My fade space was full of flowers. A whole field of them. They smell so heavenly I can't bring myself to banish them. He's still trying to apologize, I guess. Why is he so focused on the fact that I'm not letting him near me? I'm a nobody. He should be getting close to Inquisibabe, so that he can steer the way the Inquisition goes. Recover the orb, destroy the veil, etc. etc. As Bull would say: MAAAAYHEEEEM.
I need to figure out his game. He has to have some agenda. I spent the night laying in flowers and watching a sky with only one gray moon go by. I really miss home. Little wisps of spirit floated in the air like dandelion seeds. They're kind of cute, actually. Maybe the Fade functions as the Guf of Souls does. Storing souls or spirits until they're reborn again. The concept of "reforming" a spirit, but who would be someone new, was discussed in the game. Reincarnation? A thought for another time.
Anyway, I awoke refreshed, more so than usual. The bruising is entirely gone. There's not a single scar, sore, bump, bruise, anything on my whole body. It's weird. On a hunch, I checked my boys' legs. Everyone knows that little kids have bruises up and down their legs, especially when they're as active as these are. I know for a fact that Daniel busted his knee yesterday. Not enough to require healing, but normal bruises. Nothing. Not a single mark. Bet that's why I didn't have a hangover yesterday, as well. The amount of power he must be using is staggering. Does he realize what he's giving away? Is he trying to make me ask him to stop?
I made breakfast today. PORRIDGE. I like porridge. Sue me. And I have discovered they have maple syrup. And maple seeds. I'm going to chat with Sera about itching powder. Maple seeds crushed up makes the best itching powder, and I know an animal abuser that could use some itching powder in her horns. Sera may already know, but she'd probably appreciate some. I took the time to grind up some maple seed sails and put them in a jar, just in case I see her today.
Everybody got up and headed off. School, normal paperwork, some minor squabbles. Girl came in with a black eye, but said it was accidental. A little salve fixes things up, but I'll be keeping an eye on that. "Walked into a door" is usually code for "my life partner hit me and I don't want to tell." She was human, and she came to me. Strangeness. When I checked, her name was on my list. Apparently she asked for me to do scheduling for her. I LOOKED and discovered she was one of my more tenuous connections. Mine, and I didn't know it. How'd that happen?
Scheduled for time in Sewing this afternoon. I've run out of yarn, so I'm in need of more anyway. I stashed the afghans in the Chantry for the exodus. It went well, and I love playing in my yarns. Eliza (one of the humans in sewing this tenday) taught me a new stitch combination, which looks like a puffball or bubble in the work, fistwide, but only finger deep. Squee! Textured blankets for the win! Do it the other way, alternating, and my blanket is going to look like an undulating ocean. I snagged a bunch of shades of blue. I think I can get one more done before the breach.
I checked on everyone after work let out. Sewing gets out a little earlier than others, primarily because we often take work home. The Chantry board said "I'm not usually caught." Ass. I replaced it with "You can stop healing us anytime." Everyone's good. Got introduced to Dennet. He lost interest in me quickly when I said I didn't ride. Nice, but focused. Got asked to have dinner with Harritt and his guys. I said yes. It might be nice to eat while someone else is responsible for things. He said he will guarantee my safety, so I will be picked up by someone, and dropped off, and no Garalen.
She's looking forward to an evening with Andrew. Those two are thick as thieves. I wonder what the child of a bright spot and a brighter spot will look like? People tend to throw around terms like elf-blooded, but in general, humans are duller than elves. There are a couple "humans" who are just a hair brighter, which I bet means they have elf somewhere in their ancestry. Except for the human mages, which are about on par with the average elf. Andrew is brighter than that. What kind of potential would that have? Well, not my business.
I'm in a pensive mood, I'm sorry. I'll finish this after I get home after dinner.
Evening:A large burly gentleman that I had seen at the smithy showed up for me just after dusk, swinging a huge hammer casually at his side. I nearly laughed. No one was going to want to mess with that! I didn't remember his name, but he was one of mine. Sometimes I'm glad that most people don't feel comfortable touching me, though. I wasn't in the mood to be formally escorted. He chatted amiably with me as we walked to Harritt's place. It was a bunch of the guys and me. Sounds wonderful, actually. Harritt's place always feels calm to me.
Harritt and his guys were actually cooking in the forge! They'd set up tables and chairs, and were roasting what looked like an actual pig over the fire usually used for heating metal. I admit, I laughed aloud. I'd never thought anybody would do that, but I guess fire is fire. This place is going to smell like bacon for weeks, which may not be a bad thing.
We had five humans, one surprisingly tall dwarf, and me. Wulfgang, Alex, Gruff, and Mark for the other humans, and Enborr was the dwarf. Feren was off with Isa again, doing what young lovers do, I'm sure. Harritt told me he thought I needed a night off of worrying, so they were going to feed me and give me that. They also had presents for me. "I never had any kids, but I'd want a daughter like you." I teared up. They'd adopted me like I'd adopted everyone else. He held me while I got myself together.
We did the dinner thing. A huge dinner, I might add. These guys packed away almost the whole pig between them. And that didn't even take into consideration the large bowl of carrots and the mashed turnips. Cook had kindly provided a peach cobbler, so we had a real feast. There was laughter and stories, and nobody mentioned anything about inquisibabe, or the breach, or even Haven. It was all tales of their childhood, antics of their friends. All lighthearted and fun.
When it was over, Harritt handed me a small box. It was a special gift, he said. I undid the bow (real ribbon!) and opened it, and inside was what looked like a silver fountain pen! It was beautiful, and I told him so. They went around the table telling me what parts each had played in its creation. Of course, I was immediately provided with paper to try it out. It wrote so smoothly it could have been a ballpoint. They'd even formulated special ink so it would refill more easily. Adan had been in on that part. No one had said anything! And just to make sure I didn't do anything foolish like give it away, they'd made another for Josie.
I hugged everybody. How could I not at that point? Then Wulfgang and Enborr pulled out another wrapped package. I untied the string and opened it. It was a beautiful tooled leather vest. "It's not quite armor, dearie, but it's better than nothing." They must have been working on these for ages. Harritt chimed in with, "We don't like you being stabbed. This will help. I'm sorry it wasn't ready when you needed it." Yes, he thought I'd been stabbed, not Marta, but with the tears and my nose dripping and stuff I was in no fit state to correct them. And it was so sweet! Multiple handkerchiefs were thrust at me, and Alex added that when I go "all avenging elven goddess" on people next time, I'm not to forget my armor. They're working on something else, but it's still in the planning stages, so I am to be careful until it's ready.
I didn't realize how much sending my people to Harritt's would affect the smiths. They talked about the stories the people I'd sent to them told, and expressed dismay at how much danger I had been in. We then moved back to other subjects as the evening wore on. We talked and laughed late into the night, and they all six walked me home. I clutched my gifts to me. I kissed each one on the cheek before I went in.
Eadras had been waiting up for me, so I showed him my new treasures and told him about my evening. He smoothed his hand over my hair. "Da'len, sometimes you look up at the sky and I want to cry for the sadness in your eyes. I don't know what your sorrow is, but we wish you could be happy. I'm glad Harritt and his men could help you release your tears tonight." I hadn't realized I was so obvious. I guess I need to be a little more circumspect, huh?
Well, at that point I headed for bed. I changed into my nightgown, and put my vest on. It's so very comfortable. I'm going to take it off before laying down, but I wanted to wear it. I'm writing with my very own fountain pen, too.
Goodnight, my baby. I really do miss you. But I'm going to miss my family here, too.
