Author's Notes: Aaai, my poor muses. ::hands out espressos and pats on the
head:: I'm sorry for overworking you, my dearies.
Ailani woke in a bed that smelled of flowers and the woods, and was tempted to simply fall back asleep again. The covers were so soft, woven of a strange material that felt soft to her riding-roughened hands. The bed, too, held no one else in it; something else she was unaccustomed to, for Aubrey always shared her bed when she was not in her courses.
Then she remembered where she was; the Elf community of Silverwood, in the house of King Caleb Gwydion. Swinging her muscled legs reluctantly over the edge of the bed, she winced as the movement pulled at muscles not yet recovered from one of Aubrey's previous beatings. On the chest at the end of her bed, her priestess' robes had been cleaned and folded neatly, and her boots placed beside the chest. And also clean undergarments, and a small pot of blue dye with a little brush in it.
Ailani put on her robes and painted the crescent on her forehead. Then running a brush through her hair, she bound it behind her head and, in the peculiar floating gait of a priestess in robes, walked over to the window, placing her hands on the sill. Below, elves were out already in the streets, laughing and talking amongst themselves. The whole lent an aura of unhurried business to the young priestess.
A knock on the door brought Ailani swiftly around, her hand going for where her sword would be, and closing on air. Shaking her head, Ailani steeled herself and opened the door.
Calix leaned against the door frame, her sword and sword belt in one hand. "Are you hungry, Lady Ailani?" he asked, and tossed her equipment to her. Ailani caught it and buckled the sword around her waist. "Breakfast is laid out in the dining hall, My Lady."
Ailani pushed past him and started down the hallway, following the scent of food in the air to a large hall that appeared to be made of intertwining branches of the great silver trees. Calix came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and turned away, heading for the plates of strange-looking food that sat upon the table and emanated delightful aromas.
Not caring about how a lady was supposed to act, Ailani took generous helpings of everything within her reach and ate ravenously. Food had been mediocre at best on her flight from Bevelle, and Aubrey had insisted she eat only small portions, "as befits a lady." Well, she was not going to starve herself to get the desired hourglass shape; she had spent enough time in Avalon to know that that fit look was to be had through assiduous exercise and proper eating.
Cloudchaser curled up at her feet, purring and begging her with his eyes to give him a small piece. Ailani actually smiled (An event that did not go unnoticed by Calix, sitting across from her) and handed a small bit of meat down to the cat. She, as a general rule, did not eat meat; the Sight was hard enough to come by in her as it was. Cloudchaser happily gobbled up the slice and rubbed his head against her leg, purring.
"It appears my panther friend is taken with you," Calix said softly. Ailani looked up, and again a flicker of something other than her normal hatred and rage flashed through her eyes.
"I know," she replied in a much kinder voice than normal. "He is a wizard- bred cat, is he not?"
Calix nodded. "Yes.bred by a wizard named Elias Feng. Cloudchaser is not a normal panther.just as Nenya is not a normal horse, is he, Priestess?"
Ailani looked back down as she stroked the panther. "Nenya is also wizard- bred, that am I allowed to admit. But the wizard who bred and trained Nenya vowed me to secrecy. And you who wear the serpents know that one should swear not - "
" - lest they be forever sworn." Calix finished. "Yes.I do know."
~*~
One of the drow came back to Aubrey the next night, saying that one of the members of the hunting party that he was a part of had found the trail - three horses and a feline, heading to Luca at high speeds. From there, the male drow said, they had gotten passage on a boat from Luca to the port of Ibetsam on the Anashian coast. Then the trail entered the Niwe Forest, and became confused with those of other animals.
Aubrey smiled to himself. Niwe Forest was home of a large city of elves - notably, the home of King Caleb Gwydion, father of the cursed elf that had stolen Ailani away, and forced him to show his demon form. Ailani was not stupid; she would seek shelter in one of the safest places on any of the continents, a place safer even then the Isle of Avalon. Inwardly, he was surprised she had not made for that unholy land first. But with the drow on her tail, with their Priestesses of Lolth the Spider Queen, she would be here with him again soon.
