Riem

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An open dome plateau filled with trees, shrubs, and is covered in vine growth, sits on a mountain ridge twenty feet from the ground, at the south side of the palace. \

On a short cliff side of the mountain, twenty feet from the a ground, in the southern sector of the palace, sits two people across from one another at a fine glass table. Above them, is a half dome clearing covered in vine growth. A patio outlined in coresian suns on stone bars in the ground take a small brunt of pressure beneath Riems heel; of which bounced steadily up and down. He rocked back and forth with his arms across his waist, chin down and eyes closed as he mutted and grumbled.

Across from him sits a young girl about the same age. Her skin, light, her hair bright blonde, with a doll face and soft features. The arch of her gray eyes gave of maturity, and knowledge as she sipped from a straw in a tall green glass next to a clutter of papers sprawled out along the table and the contexts of a book seated for many to view. Her dress is loose from her torso down, and bending without restraint. From her waist to her left leg, a large upside down v opening displays the peach tint of her legs, where a small cuff bangle shimmers around her ankle above her small boots. It is engraved with ascents that conspire to Riems, where a jeweled circle lined in red holds a bear claw inside. She peeks up at Riem, still bent over sucking on the straw. He holds his stance, squeezing his left bicep with his hand every time he grunts.

"You seem in a hurry." She says, sucking on the straw as she takes peeks at him. Without a change in his manner he responds bluntly.

"Nope, not in a hurry." She observes him further.

"Then do you have somewhere to go right now?"

"No." he said with a more serious response.

"You seem like it."

"Well, I don't!"

"Uh-huh, then did something major happen," she paused, then questioning her self, randomlly she concluded. "Ah, National affairs?!"

"No," he sighed comically, "Those idiots don't even know how to put the needs of their own people before their idiotic policies. Plus, their bartering skills SUCK!"

"Ah, so sucky.." his face crinkled like he wanted to cry.

"It must be hard for you, dealing with them, I mean."

"There's not a moment they don't want something from us; our gold, our land, our crafters, our knowledge." His irritation grew as he listed. "Hell, they'd marry their daughter's to me if they could; the freaks!"

The woman looked at him with eyes of derived shock. The straw pinched tighter between her lips; the water was gone. She picked up the glass, and stirred the ice cubes with the straw, staring at them she frowned as her curiosity diminished. She glared at the ice cubes before sliding the cup at an angle, tossing one into her mouth and turning to look at Riem. His eyes were open, bright green and glaring. She glared back, all knowing it was not her physically he was glaring at,quickly she crunched the ice cube and slid another into her mouth, maintaining her disposition.

Riem watched as she slid yet another ice cube into her mouth, as she crushed the first one instantly. He watched, and imagined himself crushing all the other council members of the Tavan, one by one. As he followed the last ice cube with his eyes, he the adjusted look of hers; which were now glaring deeply at him with some ferocity. He frowned, leaning inward and resting his head on his palms with his elbows on the table. He stared questioning her with his eyes, and she continued to just glare in return. Damn.

Riem thought back on his words carefully, before realizing what had triggered her anger. He stood from his seat and walked over to her; stopping and crouching on his knees. She put the cup down and slowly crunched on the last piece of ice in her mouth. He took her hand in his, and looked her in the eyes, placing his forehead against hers. She blushed softly before darting her eyes in another direction. She could feel his breath and the warmth of his forehead, where his soft hair brushed against her skin. His hands were big and engulfing; he smiled as he slid his cheek across hers, putting his lips to her ear whispering her name.

"Skyia."

Skyia's heart raced, and she felt the heat of his breath on her ear, she took a breath. "mm-hm" she said without a thought of what to say. Riem opened his mouth as if to say something, "Jeolousy isn't a bad feature even for you." He chuckled.

She jumped and attempted to push him away, but he wrappec his arm around her back, pulling her in close again."What?," Ah, I'm no longer the center of your vision." He laughs, "Your eyes were all over me just a moment ago, why not now when we're so close."

Her face grew redder, "I was looking out the window, not at you." He pushes his face a little closer, pressing the tip of his nose against her own, staring deeply into her eyes. "You shouldn't do stuff like this." She pointed out unsteadily.

"Do what" he asked, continuing to stare deep down into her eyes, almost into her soul. Skyia alternated her focus between him and her lap.

"G-get.. so.. close."Her face burned as his smile grew.

"Why not?"

"Because, you're going to be the next king." He caught the startle in her voice,

"Indeed, I will be."

"So?" she questions.

"So?" he mimics.

"This isn't the manner of a king."He looks at her, the joy slowly leaving his face.

"Not even with his wife?"She sat silent. Her cheeks pulsing to the rapid beat of her heart, preoccupied by the thought; his lips are so close. "You don't like this?" he asked with a sad look.

