Neal paced back and forth across the palace room. This was not good. Yukimi, his wife, and swollen with child, sat in a chair, dressed Yamani style, in a dark blue kimono with her black hair pulled up tight, but no make-up this busy morning.
"This is idiocy! Random idiocy!" shouted Nealan, still pacing circles across the carpet. "This can't happen!"
"It has," said Yuki, quite plainly, "And it will."
"Have the Yamani's lost their minds! Am I losing mine! Is this all just some hideous nightmare! That's it, it must be. This is all a nightmare….." Yuki stood up to comfort her husband.
"Would I look like this in a nightmare?" she asked soothingly, hiding her worry with Yamani skill, knowing it wouldn't help. Neal faltered with the answer for a moment.
"Whatever I answer for that, it's not going to sound right."
"At least you still have some sense. Come, have some tea."
"Tea! We are on the brink of war and you want to drink some tea!"
"That Yamani empire was build on tea," replied Yuki placidly.
"Oh? That's what the volcanoes are then, is it?"
"Nealan," said Yuki firmly, come sit down and have some tea. Neal ignored Yuki's tone, but sat down beside her.
"No tea. Tea isn't going to help."
"Neither is pacing, you must keep calm."
"This is mad! I never thought this was possible!" So much for Neal being calm. "It's about as likely as Kel falling for Joren! And between you and me I don't think she's the sort to fall in love with a corpse."
"Yelling at the walls isn't going to help. They will not tear themselves from the foundations and march off to the islands. Please, stop pulling your hair out. I like it much better on your head."
"And I like my head on my shoulders. If all you Yamanis are half as good at Kel with her glaive then my head is going to be a freaky doorstop! If your Yamanis are half as good as Kel, we're going to lose!"
"I am not Yamani anymore. I am of Tortall," said Yuki, trying to be calm although the thought of her kinsfolk being slaughtered was upsetting her deeply. Many times she had walked through the market place with Neal, or other palace ladies, and it was obvious that most people on the street thought of her as a foreigner still Once this war started, she would be more than a foreigner, she would be an enemy behind their lines. That was not a good situation.
"The average man on the street isn't going to know that. This war can't happen."
"So we must stop it."
"I hate being a pessimist, but I can't see how. It's not as simple as sneaking across the boarder to Scarna like last time. I mean, we can't swim that far. We need boats, and there's no thick forest to hide in. It's not that simple to pull a wild, roguish stunt."
"We will find a way."
[ooc] Sorry this chapter took so long and is so short in comparason but I was having trouble concentrating and was finding Yuki hard to write. Also I was working on the Gauntlets, whether people read them or not[/ooc]
"This is idiocy! Random idiocy!" shouted Nealan, still pacing circles across the carpet. "This can't happen!"
"It has," said Yuki, quite plainly, "And it will."
"Have the Yamani's lost their minds! Am I losing mine! Is this all just some hideous nightmare! That's it, it must be. This is all a nightmare….." Yuki stood up to comfort her husband.
"Would I look like this in a nightmare?" she asked soothingly, hiding her worry with Yamani skill, knowing it wouldn't help. Neal faltered with the answer for a moment.
"Whatever I answer for that, it's not going to sound right."
"At least you still have some sense. Come, have some tea."
"Tea! We are on the brink of war and you want to drink some tea!"
"That Yamani empire was build on tea," replied Yuki placidly.
"Oh? That's what the volcanoes are then, is it?"
"Nealan," said Yuki firmly, come sit down and have some tea. Neal ignored Yuki's tone, but sat down beside her.
"No tea. Tea isn't going to help."
"Neither is pacing, you must keep calm."
"This is mad! I never thought this was possible!" So much for Neal being calm. "It's about as likely as Kel falling for Joren! And between you and me I don't think she's the sort to fall in love with a corpse."
"Yelling at the walls isn't going to help. They will not tear themselves from the foundations and march off to the islands. Please, stop pulling your hair out. I like it much better on your head."
"And I like my head on my shoulders. If all you Yamanis are half as good at Kel with her glaive then my head is going to be a freaky doorstop! If your Yamanis are half as good as Kel, we're going to lose!"
"I am not Yamani anymore. I am of Tortall," said Yuki, trying to be calm although the thought of her kinsfolk being slaughtered was upsetting her deeply. Many times she had walked through the market place with Neal, or other palace ladies, and it was obvious that most people on the street thought of her as a foreigner still Once this war started, she would be more than a foreigner, she would be an enemy behind their lines. That was not a good situation.
"The average man on the street isn't going to know that. This war can't happen."
"So we must stop it."
"I hate being a pessimist, but I can't see how. It's not as simple as sneaking across the boarder to Scarna like last time. I mean, we can't swim that far. We need boats, and there's no thick forest to hide in. It's not that simple to pull a wild, roguish stunt."
"We will find a way."
[ooc] Sorry this chapter took so long and is so short in comparason but I was having trouble concentrating and was finding Yuki hard to write. Also I was working on the Gauntlets, whether people read them or not[/ooc]