- 40th of Winter, 518
The hunter arrives.
Madeira glanced up as the low, passive awareness of the Infinity Manor stirred and slid the words into the back of her mind. Laird was indeed coming up the long cobble path, the wrought iron gate swinging shut behind him with an inconsiderate bang. She was sitting on a bench on the porch, her back to the wall, a blanket across her knees and a notebook in her lap, waiting for him. Squinting into the midday sun she could see a bundle of some rough black shape over his shoulder bouncing with his loping, unhurried gait.
Between the long path and the way the hunter could never seem to get a rush on, Madeira had time to finish off the drawing she was working on. With a nub of charcoal she scratched away at her notebook, and were anybody to look over her shoulder they would see a bizarre but innocuous circle filled with crude shapes. But there was more to this.
"See, the surface area of her teeth would be too small..." Madeira was explaining to seemingly nobody. Yet the Architectrix in the house was listening, its attention turned towards its creator. "But if I had, say, five of her teeth, and put a small circle on each one, that made a cohesive whole together..."
Tongue between her teeth, she scratched away at her book. Five cartoonishly drawn human teeth were arranged in a line, and on the long side of each was a circle with a single letter inside. Spelled out, it said LOGIC in neat if cramped cursive. If she were to tie them all together... perhaps with leather from the source... it would conceivably make a necklace that would help focus the mind. Conceivably.
The house hummed its understanding, though in the clarity of her mind she could feel that its grasping of the concept was weak. That was just fine though, because so was hers.
"It should work. I can't imagine why it wouldn't, in any case. If you can stack circles why couldn't you have multiple ones on the same fetish?" The house made no reply to her rhetorical question. She knew who would, though. Who would take her by the hand and answer her questions and work through the twisted maze of this complicated world magic. But Ssanya was gone. Her strong, capable, beautiful Dhani with her sharp tongue and sharper mind would never again sit with her to talk over their circles and their meanings. That old wound where her lover and her teacher used to be was still raw and aching, even after all this time.
Madeira let her eyes close, and heard that soft, hissing laughter that could still raise a prey-like tremble from her spine. I have very little in thisss world except my body, my heart, my ssskills and now.. thiss the voice whispered, so real she could feel the ghost of breath across her throat. And I want you to know...that I'm yourss.
"You don't pay me to be a petchn' alarm clock. Wake up, you owe me somethin'."
Madeira cracked an eyelid open. Standing on the top of the porch stairs was her and Savis' hunter lackey. His close cropped red hair matched the stubble on his windburnt cheeks, and he brought a loamy, bitter smell of tobacco and dark earth with him. His forest green eyes were boring into hers, and his foot was tapping impatiently, though he would get no closer. Over his shoulder he had four ravens tied together with twine.
"Laird, do you have any talent for symbolism and abstract thought?"
"I'll be a right fuckin' genius for you if you have the coin."
Madeira snorted with amusement, pushing herself heavily to her feet. "I don't think I have that kind of money. Just as well. Savis would never let me pull out a few of her teeth anyway."
The Spiritist counted out fifty kina and placed the small stone chips into the hunters waiting purse as he watched.
"A generous woman would give me a lil' something extra for the trouble. These birds are not normal hunting fare", the hunters eyes sparked greedily as he jingled the purse.
"They're common ravens. You probably shot them in the Surya Plaza and patted yourself on the back all the way here."
"Do you think the Shinya would approve of someone waving their armed longbow around the Plaza?"
"No. Which makes me certain that's exactly what you did."
The hunter shrugged mightily, a completely unashamed smile on his face as he dropped the birds at her feet. "You got me there, sister."
Madeira rolled her eyes and tossed a jade at him. He snatched it out of the air and in a flash it disappeared into the pockets of his robes.
"Have a drink on me, Laird."
The man saluted sardonically and left, not sorry at all to see the back of the fancy house and his haughty employer. His soft leather boots were soundless even among the crispy leaves and uneven cobble.
You do not like him. The house prodded her mind and found the truth of it. Why give him coin?
"He's an uncouth, greedy little liar. But he's useful." Madeira answered the bemused house as she gathered the book, birds and blanket. "Doing what I want would be cathartic in the moment, but keeping him happy is more useful in the long run."
Diplomacy.
