(Untitled)

Sep 28, 2011 17:10

”Come on.” Joscelin pushed his chair back and rose. “Enough idle speculation. The Queen is waiting. Let’s get you to Court.”

Cut for spoilers from Kushiel's Scion )

prior walter, debut, imriel de la courcel, jenny mellor, thalia grace, maladicta, florence vassey

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Comments 52

priorlives September 29 2011, 01:48:08 UTC
Prior was having a good day, in that he was feeling healthy - not too tired, leg didn't hurt too much. He was looking forward to falling into bed with Freddie at some point (because, yes, that was one of the first things that came to mind on good days), but in the meantime, he thought he'd do him a favor and take Player for a walk.

He'd wandered farther than usual, on the beach with the black and white spaniel who was too high spirited and inquisitive to be let off his leash, not when Prior was still walking with a cane and wouldn't be able to go after him if he took off.

When the young man spoke, Player started barking happily at him and running around his legs, twisting the leash. Prior tried to shush him and calm him down, giving the guy an apologetic look. It took him a second to register that he'd spoken in French. Prior spoke the language pretty well, but it still was an effort to translate.

Uh oh.

"Are you new?" he asked, accent not bad, but probably still making it clear that French wasn't his native tongue. "You don' ( ... )

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trytobegood September 29 2011, 03:50:13 UTC
Whoever this man was, he wasn't D'Angeline, something I could discern for reasons beyond merely his speech. "I do not," I replied, my hand still resting at my sword hilt, but relaxed. "So I suppose that does make me new. New to what, though, is what I cannot fathom."

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priorlives September 29 2011, 15:59:05 UTC
Player calmed down a little, but then started to lick the man's pants leg. Prior dropped his cane to the sand so that he could untwist the leash.

"It's complicated," he said. "And I'm sorry, my French is a little..." He searched for the word, thinking that 'rusty' wouldn't make sense in French, and finally settled on, "Not as good."

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trytobegood October 1 2011, 06:12:14 UTC
In my intent, I had not heeded the dog, but I did now, bending down enough to scratch behind its ears, and as I did so I thought of Celeste, though the two canines looked nothing alike. "What language are you more comfortable speaking?" I asked as I straightened, wondering what he meant by the unfamiliar word - Français. I had never heard it before. "I may know it."

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dishabille_mal September 29 2011, 01:52:05 UTC
"Ouais?" Maladicta responded out of sheer knee jerk instinct, as she turned to face the young man in the entirely inappropriate clothing. She paused, eying him. Sword. Fancy. New. Either Genuan or French, some other other world's version of the nationality. She would have felt shabby in comparison, except Maladicta- five years human or not- had never felt shabby in her life. Vampires didn't get shabby, they just got stylishly mussed. She was in a plain white shirt that fell to mid thigh and slender fitted black cotton pants beneath that stopped above the ankle. She was not, however, wearing her sword.

"Oh, dear, someone's only just turned up, haven't they?" she murmured.

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trytobegood September 29 2011, 03:55:29 UTC
I frowned slightly at her comment, noting how she seemed not to be as surprised by my appearance as I was to appear. It seemed to me, then, that wherever I was, mayhap they were accustomed to such things. I, who had seen unbelievable phenomena in my life thus far, did not find this altogether surprising.

"I suppose I have," I replied. She was quite attractive, though not D'Angeline, I did not think. She did not give any sign she recognized me, at least, and all D'Angelines knew the look of my mother, of House Shahrizai, who I most resembled. "The question is, where have I turned up?"

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dishabille_mal September 29 2011, 07:18:23 UTC
"And a perfectly reasonable question it is. The answer, however, may be neither particularly illuminating nor to your liking," Maladicta said, gravitating inexorably to the nearest standing solid surface that she could lounge against.

"You're on an island that's out of time, and out of the world. All of the worlds, really. We're a bit of a pocket universe of our own. I know it doesn't make sense, but is the general concept clear enough so far?"

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trytobegood October 1 2011, 06:17:52 UTC
I misliked the explanation I was given, though I cannot say I would have been altogether thrilled with whatever story she might have told me at that moment. I was no longer home, that much was clear, and I could only imagine what sort of panic my disappearance had caused.

I had the feeling this was no place Phedre and Joscelin could travel to and rescue me from.

"As clear as can be expected, I imagine," I said, a bit warily. "How did I come to be here?"

