Closed A Gift from the Heart

[Vanari]

Fall, Day 85, 513 AV Vanari fidgeted nervously with the box in her hands. She tried to keep her emotions at bay for fear that they would show clear as day in her eyes, but it was no use. Eventually, she set the box down on the heavily laden table and resorted to inspecting her room for the hundredth time, making sure everything was as neat and tidy as possible. When there was nothing left to inspect, she combed her hair again, washed her face twice, just to be safe, and poked her head out the window every ten or so ticks to check if Ria had arrived yet. The Vantha withdrew from the window and stared absently at the food piled sky high on the table. She had ordered everything she could fit on her only desk, even going so far as to drag her night stand over to make room for the bottle of wine. The stand was still covered entirely in her mad carvings from a few fortnights ago, making it a bit difficult to balance the bottle, but she had solved that by putting a plate beneath the wine. She checked one more time to ensure everything was perfect. Well, as perfect as it could be, given the circumstances. It probably looked more like a broom closet than anything else if compared to the Nitrozian estate, but at least it was...quaint. Or so she told herself. Vanari had taken great pains to order good food and decent wine, and even found time to gather some fresh flowers for the room. Granted, they had been...borrowed from a few tables downstairs, and more than one of the vases contained luxurious flowers she had shamelessly plucked and fled with from noble estates that morning. She also had cajoled Tarsin's youngest son to lend her one extra oil lamp for the night to give the room a more cheery glow. There was no hearth in her standard room, she reasoned, and she was having a special visitor. Just for one night, pretty please? The boy had agreed, but only one condition: that she tell him the most outrageous story she knew of the infamous Svefra. Right then and there she had corrected him, stating clearly that not all Svefra were as dangerous, lusty, and generally questionable in character as stories and rumors made them out to be, but she obliged. Half a bell later, the boy went back happily to his chores, and Vanari to her room where she proceeded with her lengthy preparations. The real reason for the sweat upon her brow, however, was not how the meal would come off--tacky? Romantic? Neither? Both?--but whether or not Ria would agree to her proposal. Winter was a bad time anywhere for anyone to travel, but given what she had heard... There was a series of sharp knocks on the door. Vanari shot up from her seat, nearly knocking over her chair but setting it aright just in time. "Come in!"

[Kit Rowan]

x

Ari's invitation had come with it an anxiety. Kit made careful study of herself with the little steel mirror she had bought to better examine the glamours she had lain over herself. Studied the location of her freckles, bit her lips and wondered . . . But Ria did not seem like the sort of person who would go through the trouble of that; Ria was confident as she was. In the end, Kit left without changing her face.

Instead Kit's attention lingered on her attire. She bit her lip, holding her clothes to the light of her window to get a better look. She had a scant handful of clothes, but with illusionism's aid they could be so much more. In the end, Kit decided to just wear her shirt. Will and intent made the hems of her collar and sleeves glow in swirling patterns of azure. A thought, and the same was true of her trousers along the waist and where their legs stopped.

Ari wouldn't see her Ria approach; Kit already lived in Tarsin's, under the name of 'Shy Carsma.' She slipped out the door, let it close sharply behind her. For a while, she remained Shy, walking the halls toward Ari's room, pushing at her stomach as she tried to calm it.

When Kit stood in front of the door she took a quick glimpse to either side down the hall, watching for anyone who might be thinking to spy. She pulled at the edges of her illusion and Shy became freckle-faced Ria, with clothes that glowed at the hem . . . She lifted the illusion that kept Ionu's mark masked as well, almost as an afterthought before she knocked.

Kit pushed her way through the door at Ari's first insistence, not eager to stay in the hallway long enough for anyone to catch her glowing and god-marked. Kit's eyebrows rose as she saw the little dinner that Ari had managed to pull together. All things considered Kit ate well. But this wasn't just okay food; this was good, a clear luxury. "Aw," she said. "You're spoiling me!"

