Yes, child. Sit closer to the fire. It is very cold, after all.
You came for lessons, if what she told me was true.
Ah. I thought as much. You want nothing of lessons because you know it all, don't you? You're simply here to hear my tales.
No, no. It's no trouble at all. I've the water on to boil so we can enjoy a nice cup of tea while we talk.
Oh! Careful now, child! It is very hot.
What's that? Sugar? In tea?! Are you mad? This tea needs nothing except the warm caress of his mistress in a porcelain bedchamber. Sugar indeed. Humph. I dried these leaves myself, so I can vouch for their flavor, lad. Until you've tasted my brew, then you've simply never tasted tea. Now stop chattering and listen to me.
Hmm? Heh, yes, I suppose that's true. Tea leaves aren't meant for fortune readers. Leave that to the charlatans at the fairs, eh? Pass them a gil or two and they'll read your leaves, alright. One can invent all sorts of histories from a soggy mound of tar at the bottom of a cup. It simply takes a quick mind and a creative eye. That crooked border? Why, 'tis no border at all! It's the shape of a woman's shoulder, the curve of her neck, the sway in her hips.
She was right about you. You're a quick one, you are. A fortune from a tea leaf indeed. Of all the ridiculous notions…
Bah! I'm rambling. Forgive me. I sit here so long sometimes that I've forgotten how young blood pulses and leaps. You have places to go and people to see, don't you? Perhaps a particular person is waiting for you back at the village, eh? Let me guess. She's a tall one, isn't she? Yes, I thought so. And I imagine that she has red or gold hair, eh?
Red, you say? Watch out for the red ones, lad. They're fierce in bed, but they carry that passion with them in everything they do. Mind that you don't have anything expensive around if you come home with too much rum in your guts, eh? Either it or you will end up tossed out of a window.
Heh. I'm not so old as all that, lad. Though these old bones have grown cold lately, there's enough heat in my blood to remind them that there is such a thing as a pretty woman.
What's that? Don't talk about her like that? Have it your way, lad. I'll not mention her again, but you would do well to remember my words. Ginger girls and ceramics don't mix, so if you get any teapots as wedding gifts, then save the receipts. Fire is difficult to contain, eh?
Yes, yes, yes. I see your point. She has nothing to do with this tale. She knows nothing of the sword collector, does she? I thought as much.
But you do, don't you? You've heard the whispers, else you wouldn't be here with me, ridiculing the finest tea within these borders. I shouldn't even tell you, but I'm growing old, lad. Time is a greedy old whore, you know. It's no wonder at all that so many try to contain her, but they're fools, the lot of 'em. Time won't be contained. Gold melts and seeps into the crevices of the earth, tainting the rich soil with her glittery lies.
Now the earth? Oh, she can be contained. She thrives in her prison. Leave the wings to the creatures of air and flight. Leave the wings to golden time. Wings tire and flutter to the ground after all, once they realize that time has already joined with the earth below.
That's why you're really here, after all. You've tasted the control, know what it means to feel that soft flesh yield under your fingertips. She was much the same when she came to me.
Humph. I thought you didn't want to talk about your girl. Ah! Just a comparison! Of course! The earth is a better lover than that fire you left behind, isn't she? She's cooler, of course, but if she ever chose to release that ageless power, the very mouth of hell would open and all would fall into her belly.
Hmm. What's that you have in your hands?
Yes, those bits of paper you keep flipping between your fingers. Why are you...?
Why, those are cards that I've not seen since…
Where did you find that card, boy? Yes! That one there!
Tell me.
How did you come by it?
Don't lie to me, boy.
Do not lie to me! I've heard the very wind weep and I know the language of birds! Do you honestly think you can fool me with some lie about a game?! I knew her! I know her still! She would never lose that card to anyone, save for perhaps that bastard of flame that followed her here. Why the hell she thought so much of him, of what he was, I'll never understand. She is a child of the earth and she allowed one of the inferno's imps to serve her! It was almost as if she had released some of what she would become if she opened her mouth and sang of her, of her…
How? How do I know her?
Hmm.
Yes, you're right. Damn it all, you're right. Now, run grab a few more sticks of wood for the fire. We'll need them tonight if you mean to hear it all.
Yes, you'll need to bring all your arms can carry. It is a proper story after all, and all proper stories need lots of firewood. Princesses and rogues, knights and queens, witches and magic and the very essence of regret.
Oh? You've heard this one before? Has she told you how she found that card? How she outwitted both a crucified demon and a lost traveler to keep it? She is very good at games, lad, and she knows this one better than any other.
Put that flask down. If you truly mean to hear my words, then I want you to drink tea instead of whiskey. Tea clears your mind instead of clouding it, so set that booze to the side.
It tastes too much like the earth anyway.
Surely she told you that.
No? Heh. She would never tell him, either, no matter how he begged and threatened.
That's why she drinks it, after all. She can taste the blue fire on her tongue with every sip of earth. Come to think of it, even though I hate to consider it, I think she drinks it because it tastes of him.
Note: I decided that what I already had posted would go better as a first chapter instead of a prologue. I apologize for my flightiness. I hope this works better for what I have planned. Hopefully now that this crazy-as-hell period in my life seems to have passed, I can have updates posted sooner. God, I'm so behind on all my fics. This and A Different Sort of Love Story are my top priorities, followed by the rewrite of Cards and Questions, then the fics for Rule of Rose.
I hope to have more posted for this very soon, so if this post seems very vague right now, it will make sense later. So, the old prologue is now chapter one. I should have chapter two up very soon. Woo hoo for the end of stressful bullshit, eh?