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loveofmasters September 29 2011, 03:32:16 UTC
She was starting to walk around, explore the strange place she'd been kidnapped to, sticking close to the boardwalks so she didn't get lost. It wasn't like there were many road signs and maps around here and she didn't fancy accidentally wandering into what someone had told her was honest-to-God dinosaur territory. She could only imagine what would happen then. But today, she'd wanted to see the sunset on the beach and so she skipped off the path closest to and pulled off her shoes, intending to enjoy what was left of the day alone with her thoughts, still trying to piece together what she was going to do in this place ( ... )

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trytobegood September 29 2011, 04:05:14 UTC
She addressed me in D'Angeline, but her accent was one I could not discern. I would have attempted her native tongue, but had no way of knowing what that was. "Even so," I confirmed with a nod, as I continued to glance about me. "I was somewhere else a moment ago, somewhere very different from this. Can you tell me how I came to be here instead?"

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loveofmasters September 29 2011, 04:22:54 UTC
It just took practice, getting into the rhythm of another language. And the more he spoke it, the more she could listen to his inflection and try to match it. It was something she had some experience at, and at a young age, too.

Still, it was hard to remain calm as she tried to remember how Anatoly had explained things to her that first day, she'd managed to push most of it away to worry about later, but here she was apparently welcoming someone else to the gilded cage. "No one really knows how any of us arrived, but it happens the same way for all of us. On moment we're where were were, the next, on the island. No one knows who's responsible."

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trytobegood October 1 2011, 06:20:42 UTC
I watched her carefully as she spoke, but could not spot any of the tell-tales of a lie. So she was telling the truth, but a strange truth it was indeed. "That's quite a tale," I replied. "How many occupy this island?"

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notverywise September 29 2011, 07:43:53 UTC
"You don't know?" Jenny asks, slipping instinctively into French when she hears the question, grateful for that the moment after it registers. She doesn't get half as much practice in it here as she'd like, and it isn't something she would want to let slip, loving the language as much as she does. It isn't what's important here, though, she realizes quickly enough. Though not technically new herself anymore, her stay on the island has still been short enough that it never really occurred to her that she might be the one having to explain someday. Now, that's her best guess as to what's going on. She just hopes she can manage well enough. Drawing in a breath, she frowns just slightly as she glances down at the sword, then lifts her gaze again. "This... isn't where you were a few seconds ago, is it?"

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trytobegood October 1 2011, 06:29:23 UTC
The girl looked young, and sweet - we were mayhap of an age, but I felt much older than my years most days. "No, it isn't," I confirmed, turning to regard her. I could only imagine the uproar currently going on in front of the Palace. "Not at all. Where am I?" If I had been one to make threats relating to the consequences of kidnapping a Prince of the Blood, I would have done so then. As it was, she had made no sign of recognition, so I merely waited for an answer.

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notverywise October 1 2011, 09:28:24 UTC
"This is going to sound mad," Jenny says, not sure how else to start. Even that is an understatement. This place is crazy, more than, and if there's anything she's meant to say to make it sound otherwise, she doesn't know it. She can, however, she thinks, do a bit better than the explanation she was first given, one without any sort of warning or preparation whatsoever. "And I'm very sorry for that, but I promise, you're quite alright. You're on an island."

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trytobegood October 2 2011, 07:39:20 UTC
One thing I most certainly was not was alright, but that was not entirely this place's doing. Even a stunted tree, as Asclepius had told me in my dream. This, though, was somewhat new, some new form of madness I had yet to discern.

"An island??" I repeated, thinking of the islands I knew. Alba, Kriti - I did not think I was either place. "Where is this island? How did I come to be here?"

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findherwayback September 29 2011, 23:21:22 UTC
Maybe there was some sort of sign pasted on her. Maybe she was being taught patience that she frankly didn't need. It could be the time of the year or the month or any number of things that makes this guy that she's never seen before speak to her.

There was a time when boys would go speechless around her. Even if they didn't know why, they could still sense that talking to her and her girls was not in their best interest. Thalia could be bothered, but instead she simply raised her eyebrows in question.

"If you had caught me last week, I would've been able to understand what you just said."

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trytobegood October 1 2011, 06:33:11 UTC
I would have thought it odd, her not understanding D'Angeline, if it hadn't seemed quite clear I was no longer in Terre d'Ange. It was no matter, though, at least not for the purposes of our conversation, since she was speaking a language I knew, and I switched to that one instead. "I asked what this place is," I explained in my accented Cruithne. "This is not where I was a moment ago."

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findherwayback October 3 2011, 04:29:42 UTC
"Ah, gotcha." Thalia nodded slightly having figured that it was something like that, but hadn't run with her conclusion. Had the situation been reversed and someone assumed that she was new when she wasn't, she'd probably have been pretty pissed off.

"Yeah. I guess I should say welcome to the island, which isn't at all where you were before. Sorry about that."

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trytobegood October 8 2011, 04:35:19 UTC
"It is quite unlike where I was before," I agreed, glancing at our surroundings. It was unlike any place I'd ever seen. "What and where is the island?"

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