She took the few steps—her friend's accommodations were not large—and took hold of Ari's hand, smiling, staring up and trying to meet her ever-changing eyes. Kit felt small, as she always did. But for once it did not bother her.

[Vanari]

The first thing she noticed as Ria stepped into the room was how different the illusionist looked out of the dingy context of taverns and alleyways. Lamplight lent her a sort of youthful glow, and though she seemed just as nervous, she was still cocky enough to throw out a phrase that sounded an awful lot like what those silly, aristocratic ladies often mewled to their beaus. The second was that Ria's clothes were glowing. Vanari stared, much like a gleeful ten year old, at the familiar azure of her friend's illusions. It was so clever; she'd never have thought to put such decorations on her own clothes! Imagine all the possibilities... Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt, however, as Ria walked up to her, took her hand, and tilted upwards with a smile. The Vantha's eyes went a violent shade of violet for a moment, and then she beamed and squeezed the small, nimble hand around hers. It was a little odd, her being so big and Ria being so...petite. She hesitated to say tiny, not wanting to get used to the word and then somehow inadvertently blurt it out when her guard was down. Her nose caught a whiff of the aromatic food sitting forlornly on the table, and her thoughts dissipated like an expired illusion. "Come, sit! Before the food gets cold," Vanari urged, pulling out Ria's chair before running to plop down into her own. She stuck the end of a cutting knife into the cork of the wine bottle and pulled it out with a loud pop! before filling both their glasses to the brim. "To us!" she toasted heartily, "For living to see the end of yet another season soon, despite all the crazy kinds of shyke we get ourselves into." The Vantha grinned foolishly and her eyes flashed bright orange. She raised her glass high, then tipped back and downed as much as she could in one gulp. Aahhh, gross, she mentally sighed, but she would need an extra bit of courage to sell her proposal to a customer as tough as Ria. At least it was better than ale. Fighting a shudder at the memory of the taste of dish water ale, she set down her glass and made to pick up a hunk of bread. Petch, the gift! She dropped the loaf as she scooted back out of her chair and ran to her bed, swooping up the simple, wooden box before colliding back into her chair. "Before I forget," she panted, slightly out of breath from her spontaneous exercise, "Here's, um...a present for you. I made it myself--or, actually, someone helped me make it. I thought you'd find it...practical. Hope you like it." She held out the box, which she had somehow managed to "find" a spare piece of blue, silky ribbon to tie around. Inside, it held the three candles she and Nolan had slaved over only a few days ago, each simple in shape and color but enormously expensive in properties. Vanari had to physically hold her tongue back from spewing out their respective functions before Ria even had the chance to open the box, her heart near bursting from excitement and anxiety.

[Kit Rowan]

x

Kit caught the way that Ari was staring, put her hands on her hips and grinned. She knew the Vantha would appreciate it; anything illusionary was a marvel to the girl. It gave her some hope that maybe Ionu would take notice of Ari and her wonderment as well, come down and lay their blessing on her. Kit scratched at her gnosis mark, exposed for once. A matter of great pride, squirreled away to keep Ravok from uncovering her trickery. For seasons she had hungered to actually permit the world to see Ionu's gifts in their full vivid glory. Here, she finally could.

KIt would have liked to push further, give Ari a little flourish of color and light, but between maintaining Ria's countenance and the blue glamour-hemming she had pushed herself to the very limit of what her illusionism could accomplish, and she could not pass it. Instead, Kit slid into her chair and toasted with Ari, pouring the wine down her throat before she had to deal with the misfortune of actually tasting it. "To us!" She mimicked, and dug in, cutting off a piece of meat—fish, she thought, from the lake—and shoved it in her mouth. She closed her eyes, curled her toes and savored the taste of it.

When she opened her eyes though, Ari was elsewhere, scrambling across the room. "Where are you going?" Kit asked, tipping her head to the side before Ari answered the question with action. Kit took hold of the box carefully, held it like a precious, dangerous thing. She had so few gifts left. The only other one she still had with her was . . .

