fandomania | The Adventure continues... (Reply)

Our eggs:

Our hatchlings:

The Story:

While Loysa and I were cuddling, Orlando came in. When he heard about what had happened, he looked at Loysa’s wounds, said a few words and passed his hand over them. They healed, although he left a few ‘scabs’, so that the nonmagical wouldn’t get upset. With her pain gone, Loysa became more interested in playing and I eventually set her down in front of a pile of toys, so that Orlando and I could talk.

“I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO TALK WITH YOU FOR SEVERAL DAYS NOW. BUT THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY THINGS GOING ON, THAT FINDING TIME WITH YOU HAS BEEN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.”

“I am sorry, Orlando, if I had known this, I would have set aside as much time for you as you needed.”

“I KNOW, LITTLE ONE, THAT IS WHY I HAVE SOUGHT YOU OUT NOW. THERE IS VERY LITTLE FOR ME TO DO HERE. THE HATCHLINGS ARE GETTING VERY RESTLESS. THE STABLE HANDS ARE DOING THEIR BEST FOR THEM BUT THEY REALLY DON’T UNDERSTAND THEIR NEEDS. I HAVE BEEN THINKING THAT I NEED TO GET TO RAWN-DEVU TO DO RESEARCH AT THEIR LIBRARIES. RAWN-DEVU HAS A VERY WELL RUN ROYAL DRAGON CAVE COMPLEX WHERE THE HATCHLINGS WILL THRIVE. I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE HATCHLINGS ON TO RAWN-DEVU FOR YOU, SINCE YOU AREN’T GOING THERE FOR MANY MONTHS, ARE YOU?”

“If ever… Yes, I see your point. I am not currently able to do anything for them; not visit them, play with them or care for them, until my babies are born. As much as it breaks my heart to part with them, I see the wisdom of your plan. You can see them safely there, without having to deal with my cousin’s nonsense.”

“I AM PLANNING ON LEAVING TONIGHT, AFTER ALL THE BUILDING ACTIVITIES HAVE CEASED FOR THE DAY. IT WILL BE EASIER THEN AND CAUSE LESS OF AN UPROAR. IF YOU WOULD TELL THE GUARDS THAT THIS IS PLANNED, THEN THEY WON’T THINK THAT I AM ‘STEALING’ YOUR HATCHLINGS, I WOULD BE GRATEFUL”

“I am going to miss you so much…” I threw my arms around him and started to cry.

“LITTLE ONE! I WON’T BE GONE FOREVER! I PLAN TO RETURN BEFORE YOUR BABIES ARE BORN, AND I WILL BRING FIORENZIA WITH ME, SO THAT WE CAN BE SURE THAT EVERYTHING WILL GO WELL WITH THAT.”

“You will? You are? That is so comforting to know.”

“THINK OF THIS TRIP LIKE ALL THE TRIPS I MADE IN RIVERFORD. I GO AWAY ON A SEARCH FOR INFORMATION. I COME BACK. YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ME BY A LONG SHOT.”

“I was afraid that you had grown tired of me.”

“YOU? FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE! NOT BY ANY MEANS. YOU ARE A RIDDLE, HIDDEN IN A MYSTERY, AND COVERED BY A THOUSAND QUESTIONS. EVERY TIME I TURN AROUND I FIND YOU HAVE HANDED ME ANOTHER LIFETIME’S WORTH OF RESEARCH. FOR A HUMAN, I FIND YOU ENDLESSLY FASCINATING.”

I didn’t know how to answer that.

“OH, AND WOULD YOU SEND JAIZEL’S DISKS BY MESSENGER TO THE COUNCIL OF MAGIC USERS, IN RAWN-DEVU? THE SOONER THOSE GET LOOKED INTO, THE FASTER THE ANSWER WILL COME.”

“I will do so.”

Orlando kissed me on my forehead and we said our goodbyes.

Even though I knew that he would be back, I still wept a bit and sent many prayers for his and the hatchlings safety. I got a piece of paper and a writing implement and wrote a note to the Captain of the Guards. I found a male servant and asked him to take the note to Captain Quinton and gave the man a coin for his efforts. Vitha returned to the nursery and I left, knowing that Loysa would be well cared for.

I returned to my rooms and started to search for the disks, wondering where they had been placed. When Mahli came in, I asked her if she had seen them. “Oh, yes! They are here is this closet.” She brought them to me.

“Do you know where I can find packaging materials?”

“No, ma’am. Would you like for me to ask Madam Rosa?”

“Yes, please.”

Mahli went off and didn’t return for more than twenty minutes. I filled my time by writing a note to the Council that would also be inside the package. She returned following in the wake Rosa carrying brown paper, scissors, twine and more writing implements.

“Why, thank you Rosa! I didn’t expect you to come with Mahli.”

“I am sure that you didn’t. But I think that you and I need to take a moment and have a serious chat with Mahli, about trust and gossip, don’t you think?”

“Yes, Tauntie Rosa, I have been thinking about this. I wasn’t aware you knew of the problem.”

Rosa smiled. “I hear every iota of gossip that goes around this place. Trying to stop gossip once it starts to spread is like trying to stop a breeze. It just cannot be done. The best way for gossip to stop is for it never to start in the first place.”

“Mahli,” I started gently. “You have, so far, done a reasonable job as being my personal maid. I know that this is the first time you have been given this job. You still have many things to learn, but you also seem very willing and very quick to learn. But one of the imperative things about being a personal maid is that, while you will get to see many intimate details of my body and my life, these details are not, absolutely not, to be shared with anyone else! When you do so, when you tell others about what you see in my rooms, you are betraying me and betraying the trust I have in you. When I hear giggling, and snickers and such behind my back, it hurts me. It hurts me very much.”

Mahli looked horrorstruck.

“Mahli,” continued Rosa. “We need your promise that you will never gossip about Lady Patra again. We need to be able to trust your word. If you feel that you cannot make this promise, I will not punish you for that, but I will have to reassign you to another position elsewhere. If you do make this promise, and you break it, you will be dismissed and sent home to your family. I want you to be very aware of the seriousness of this.”

Mahli nodded her head. With tears in her eyes, she swore to never gossip about me again or reveal any more intimate details of my life. “I am so sorry, ma’am. I thought it was just some harmless fun. But I see now that it isn’t harmless at all. I apologize for embarrassing you. I really didn’t mean to!”

“I know you didn’t mean to, Mahli. I forgive you. I have no further need for you, until before dinnertime, so you may go now.” I smiled at her sincerely. She bobbed me a curtsey and then left the room.

“Thank you, Tauntie Rosa, I have been dreading that.”

“You handled that with kindness and grace, my dear. Just as I expected you to.”

“Thank you. I was trying my best to remember the lessons that my Grandmother taught me.”

I then brought the subject back to packaging the stones. Rosa and I worked on it together and when it was finished and properly addressed, Rosa took it with her and said that she would get one of Pahpey’s messengers to deliver it to Rawn-Devu for me.