The next two days passed quickly between reading, sleeping, and talking
with Avery. Damon and Keren visited often, and after those two days both
girls were allowed out of bed. To assist Alder with walking, Keren gave her
two poles that she rested underneath her arms, and propelled herself
forward with. Keren called them "crutches".
The next four weeks passed even faster. Since Alder couldn't ride, she took up Gary's offer for Healing lessons. Her schedule was so busy with magical lessons that she had barely any time to herself. Alder began to wonder what was being done about the invisibility magic that she had discovered, so she asked Keren.
"The invisibility magic? For one, Lissa is working with the mages to figure out a way to detect its use. The Mage-Council is still deciding what to do about it, whether or not to tell the holdings of Aletha. The problem is this: if we do, some will use it for bad causes. If we don't then the clever mages who have already figured it out can accomplish whatever they will with it," Keren said.
"That is a tricky problem!"
"One that won't be solved tonight, or by us." Keren muttered. "What do you plan to do today? It's your last day in a cast!" she said.
"I rather do enjoy the crutches. They're fun. I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm getting a bit restless, so maybe I should take a walk, or more likely go swinging around in the Palace Gardens."
"Good idea. I am going to go to another bickering session in which nothing will be accomplished." At Alder's puzzled look, she simply said, "Mage Council."
With that, they parted. Alder found peace while in the gardens; a bit of sanity in her hectic schedule. There were rarely any other people in the Gardens, and today was no exception. Alder sat down on a bench and set down her crutches. She got so lost in the relaxing sounds that she fell into a light trance.
One that was interrupted soon enough. Alder jumped at being disturbed so randomly. "So. Alder of Callista," a fair-skinned female remarked. She was really tall, and had curly red hair. She was extremely gorgeous. Alder started at being addressed by name.
"How do you know my name?" Alder asked.
"Court. I remember everyone's name and face. And you had a rather striking appearance. You'd do well as a noble's wife. But then, you've gone and mixed yourself with the wrong crowd," she red-head said snidely.
"Who ARE you?" Alder asked.
"I am so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!" she said with mock sincerity. "I am Brittany of Brighton," she said, and smiled icily. "You did look stunning. Too good for a peasant from Callista. So I suppose the girl Avery dressed you?" she asked.
"Yes- and?" Alder prompted, just as coldly.
"So I guess Avery had too much fun dressing you," Brittany said mysteriously.
"What do you mean by THAT?" Alder asked.
"You know-she's listern," Brittany said, and sneered.
"And that means?" Alder asked, and the other girl laughed.
"Little country girl doesn't know what a listern is! Priceless!"
"Well? I'm not going to find out sitting here!" Alder said pointedly.
"A listern is a person who. prefers. people of their own gender. Has she ever made a pass on you?" Brittany asked, eyes lit with curiosity.
"Girl who likes girls? You mean sexually?" Alder asked bluntly, and snickered at the look on her face.
"Uh-yes. So has she?"
"No, and by your leave, I need to make MINE now," Alder said rudely and got her crutches and pushed herself away from Brittany. She hastily made her way back to the suite, confused and just a bit bewildered.
Girls, with girls? I knew some people did that. but I never knew that there was a term for it, Alder thought, as she entered the suite, to find Avery lounging on a couch by the fire. "Hey Alder! How was your walk?" she asked, and Alder made up her mind.
"Interesting. Confusing. A certain red-headed Brittany of Brighton approached me." Alder said, and Avery groaned.
"What did she tell you?" Aver asked, running her fingers through her hair nervously.
"That you are attracted to girls. Is that true?" Alder said bluntly, and Avery blushed.
"To be frank; yes. People like Brittany and Ambassador Tyrel just like to make my life harder," Avery said, and everything seemed to fall into place. Ambassador Tyrel thinking she was possessed, because she was different. The time that Avery had let Alder borrow clothes, and how she had carefully diverted her eyes whenever Alder changed. Every confusing instance since Alder had come to Brighton was explained.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Alder whispered.
"I wasn't sure how you would react. Such a far-off holding like Callista is more likely to be closed-minded. I wanted you to know me before you found out so that you wouldn't regard me as demon-spawn like Brittany and Tyrel," she said, almost sadly.
"To be honest, I hadn't been very familiar with the concept of female- female relationships until today. I suppose that just means that I have been extremely sheltered," Alder said, and Avery's face darkened. "To be honest again, I have no problem with it whatsoever. The concept seems as normal as male-female relationships. It seems just as natural. I think that whatever makes you happy is what you should do," Alder said, smiling. "Do Keren and Damon know?" Alder asked.
"Keren, Damon, Kat, Syris. most of Court knows for that matter. I had a girlfriend last year, and we were trying to keep the relationship secret, but Tyrel walked in on us kissing, ad well, by noon that day everyone knew. Keren and Damon had already known, and Kat and Syris had figured it out. They didn't think anything of it. Kat has actually been a mentor to me, as she is listern too." she trailed off, blushing.
"Do you still have a girlfriend? If so, you are very good at keeping secrets."
"No. She couldn't stand the pressure of Tyrel and his cronies stalking us and trying to split us up. In the end, Tyrel was so bad that she had to leave Brighton. It wasn't working out well anyways. Since Tyrel holds so much power at Court, others have to lay themselves down to be walked all over. Not many people are prejudiced against listerns. they just pretend to be. The listern community at Brighton is larger than most would think,"" she said.
"Tyrel, I bet he was just bitter that you had someone and he didn't. He's just finding a way to attack you because you are from Emelis!" Alder growled. Over the past four weeks, she had learned a lot about Court Politics and the feud between Tonnar and Emelis. She could find no sympathy for Tyrel or the whole of Tonnar. They were just trying to gain power and land that they had no right no.