Skyia averted her eyes, "No..." Riem was startled, he pulled his face away and turned letting go of her hand, but she quickly grabbed his arm. "I didn't mean NO. I meant.. I'm just a little flustered.. and I do.. like it a lot." He listened with his back turned to her as she continued, his own face turning red. "That is, being close to you." Riem practically jumped in his shoes, silentily taking a breath to hold his composure. As he turned around, ready with his response, a sudden cry interrupted him.

"Sir Riem." A small beastly creature wearing a butler's uniform and tie stood in the doorway. His hand was cuffed to his mouth and his eyes were off in space; a very formal interruption. Skyia began to let go of his arm with a sad look, but Riem caught the tips of her fingers with his, gripping them tightly.

"Wait for me,"he said and without looking back walked out of the room into the hallway letting the small creature guide him.

"So, Sebastion,"Riem started.

"Just Bastion, sire."

"Why did you call for me, I was kinda busy."

"Ah, yes, I saw you looked very pre-occupied."Riem blushed. "But it was not I who called you, request's your assistance, she is waiting just outside the hall here."

They stopped before a large wooden door with a circular knob in the middle and a knock ring. He looked to the beast and then to the knob before opening the door to find a plump medium sized elf. She reminded him of a pumpkin in her frilly orange shirt; she had curly long blonde hair pulled back into a low messy bun. She wore a pair of glasses near the tip of her nose, where a string attached to both sides wrapped around her thin neck. She rose from a wooden bench along the side of the hallway, flushed and awkward.

" , I presume." Riem held out his hand for a greeting, from what he knew, she was Nessa's personal teacher. She shook his hand, it was a sweaty handshake that ended quickly, and Riem tried to avoid whipping his palm along his pant leg in front of her.

"Yes," she was panting. "I was in a real hurry to find you." She seemed flustered and sweaty as she spoke in broken sentences. "I told her not to run off, and now I can't find her. She threatened to leave the cast.. and my job... if the king found out." Her face turned pale. "I have to find her, and the castle is so big. What if she went into the market place, or got stuck on one of the mountain ridges?" She began using her hands as she spoke. "She promised she wouldn't run off, and what does she do? Sneaks off, talking about the adventures of a lifetime and how and like her's is so short."

Her last sentence irritated Riem greatly; this teacher had no idea who Nessa really was, hell, Nessa didn't even know who she was until a little bit ago. He frowned, "Well, , if my sister wishes to explore she has every right to do so. I don't think her child-like curiousity is anything to worry about. She is a smart child." made out her point dire and angrily; "You don't understand," she started out slowly. "She was talking about adventuring through the Sesmit Green fields."

"What? Why would she do that?"

"They're dangerous and it doesn't seem likely but she was more than serious about venturing through them and coming out alive. She said you were allowed to travel to the Taverian Senate meeting, so she should be able to take risks as well."

Riem's face turned pale and he felt like he was going to faint. "Thank you, I'll handle it from here." Why now, he thought, his life was already difficult without worrying whether his sister was long lost in a forest no one ever comes back out of. He shuffled back through the door, shut it it and took off down the hall. He continued to run, dodging maids as they carried baskets of clothes and foods, taking a left through the kitchen lively with the calls and orders of elderly women where he snatched a small ring pastry, continuing to descend three flights of spiral stairs before turning left onto a stone deck that circled the entire palace. The wind shifted through his hair; he took a moment to rest. He walked to the edge of the deck and leaned. What beautiful air.

On the ground, three women walked together and laughed, he suspected they were kitchen detail; He watched as they crossed the brigde into a smaller market district. Small outdoor shops with bright canopys protected misolanious goods from the sun. The market itself was circular, the shops on the right leading into the city like a diamond and back into the center to another road. One girl approached a small shop on the left where meat dangled on chains from the canopy bars. Streaks of blood stained a large wooden table as the butcher wedged a knife into a carcass of meat, pressing it down with his palms for a think slice. He quickly squeezed both sides on the angular part of the table where the blood drained into a soil filled bucket before wrapping it in brown paper, and handing it to the girl.

Riem looked back to the palace grounds. Gardeners were hard at work trimming the tree's and leaves, when a small boy jumped over a bush with a thin sword in his hand. He turned on the pavement laughing and in a stance; his hair was burgundy on top and black on bottom, shaved in a bowl and layered, cut to where the ends curled out and inward. He wore a beaded necklace with a large jewel laced in gold metal embroidery; it rested in the center of his chest in the opening of his circle v neck. His pants sat loose around his waist dropping no more than the top of his hips because of a thick belt; also embroidered in silver empty jewel spaces. His pant legs were rolled up just below his knees.

