we don’t leave it all behind after all. Bartham and Renfred Nantene,” she said, her finger bobbing at a pair of young men as much alike as she and her sister. “Jered Ellery.” Another young face beside them with a mane of curly golden locks. She skipped past Ronalta to the pair with whom their captain seemed to be sharing a rather animated discussion, one all in crimson, with a head of bright, fiery hair to match, the other dark, both grinning broadly. “Cedric Ounil, and Tavian Romilinas.”
“He looks like something out of a fairy story if any of them do.”
They both snapped back to stare at her and she started, realizing she‘d actually spoken the thought aloud. “Woah. Tavi?” said Tara, and her sister shot her a look.
“Tavi’s Ronnie’s, you should know.”
“Is he the red?” She hoped it was the case, certainly it seemed the man in red was sitting more closely to the captain. “No, I mean the dark one.”
The twins exchanged a look at that, that ended in Tara snickering and Sherin tensing as if she might strike her again.
“Ced, huh?” said Tara with a grin.
Sherin shook her head. “Be careful with that one.”
Kinari made a pretense of focusing on her dinner as she pulled it again from the fire, warmth rising in her cheeks. “What do you mean, careful?”
“Just what she said,” said Tara. “Careful.”
“Remember when we go home, we go home to court. What happens here…” Sherin shook her head again, as if that were explanation enough.
Kinari sighed and gingerly plucked a bit of her dinner from the steak. Things were making less and less sense.
with Butterscotch and Sprinkles
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1230
Word Count : 685
Continuing with Kinari's story.
“Is that…the prince?” Kinari asked with a furtive bob of her head toward the ring of figures at the center of the camp, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her companions now, who had taken it upon themselves to show her the ropes -- or perhaps they’d been ordered to do so by Ronalta, they hadn’t said and she hadn’t the nerve to ask -- the Branimir twins, exchanged dubious looks.
Tara choked on a laugh. “Is that the- No, one of the rebels. He made himself a pretty crown, so we let him go prancing about the camp in it.”
That earned her a sharp smack across the arm from her sister that nearly led her to drop her skewer into the fire.
Eyes settling back on her own dinner as she slowly turned it among the flames, Kinari flushed. “It’s just that he seems…well, he seems so…normal.”
“What?” said Tara with another laugh. “You thought we might carry around a little palace for him? Or were you expecting him ten feet tall and glowing?” She dodged to the side as Sherin swung at her again.
Growing a shade redder still, Kinari squirmed in place. “I don’t know what I’d expected.”
Sherin frowned at her. “Haven’t you been to court?”
“Not really. I mean, I’d only just started schooling…”
Tara pulled her stick from the fire and twirled it in front of her, eyeing the meat and peppers impaled along its length with a scowl. “So what’d they send you here for?”
“Well, I’ve been training since I was small,” Kinari offered, meekly. As if that had any real bearing on the decision to dispatch her. The school had wanted to be rid of her, just like everyone else.
Tara jabbed her food back into the flames with a loud “hmph.”
For all their outer similarities, Sherin was a bit more tactful. “Well,” she said, “we leave school and court behind here. And birth,” she added with a wrinkle of her nose at Kinari’s silver hair that had her blushing again. “We’re all soldiers now. Even the prince.”
Kinari ventured another look at the prince and his party. They were gathered near a fire like the rest of the troops, but rather than roast their own dinners they were now being served with platters. “So who is that with him? Besides Ronnie, of course.”
“Ah, well,” said Sherin, “Perhaps we don’t leave it all behind after all. Bartham and Renfred Nantene,” she said, her finger bobbing at a pair of young men as much alike as she and her sister. “Jered Ellery.” Another young face beside them with a mane of curly golden locks. She skipped past Ronalta to the pair with whom their captain seemed to be sharing a rather animated discussion, one all in crimson, with a head of bright, fiery hair to match, the other dark, both grinning broadly. “Cedric Ounil, and Tavian Romilinas.”
“He looks like something out of a fairy story if any of them do.”
They both snapped back to stare at her and she started, realizing she‘d actually spoken the thought aloud. “Woah. Tavi?” said Tara, and her sister shot her a look.
“Tavi’s Ronnie’s, you should know.”
“Is he the red?” She hoped it was the case, certainly it seemed the man in red was sitting more closely to the captain. “No, I mean the dark one.”
The twins exchanged a look at that, that ended in Tara snickering and Sherin tensing as if she might strike her again.
“Ced, huh?” said Tara with a grin.
Sherin shook her head. “Be careful with that one.”
Kinari made a pretense of focusing on her dinner as she pulled it again from the fire, warmth rising in her cheeks. “What do you mean, careful?”
“Just what she said,” said Tara. “Careful.”
“Remember when we go home, we go home to court. What happens here…” Sherin shook her head again, as if that were explanation enough.
Kinari sighed and gingerly plucked a bit of her dinner from the steak. Things were making less and less sense.