"Probably," Avery agreed. "But it still hurts."
The next four weeks passed even faster. Since Alder couldn't ride, she took up Gary's offer for Healing lessons. Her schedule was so busy with magical lessons that she had barely any time to herself. Alder began to wonder what was being done about the invisibility magic that she had discovered, so she asked Keren.
"The invisibility magic? For one, Lissa is working with the mages to figure out a way to detect its use. The Mage-Council is still deciding what to do about it, whether or not to tell the holdings of Aletha. The problem is this: if we do, some will use it for bad causes. If we don't then the clever mages who have already figured it out can accomplish whatever they will with it," Keren said.
"That is a tricky problem!"
"One that won't be solved tonight, or by us." Keren muttered. "What do you plan to do today? It's your last day in a cast!" she said.
"I rather do enjoy the crutches. They're fun. I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm getting a bit restless, so maybe I should take a walk, or more likely go swinging around in the Palace Gardens."
"Good idea. I am going to go to another bickering session in which nothing will be accomplished." At Alder's puzzled look, she simply said, "Mage Council."
With that, they parted. Alder found peace while in the gardens; a bit of sanity in her hectic schedule. There were rarely any other people in the Gardens, and today was no exception. Alder sat down on a bench and set down her crutches. She got so lost in the relaxing sounds that she fell into a light trance.
One that was interrupted soon enough. Alder jumped at being disturbed so randomly. "So. Alder of Callista," a fair-skinned female remarked. She was really tall, and had curly red hair. She was extremely gorgeous. Alder started at being addressed by name.
"How do you know my name?" Alder asked.
"Court. I remember everyone's name and face. And you had a rather striking appearance. You'd do well as a noble's wife. But then, you've gone and mixed yourself with the wrong crowd," she red-head said snidely.
"Who ARE you?" Alder asked.
"I am so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!" she said with mock sincerity. "I am Brittany of Brighton," she said, and smiled icily. "You did look stunning. Too good for a peasant from Callista. So I suppose the girl Avery dressed you?" she asked.
"Yes- and?" Alder prompted, just as coldly.
"So I guess Avery had too much fun dressing you," Brittany said mysteriously.
"What do you mean by THAT?" Alder asked.
"You know-she's listern," Brittany said, and sneered.
"And that means?" Alder asked, and the other girl laughed.
"Little country girl doesn't know what a listern is! Priceless!"
"Well? I'm not going to find out sitting here!" Alder said pointedly.
"A listern is a person who. prefers. people of their own gender. Has she ever made a pass on you?" Brittany asked, eyes lit with curiosity.
"Girl who likes girls? You mean sexually?" Alder asked bluntly, and snickered at the look on her face.
"Uh-yes. So has she?"
"No, and by your leave, I need to make MINE now," Alder said rudely and got her crutches and pushed herself away from Brittany. She hastily made her way back to the suite, confused and just a bit bewildered.
Girls, with girls? I knew some people did that. but I never knew that there was a term for it, Alder thought, as she entered the suite, to find Avery lounging on a couch by the fire. "Hey Alder! How was your walk?" she asked, and Alder made up her mind.
"Interesting. Confusing. A certain red-headed Brittany of Brighton approached me." Alder said, and Avery groaned.
"What did she tell you?" Aver asked, running her fingers through her hair nervously.
"That you are attracted to girls. Is that true?" Alder said bluntly, and Avery blushed.
"To be frank; yes. People like Brittany and Ambassador Tyrel just like to make my life harder," Avery said, and everything seemed to fall into place. Ambassador Tyrel thinking she was possessed, because she was different. The time that Avery had let Alder borrow clothes, and how she had carefully diverted her eyes whenever Alder changed. Every confusing instance since Alder had come to Brighton was explained.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Alder whispered.
"I wasn't sure how you would react. Such a far-off holding like Callista is more likely to be closed-minded. I wanted you to know me before you found out so that you wouldn't regard me as demon-spawn like Brittany and Tyrel," she said, almost sadly.
"To be honest, I hadn't been very familiar with the concept of female- female relationships until today. I suppose that just means that I have been extremely sheltered," Alder said, and Avery's face darkened. "To be honest again, I have no problem with it whatsoever. The concept seems as normal as male-female relationships. It seems just as natural. I think that whatever makes you happy is what you should do," Alder said, smiling. "Do Keren and Damon know?" Alder asked.
"Keren, Damon, Kat, Syris. most of Court knows for that matter. I had a girlfriend last year, and we were trying to keep the relationship secret, but Tyrel walked in on us kissing, ad well, by noon that day everyone knew. Keren and Damon had already known, and Kat and Syris had figured it out. They didn't think anything of it. Kat has actually been a mentor to me, as she is listern too." she trailed off, blushing.
"Do you still have a girlfriend? If so, you are very good at keeping secrets."
"No. She couldn't stand the pressure of Tyrel and his cronies stalking us and trying to split us up. In the end, Tyrel was so bad that she had to leave Brighton. It wasn't working out well anyways. Since Tyrel holds so much power at Court, others have to lay themselves down to be walked all over. Not many people are prejudiced against listerns. they just pretend to be. The listern community at Brighton is larger than most would think,"" she said.
"Tyrel, I bet he was just bitter that you had someone and he didn't. He's just finding a way to attack you because you are from Emelis!" Alder growled. Over the past four weeks, she had learned a lot about Court Politics and the feud between Tonnar and Emelis. She could find no sympathy for Tyrel or the whole of Tonnar. They were just trying to gain power and land that they had no right no.
"Probably," Avery agreed. "But it still hurts."