Soon.
~*~
The man from the Lifestream blinked as the eagle descended to a cliff outside the city of Besaid. Sliding off and sending a pulse of thanks along the ever-weakening telepathic link, he made for the city, his robes floating out behind him. Upon reaching the outskirts, he slowed and chose a course that would lead him through back doors and dark alleys; the less he was seen, the better. As he was thought dead by the masses, his sudden reappearance, with glowing gray-blue lavender eyes, would cause an upset before he could get to her.
Night had fallen before he reached the house that he sought. Pushing lightly off the ground, he used a little of the remaining strength of the souped-up temporary mental prowess that the Lifestream had granted him to get here to levitate himself to the balcony where his beloved slept.
With the tips of his opaline nails, he scratched lightly on his beloved's balcony door. She woke; gasped at the sight of him standing outside her door and slid it open, staring up at him with an expression that was a mix of love, lust, awe, and surprise.
"S-Sey - "
He laid a finger against her lips. "Shh, darling."
She backed away a little, and Seymour Guado tilted his head a little. After all this time.did he still intimidate her? But then she flew into his arms, and with a few glowing tears he wrapped his arms around her. She, too, was crying; the saline drops wet the front of his robes and tattooed chest. "I.but how.you."
Seymour stroked her hair. "It doesn't matter; I will explain in the morning. Now," and here he grasped her shoulders as he had done on a certain Palace walkway high above Bevelle twenty-four years ago, and looked down into her eyes. "Now, Yuna, it is late, and the morning comes on swift wings."
Yuna, unwilling to leave the arms of the man she had longed for so many years, gestured under his arm to her bed. It was a large bed; big enough for two people, certainly. "Then let us rest a little."
Seymour gratefully drew off his robe and slid under the soft covers next to Yuna, laying an arm over her and kissing her forehead as she drifted off to sleep. In time, he too closed his eyes, and sank into dreamscapes.
Ailani woke in a bed that smelled of flowers and the woods, and was tempted to simply fall back asleep again. The covers were so soft, woven of a strange material that felt soft to her riding-roughened hands. The bed, too, held no one else in it; something else she was unaccustomed to, for Aubrey always shared her bed when she was not in her courses.
Then she remembered where she was; the Elf community of Silverwood, in the house of King Caleb Gwydion. Swinging her muscled legs reluctantly over the edge of the bed, she winced as the movement pulled at muscles not yet recovered from one of Aubrey's previous beatings. On the chest at the end of her bed, her priestess' robes had been cleaned and folded neatly, and her boots placed beside the chest. And also clean undergarments, and a small pot of blue dye with a little brush in it.
Ailani put on her robes and painted the crescent on her forehead. Then running a brush through her hair, she bound it behind her head and, in the peculiar floating gait of a priestess in robes, walked over to the window, placing her hands on the sill. Below, elves were out already in the streets, laughing and talking amongst themselves. The whole lent an aura of unhurried business to the young priestess.
A knock on the door brought Ailani swiftly around, her hand going for where her sword would be, and closing on air. Shaking her head, Ailani steeled herself and opened the door.
Calix leaned against the door frame, her sword and sword belt in one hand. "Are you hungry, Lady Ailani?" he asked, and tossed her equipment to her. Ailani caught it and buckled the sword around her waist. "Breakfast is laid out in the dining hall, My Lady."
Ailani pushed past him and started down the hallway, following the scent of food in the air to a large hall that appeared to be made of intertwining branches of the great silver trees. Calix came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and turned away, heading for the plates of strange-looking food that sat upon the table and emanated delightful aromas.
Not caring about how a lady was supposed to act, Ailani took generous helpings of everything within her reach and ate ravenously. Food had been mediocre at best on her flight from Bevelle, and Aubrey had insisted she eat only small portions, "as befits a lady." Well, she was not going to starve herself to get the desired hourglass shape; she had spent enough time in Avalon to know that that fit look was to be had through assiduous exercise and proper eating.