Kit held the box to her ear and shook it lightly, trying to get some hint of what was inside it. But though it made a sound she did not know how to translate it. "A gift?" Kit said, the corners of her mouth turning up. "You know, I was born in Autumn." Kit pulled her belt knife out from around her waist and cut through the ribbon, pushed it aside so she could lift open the box.

"Candles?" Looked toward Ari and tilted her head in a way that meant question. You could buy candles for a copper piece off the street!

[Vanari]

Vanari held it in for a few ticks, eyes glittering an up-to-no-good sort of tawny green, then burst, "They're dispersion candles!" She leaped from her seat and rounded the table to kneel by Ria. "See, this one here on the far left is Intellect Mist, the middle is a combination of Mist and Balstice, and the last is Kiv." The Vantha carefully extracted the first candle and turned it round and round for her friend to see. She pointed at the carefully crafted wick. "I went through hell and back to get these made. They're special wicks, or so I was told, coated with these even more special--and grossly expensive--properties. The Mist is made from eel mucus. Ugh, imagine harvesting that." Ari propped her elbow on the edge of Ria's chair, since the illusionist hardly took up any space at all, and continued releasing two days worth of pent up excitement. "I even took that horrible ferry. Two trips in one day, eight bells of pure agony. This old hag told me about some special herb I could harvest on my own, you see, but it was across the lake. So, being the idiot that I was, I took her word for it. And what do you know? As soon as I'd harvested what I thought was the right plant, some pale, shady man shows up with a crossbow and claims they're his. Well, good thing I had Pie--my new mountain pony--and we galloped away somehow without getting shot. But when I got on the ferry, the man was there too, asking for his petching vines again! It didn't take long for him to explain the vines were deadly and for me to realize my mistake. Ohh, I was so angry, thinking how the hag had tricked me and how I could've given you some fatal poison instead. So, I threatened to toss this man's precious vines into the lake if he didn't help me make the perfume." She paused for a moment, realizing this was possibly the worst, most jumbled story she'd ever told, but have no other choice except to press on. "Um, yes, the perfume. Some lady sold me a super secret recipe and said it would be the perfect gift for...uh, my special friend. So I bought it, thinking it would be an exciting present. Well it was, but not at all in the way I expected." Vanari went on to tell Ria how she had made a deal with the shady man, who turned out to be not so shady after all. They even rescued a little girl named Vera, a slave bound to a vile illusionist pretending to be that nasty old hag who had tricked the unwitting Vantha. It was a lucky thing Ari had known what Ionu's mark looked like; she caught the scumbag's mistake in not hiding his mark and beat him out of his glamour. To think, her, beating up old ladies! Who would've thought? Fake or not, it was a definite first. After she took what she needed, including the slave girl's papers, she scared the poor sod witless with a prayer to Ionu. She condemned the man for defiling his gifts and asked The Trickster to curse him into oblivion--or something like it. The Vantha wasn't even sure if it did anything, but suffice to say, the con near pissed himself in fear, and they left him sobbing and gibbering to make the ever increasingly hassle-bound perfume. "Except, of course, that's not what we ended up making. It took all night and morning, but I think these candles are so much more fascinating. See, if you light this first one, you think faster and have better focus for up to four bells. And if you light this second one," Vanari set down the Mist candle and picked up the one next to it, sniffing it carefully. "You not only get increased attention, but you become stimulated as well. Plus, it's got a nice, evergreen smell to it. See?" She held it up for Ria to smell, then set it down to pick up the third. Ari cleared her throat, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. "And this last one is, er, closer to what the original perfume recipe entailed, I think. The other two are meant to be more practical; they even have notes of sage to reinforce their refreshing, wakeful properties. But this one has cinnamon instead, and is more...well, you'll find out when you light it." She stared at the Kiv candle in her hands. Then, without thinking, Vanari brought it to her face to smell it. It was rather intoxicating, and while the other candles had brought her a spurt of clarity and energy, this one made her eyes close of their own accord as she breathed in the seductive scent. It did something to her mind she couldn't describe and made her feel like she could smell the candle all night long. But, before the full effects hit her, she snapped open her eyes and stuffed it back in the box. "Well, that about sums it up. They're worth quite a bit, and yes I am spoiling you but that's not the point." She propped her chin on her hand and looked up her friend, beaming. "What do you think? Do you like them?"

