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timestamp
L"Miss Craven, I have a letter for you."
Alexander Mirihar, secretary of the Dusk Tower, stopped Madeira as she
made to breeze by his desk and out into the late Fall sunshine. The
words, ever polite and cold and formal when dropped from Alexander's
lips, shot through the Spiritist's spine and reached like roots
through the marble floor, holding her in place. The Dusk family's more
hearty gardens blew the sweet, heavy decay of fall through the open
front doors to rustle about her heavy skirt as she paused and turned
on slippered feet.
"Is that so?" her smile was warm, a kind of habitual attempt to inject
some levity into the serious secretary, though her blood was running
cold in her veins. "I hadn't expected something from Alvadas to arrive
so soon after I did." Alexander's raised brow was his only consent to expression
as she tapped her way back to his desk and received the tightly wound
scroll with delicately gloved fingers.
"It's not from Alvadas. This came with the trade eagles of Wind Reach."
A leather thong held the windblown parchment together. And dabbed at
its close was not the black crow stamp of the Craven family crest,
but an unidentifiable smudge of deeply red wax. Madeira turned the
letter over in her fingers, dumbfounded but secretly relieved. The
black would be her doom, as correspondence from her family would
require her by the bonds of obedience to send back word of her bastard
child. Whom her uncle Rune-Cartiff would have to record in the
meticulous kept genealogy records, without the long black line of wedlock, and
beside the name of its father, the mad kelvic Allister Useless. But
the relief did not dampen the curiosity. What did Wind Reach, that
secluded mountain home of the Inarta, want with her?
"If you mean to reply you should do so quickly", Alexander mentioned
offhandedly, his bored gaze dropping back to his desk and its neatly
stacked documents. "The riders don't linger long here."
Off centred, her frosted blood having suddenly turned to fire with
unanswered questions, Madeira could only nod her thanks and leave with
her letter held like glass in her soft hands.
The Infinity Manor greeted her warmly when she returned. A wash of
affection lifted from the floor she walked on, and a fire sprang to
life in the hearth. From the common room came a lazy mewling of her
mad cat and the dignified coo of her pretty blue pigeon.
"Hello", she greeted her house aloud, having decided to
start weaning it to recognize verbal speech. "I have a letter all the
way from Wind Reach, would you believe it?"
She hung her cloak by the front door and ascended her little manor by
the ringing metal staircase. The tight spirals moved up and up until
she could push open the trap door to the master bedroom and climb
inside. In here the fire was already burning and the drapes pulled back to admit the gilded afternoon light. There was a writing desk in the hexagonal room, as yet unused and lurking with the spiders she had yet to suss out properly. Madeira sat on its padded seat, and with the briefest pause finally cracked the seal of the letter and began to read.
WC: 810
Alexander Mirihar, secretary of the Dusk Tower, stopped Madeira as she
made to breeze by his desk and out into the late Fall sunshine. The
words, ever polite and cold and formal when dropped from Alexander's
lips, shot through the Spiritist's spine and reached like roots
through the marble floor, holding her in place. The Dusk family's more
hearty gardens blew the sweet, heavy decay of fall through the open
front doors to rustle about her heavy skirt as she paused and turned
on slippered feet.
"Is that so?" her smile was warm, a kind of habitual attempt to inject
some levity into the serious secretary, though her blood was running
cold in her veins. "I hadn't expected something from Alvadas to arrive
so soon after I did." Alexander's raised brow was his only consent to expression
as she tapped her way back to his desk and received the tightly wound
scroll with delicately gloved fingers.
"It's not from Alvadas. This came with the trade eagles of Wind Reach."
A leather thong held the windblown parchment together. And dabbed at
its close was not the black crow stamp of the Craven family crest,
but an unidentifiable smudge of deeply red wax. Madeira turned the
letter over in her fingers, dumbfounded but secretly relieved. The
black would be her doom, as correspondence from her family would
require her by the bonds of obedience to send back word of her bastard
child. Whom her uncle Rune-Cartiff would have to record in the
meticulous kept genealogy records, without the long black line of wedlock, and
beside the name of its father, the mad kelvic Allister Useless. But
the relief did not dampen the curiosity. What did Wind Reach, that
secluded mountain home of the Inarta, want with her?
"If you mean to reply you should do so quickly", Alexander mentioned
offhandedly, his bored gaze dropping back to his desk and its neatly
stacked documents. "The riders don't linger long here."
Off centred, her frosted blood having suddenly turned to fire with
unanswered questions, Madeira could only nod her thanks and leave with
her letter held like glass in her soft hands.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The Infinity Manor greeted her warmly when she returned. A wash of
affection lifted from the floor she walked on, and a fire sprang to
life in the hearth. From the common room came a lazy mewling of her
mad cat and the dignified coo of her pretty blue pigeon.
"Hello", she greeted her house aloud, having decided to
start weaning it to recognize verbal speech. "I have a letter all the
way from Wind Reach, would you believe it?"
She hung her cloak by the front door and ascended her little manor by
the ringing metal staircase. The tight spirals moved up and up until
she could push open the trap door to the master bedroom and climb
inside. In here the fire was already burning and the drapes pulled back to admit the gilded afternoon light. There was a writing desk in the hexagonal room, as yet unused and lurking with the spiders she had yet to suss out properly. Madeira sat on its padded seat, and with the briefest pause finally cracked the seal of the letter and began to read.
Dear Madeira Craven,
If you recall any of your childhood playmates, I would hope that
Leavou comes to mind. I’ve been graced by Aquiras with relocating to
the center of the Wind Eagle trade routes, here in Wind Reach. On a
whim, I thought to send you a letter at your home in Alvadas, although
I was returned with directions to your new accommodations in Lhavit.
Warm regards from the second city that raised me, I do hope you find
those chilly mountain tops to be just as fascinating as the illusory
streets of Alvadas. I doubt the Okomo smell any better than when I was
there, but luckily you needn’t ride them much. Although, should you
have the chance, they are a joy to!
If I recall correctly, Lhavit is far more open to magic than Alvadas
ever was, and I hope you are finding peace with that cultural shift.
Before I forget, I am told I must congratulate you on your ‘renown’
with the Dusk family, but as I am who I am, I must ask your opinions
on the matter. Did they select a man for you, or did you happen to
fall madly in love with a Lhavitian all on your own? Did you threaten
Dira’s kiss to the sailors who brought you or welcome the city with
open arms? You can imagine I am curious on your views of the city that
raised me just as much as Alvadas, and I am excited to hear your
reply.
Warm Regards,
Leavou Daughter of R’yse
WC: 810
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