Around his wrist was a string bracelet in the colors of silver and burgundy; it slid down his arm as he held his sword high toward a woman who had followed him over the bush. She was his same height and young, wearing only black spandex shorts, and a white tank top without sleeves in armored short heel boots. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a low pony tail and a few strings hung out here and there. She lunged at the boy with her sword, he blocked his right shoulder with his blade pushing hers down his right side, stepping over it with both feet till he pinned it with his left. She struggled to pull out from beneath his foot, and he laughed loudly in his triumph holding his sword to her throat. She dropped the sword and put her hands up, he came closer and kissed her on the forehead before putting his sword away and waving to someone beneath the balcony of the deck. Cahst walked out with a smile on his face, his own blade at his waist. They met each other half way with a bro-hug before walking back to the woman who was now picking up her sword with a sour look on her face.

Riem walked along the edge of the deck until he reached a break in the fence, where a thick wire was embedded into the stone. The wire was straight tight, where it connected and coiled around a large stone stub on the ground. Riem pulled two red latches from his belt, a short thick black cord stemmed from his belt to the latches; whitch had been quickly attached to the wire, and another from the bottom of his shoe. Riem sat on the edge of the deck balcony letting his feet hang over the edge before putting on a set of gloves and jumping. The latches held steady to the wire, and slowly he glided down at an angle, his fingers wrapped around the cord, and his heel bending forward to pull the latch tighter when he needed to slow down.

Riem came to a complete stop at the bottom just before the stone nub. He set his right foot on the ground, holding himself steady as he undid the latches. The party in the middle had spotted him and waited, he jogged over to them quickly.

"Of all the people, it's rare to see you, what do you want.?" Asked the boy with with the beaded necklace. "You're not slacking off are you?" Riem was a little tired, but his response was as harsh as it could be as a back insult.

"No," he said while catching his breath. "I'm not, I was actually looking for you two." Cahst and the boy passed a glance before hearing him out. "It's not what you think, Nessa's gone missing."

The boy smiled, "Um, yeah. She does that all the time."Cahst looked a little concerned.

"Is it more serious this time?" he stood up, only half out of breath.

"Well, her teacher came to find me. She kept talking about how she told Nessa she wasn't allowed to leave or something like that. Anyway we have to find her, supposably she was talking about the Semit Forest and an adventure or something." Cahst looked shocked.

"Riem, if she entered that forest, she's not coming out."

"I know," he responded. "that's why I had to find you." The boy looked at him irritatingly.

"We haven't seen her. Why would you have to find us?"

"Because, you guys spend more time with her, I'm usually to busy and I rarely get to see her."The boy became slightly angered.

"You could spend time with her, that's your own problem." Riem, also now irritated, responded back.

"As the third prince who has been declared as the next king, I don't have the time. I don't even have it know. Rather than searching everywhere, I thought it best to figure out where she likes to spend most of her time."The boy snorted at his speech.

"Whatever,... I'll find her myself, go back to being busy." Riem looked shocked, he was only asking for help, why all the anger?

"Esca!" Riem went to grab his shoulder but Cahst stepped inbetween, letting Esca get away.

"Let him go." He said calmly. His look was serious. "If we split up into groups, we'll find her faster."He looked over his shoulder, Esca had put plently more than distance between them, he looked to the woman on their left. She turned around and began walking off,

"I know Nessa quite well. It wouldn't trouble me any to help the Aurora, if that's what he's requesting." She walked off. Cahst returned his attention to Riem.

"Well, now you have our help." Riem looked a little more relaxed.

"Thank you."

"You just check the kitchen in the eastern corner; I'll check the market place. If she's not in either of those, we'll check the garden in the North West part of the palace.

"Alright, thank you again." Cahst looked at him blankly.

"Just try to lighten your load a little. See you in a bit." He waved before running towards the bridge; Riem did the same but through the entrance of the palace. He ran down the halls making lefts and rights, descending and climbing stairs, till he reached the back of the palace where the eastern kitchen was stationed.

A small group of elderly women were pounding away at dough on white counter tops. A large window was lined with sun drying tomatoes and other drying herbs and fruits. Two elderly women worked on one side of the table, which sat in the middle of the kitchen, pounding away at dough wearing brown aprons. Their arms and hands worn from work and age; when they called out a young girl with long brown hair in a low pony tail on her shoulder and loose long turquoise sleeve shirt with an open string v neck appeared. Her pants were stained white here and there with a few dirt spots, along the cuffs covering her feet. She diligently grasped and achieved anything the elderly women asked of her. Riem watched from the open archway, as she reached for a string of dried herbs dangling in front of the window. He stared, the sun highlighting the lighter streaks of her brown hair; she was beautiful. He moved on down the hallway, thinking he'd get to know her later.