[Kit Rowan]

x

Not just candles, then. Kit nodded along as Ari told her of the candles, and what they were meant to do. All told, they seemed like they would help a more sedentary person than her. The fumes of the candles would work best in small places, where the fumes could fill the room and breath into bodies and do their proper work. Kit liked the open sky, the feel of the wind over her body a drug of its own vivid potency. Kit couldn't really see much occasion for lighting a candle and fidgeting in her room. Well, maybe if it was only once?

As Ari went deeper and deeper into her story, Kit felt her expression get graver and graver. She clasped her hands and bit at her lip as Ari went through exactly how she had come across these candles. It wasn't a tale that went beyond believing; Kit could see an illusionist acting that way. Ionu's chosen were not restricted to paths of virtue, she knew that. She counted on that, sometimes. But that was not the problem.

"So," Kit said, "this man, who caught you trying to steal deadly plants from him, helped you make these?" She nodded her head toward the candles and felt her toes curl, stomach twisting up into a little knot. "Are you sure that's what these candles do? Absolutely sure?" Ari had already been conned. It was not too much to expect that maybe it could happen TWICE.

[Vanari]

Her smile vanished. Vanari stared at Ria, noting the illusionist's dubious expression. Then her face cracked into an even wider grin and she slapped her knee good humoredly. "Hah! Why didn't I think of that? You're such a clever one, Ria." She fell back on her rump and sat criss-crossed, arms folded. There was no way he would've slipped poison into her wicks, right? Her eyes sank to a hue like that of the deep end of a pond as her mind dug further into itself. There were plenty of opportunities in the midst of their trial-and-error experimentation for toxins to be mixed or laced. Still, that would be rather low, even for him, considering the fact that she had given him the vines in the end, and he was going to make serious profit off those remaining candles. Plus, there was Vera. He wouldn't hurt the child by offing one of only two people who gave a fig about her in this world. Couldn't, even, Ari was willing to bet. "Naahh, Nolan wouldn't trick me like that," she said after quick deliberation. " Nolan being the man who helped me, that is. He's got this nifty little poison shop called Ino Vations. Ever heard of it?" She got back on her knees and picked up the Kiv coated cande, her eyes back to the usual, greenish tint they tended to pick up whenever Ria was around. "Wanna give this one a little test run?"

[Kit Rowan]

x

Nolan? Nolan . . . "I've heard of it," Kit murmured, giving the candles a closer look. She had enabled an ongoing dialogue between Valerius and Nolan, though what exactly they had talked about she was unsure of. And then later accompanied him to a nuit's home to acquire his old body, after transferring to a new one. He had walked out with a Nuit's severed head to add to his collection of macabre toxin ingredients. She did not share Ari's confidence in Nolan's harmlessness.

She fidgeted a little in her seat, watching the candles the same way a hunter might watch a hooded viper. Kit turned sideways and looked up into Ari's eyes, saw the honest mischief flashing through her eyes. Her wariness ebbed before those eyes, and Kit felt herself begin to smile, a fluttering uncertainty rising in her chest. "If this kills us," she said, as lightly as she could manage. "It's on you." There was a teasing lilt to her words as she careful took the Kiv from Ari's hand, bent its wick sideways and lit it on the wick of a candle on the tabletop.

She rested it careful down, watching it flare up and dance with light as an odd scent filled the room. What a risk! A deadly risk, a stupid risk! But when Kit looked back at Ari the cautious miser in her was muffled by the way the lights danced in her hair, in her eyes. "What happens now?"