"Diplomacy", she echoed.
Madeira glanced up as the low, passive awareness of the Infinity Manor stirred and slid the words into the back of her mind. Laird was indeed coming up the long cobble path, the wrought iron gate swinging shut behind him with an inconsiderate bang. She was sitting on a bench on the porch, her back to the wall, a blanket across her knees and a notebook in her lap, waiting for him. Squinting into the midday sun she could see a bundle of some rough black shape over his shoulder bouncing with his loping, unhurried gait.
Between the long path and the way the hunter could never seem to get a rush on, Madeira had time to finish off the drawing she was working on. With a nub of charcoal she scratched away at her notebook, and were anybody to look over her shoulder they would see a bizarre but innocuous circle filled with crude shapes. But there was more to this.
"See, the surface area of her teeth would be too small..." Madeira was explaining to seemingly nobody. Yet the Architectrix in the house was listening, its attention turned towards its creator. "But if I had, say, five of her teeth, and put a small circle on each one, that made a cohesive whole together..."
Tongue between her teeth, she scratched away at her book. Five cartoonishly drawn human teeth were arranged in a line, and on the long side of each was a circle with a single letter inside. Spelled out, it said LOGIC in neat if cramped cursive. If she were to tie them all together... perhaps with leather from the source... it would conceivably make a necklace that would help focus the mind. Conceivably.
The house hummed its understanding, though in the clarity of her mind she could feel that its grasping of the concept was weak. That was just fine though, because so was hers.
"It should work. I can't imagine why it wouldn't, in any case. If you can stack circles why couldn't you have multiple ones on the same fetish?" The house made no reply to her rhetorical question. She knew who would, though. Who would take her by the hand and answer her questions and work through the twisted maze of this complicated world magic. But Ssanya was gone. Her strong, capable, beautiful Dhani with her sharp tongue and sharper mind would never again sit with her to talk over their circles and their meanings. That old wound where her lover and her teacher used to be was still raw and aching, even after all this time.
Madeira let her eyes close, and heard that soft, hissing laughter that could still raise a prey-like tremble from her spine. I have very little in thisss world except my body, my heart, my ssskills and now.. thiss the voice whispered, so real she could feel the ghost of breath across her throat. And I want you to know...that I'm yourss.
"You don't pay me to be a petchn' alarm clock. Wake up, you owe me somethin'."
Madeira cracked an eyelid open. Standing on the top of the porch stairs was her and Savis' hunter lackey. His close cropped red hair matched the stubble on his windburnt cheeks, and he brought a loamy, bitter smell of tobacco and dark earth with him. His forest green eyes were boring into hers, and his foot was tapping impatiently, though he would get no closer. Over his shoulder he had four ravens tied together with twine.
"Laird, do you have any talent for symbolism and abstract thought?"
"I'll be a right fuckin' genius for you if you have the coin."
Madeira snorted with amusement, pushing herself heavily to her feet. "I don't think I have that kind of money. Just as well. Savis would never let me pull out a few of her teeth anyway."
The Spiritist counted out fifty kina and placed the small stone chips into the hunters waiting purse as he watched.
"A generous woman would give me a lil' something extra for the trouble. These birds are not normal hunting fare", the hunters eyes sparked greedily as he jingled the purse.
"They're common ravens. You probably shot them in the Surya Plaza and patted yourself on the back all the way here."
"Do you think the Shinya would approve of someone waving their armed longbow around the Plaza?"
"No. Which makes me certain that's exactly what you did."
The hunter shrugged mightily, a completely unashamed smile on his face as he dropped the birds at her feet. "You got me there, sister."
Madeira rolled her eyes and tossed a jade at him. He snatched it out of the air and in a flash it disappeared into the pockets of his robes.
"Have a drink on me, Laird."
The man saluted sardonically and left, not sorry at all to see the back of the fancy house and his haughty employer. His soft leather boots were soundless even among the crispy leaves and uneven cobble.
You do not like him. The house prodded her mind and found the truth of it. Why give him coin?
"He's an uncouth, greedy little liar. But he's useful." Madeira answered the bemused house as she gathered the book, birds and blanket. "Doing what I want would be cathartic in the moment, but keeping him happy is more useful in the long run."
Diplomacy.
"Diplomacy", she echoed.
x