Cloudchaser curled up at her feet, purring and begging her with his eyes to give him a small piece. Ailani actually smiled (An event that did not go unnoticed by Calix, sitting across from her) and handed a small bit of meat down to the cat. She, as a general rule, did not eat meat; the Sight was hard enough to come by in her as it was. Cloudchaser happily gobbled up the slice and rubbed his head against her leg, purring.
"It appears my panther friend is taken with you," Calix said softly. Ailani looked up, and again a flicker of something other than her normal hatred and rage flashed through her eyes.
"I know," she replied in a much kinder voice than normal. "He is a wizard- bred cat, is he not?"
Calix nodded. "Yes.bred by a wizard named Elias Feng. Cloudchaser is not a normal panther.just as Nenya is not a normal horse, is he, Priestess?"
Ailani looked back down as she stroked the panther. "Nenya is also wizard- bred, that am I allowed to admit. But the wizard who bred and trained Nenya vowed me to secrecy. And you who wear the serpents know that one should swear not - "
" - lest they be forever sworn." Calix finished. "Yes.I do know."
~*~
One of the drow came back to Aubrey the next night, saying that one of the members of the hunting party that he was a part of had found the trail - three horses and a feline, heading to Luca at high speeds. From there, the male drow said, they had gotten passage on a boat from Luca to the port of Ibetsam on the Anashian coast. Then the trail entered the Niwe Forest, and became confused with those of other animals.
Aubrey smiled to himself. Niwe Forest was home of a large city of elves - notably, the home of King Caleb Gwydion, father of the cursed elf that had stolen Ailani away, and forced him to show his demon form. Ailani was not stupid; she would seek shelter in one of the safest places on any of the continents, a place safer even then the Isle of Avalon. Inwardly, he was surprised she had not made for that unholy land first. But with the drow on her tail, with their Priestesses of Lolth the Spider Queen, she would be here with him again soon.
Soon.
~*~
The man from the Lifestream blinked as the eagle descended to a cliff outside the city of Besaid. Sliding off and sending a pulse of thanks along the ever-weakening telepathic link, he made for the city, his robes floating out behind him. Upon reaching the outskirts, he slowed and chose a course that would lead him through back doors and dark alleys; the less he was seen, the better. As he was thought dead by the masses, his sudden reappearance, with glowing gray-blue lavender eyes, would cause an upset before he could get to her.
Night had fallen before he reached the house that he sought. Pushing lightly off the ground, he used a little of the remaining strength of the souped-up temporary mental prowess that the Lifestream had granted him to get here to levitate himself to the balcony where his beloved slept.
With the tips of his opaline nails, he scratched lightly on his beloved's balcony door. She woke; gasped at the sight of him standing outside her door and slid it open, staring up at him with an expression that was a mix of love, lust, awe, and surprise.
"S-Sey - "
He laid a finger against her lips. "Shh, darling."
She backed away a little, and Seymour Guado tilted his head a little. After all this time.did he still intimidate her? But then she flew into his arms, and with a few glowing tears he wrapped his arms around her. She, too, was crying; the saline drops wet the front of his robes and tattooed chest. "I.but how.you."
Seymour stroked her hair. "It doesn't matter; I will explain in the morning. Now," and here he grasped her shoulders as he had done on a certain Palace walkway high above Bevelle twenty-four years ago, and looked down into her eyes. "Now, Yuna, it is late, and the morning comes on swift wings."
Yuna, unwilling to leave the arms of the man she had longed for so many years, gestured under his arm to her bed. It was a large bed; big enough for two people, certainly. "Then let us rest a little."
Seymour gratefully drew off his robe and slid under the soft covers next to Yuna, laying an arm over her and kissing her forehead as she drifted off to sleep. In time, he too closed his eyes, and sank into dreamscapes.