[Vanari]

The Vantha thought for a moment, but her head was clouded with the intoxicating smell of the Kiv. It was a bit of a sensory overload and she felt her eyes closing of their own accord... The proposal! Her eyes snapped back open. Yes, there was something important. Something really, really important that she had been planning to tell Ria. Now was not the time to fall prey to the mysterious effects of the powerfully fragrant candle. Ari looked to her friend and struggled for a moment to string together a coherent sentence. "I guess...we should, ah, finish this fine feast here and...see what happens." "But," she continued as she rose to her feet, taking the candle with her, "maybe we can put this thing a little farther away. The smell of Kiv and Mutton together makes me a little queasy." Ari gave a toothy grin and placed the candle on her windowsill for the time being. Its fragrance was starting to fill up her little room, but it was kind of nice. Like having a vase of flowers or something at a fancy restaurant. Albeit it a rather large and intoxicating vase of flowers. The Vantha returned to her seat with a satisfied sigh and rubbed her hands before picking up her utensils and digging in. Spearing a hunk of mutton, she slapped it onto her plate and began sawing bite size pieces off. Her teeth sank into the succulent meat and she chewed happily, savoring the taste and texture of money well spent. "So," Ari began after a few more mouthfuls of food. "I overheard something downstairs the other night. A group of visitors who are staying at Tarsin's for a few days were boasting that they were the fastest travelers you could find in Mizahar." She chortled, then took a swig of her wine. "Naturally, I didn't believe that shyke. I mean, it's almost Winter. Everyone knows going anywhere beyond any city is going to be tougher than surviving in the Ukalas. But these folk insisted that they were pro's. That they not only had the gear, experience, and fastest, most reliable modes of transport, but that they also knew several shortcuts. Or, to be more specific, the shortcut." Vanari had stopped eating altogether now, so absorbed was she in telling this story. "So, I did the only reasonable thing I could and bought them a round of drinks, in exchange for a better explanation. Well, not only did they give me several, fascinating and thorough explanations--without disclosing the nature of their shortcuts, of course--they also offered room in their team. That's what they called themselves, by the way. A team. Imagine that?" She paused for a moment to shrug wistfully, then continued, "In any case, these people had the most unconventional requirements I'd ever heard. They don't want gold or anything. All they care is if you can somehow help them get to where ever they're going faster. I think that's their only goal, really, to see if they can beat their own record. Loons, I tell you." "But," Ari added, her voice dripping with intrigue and excitement, "you'll never guess where they said they're headed next." She left the question lingering in the air for a moment, then finished with a single word: "Nyka."

[Kit Rowan]

x

See what happens . . . Kit's toes squirmed and she looked down, feeling a blush and a smile crawl over her cheeks. She was obligated to say something pithy or witty or clever, Kit was sure. To break the mood, to ease the tension. She swallowed. "Yeah . . ."

Kit dug in, and tried to hold on to her lucidity. To understand what the Kiv was doing to her head. The strange aroma made her feel fuzzy around the edges, pushed her heart to a quicker pitter-patter . . . If that wasn't just the cause of natural nerves. She ripped off a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, felt her eyes wander up to Vanari.

Worries squirmed out of her grasp, slowly. The Kiv's scent huh in the air, and as the ticks passed to chimes Kit's eyes wandered from the food. She traced the subtle curves of Ari's body with her eyes and shivered, taking another bite out of her food.

But Ari was talking, now. Kit propped her elbows on the table and half-listened, half-stared. Ari's outline made sense. They were supposed to go to Nyka, weren't they? That was what Kit had gotten Ari to promise her. Kit bit her lip; wasn't there something that needed doing, though? Something important?

But there was no room in her mind for it now; Ari's presence had swelled in Kit's mind, overwhelmed thought with the lines of her face and the flashing colors of her hair. It couldn't have been that important. "That sounds lovely," she said. "I think, I think maybe we should cache in while we have the chance."