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Post by Aria Talei on Jan 10, 2011 21:48:33 GMT -5
Aria watched the messenger go, twisting water out of her hair. "I'm not sure. If it was urgent, I'm sure his tone would have been less...calm," she said, for lack of a better word. She was not at all pleased with how he had eyed her, as if he thought she was behaving childishly, but she had greater things to worry about than what an arrogant messenger had to think about her.
"Shall we?" she sighed to her companion, leading the way back to her tent. She neither rushed nor took her time, walking instead with a purposeful stride, but was surprised when the scrawny messenger boy was standing sentry by her tent.
"They're inside, Ambassador," he informed her silkily; ignoring him, Aria swept on past and into her own dwelling, where a few candles had been lit.
There were three of them- an timid woman looking some years older than Aria with wavy, flaxen hair- a little girl, her pale hair in braids, clutching a straw doll in her tiny fingers- and an even smaller boy, who had been crouching and picking experimentally at his toes but now looked up at Aria with wide, curious eyes. All three were smudged with dirt, their faces and clothes dark with a film of dust.
Having dragged herself rather unwilling back into "ambassador mode", Aria straightened her pose, but her tone was gentle, comforting.
"I am Ambassador Aria Talei; this is my friend Amizade who will, if you feel comfortable, help me help you."
The woman glanced timidly between them. "No- no, that's fine, we don't mind," she said hurriedly. Her tone was frightened, sounding desperate. "I have...we...my husband has been arrested in Cados," her voice faded to a whisper, as if frightened or ashamed. "We've been traveling for days to get here, to get help."
Inwardly, Aria felt herself slump. This sometimes happened- friends of Werecats who got themselves in trouble would sometimes go to Feryn seeking a miracle, some way to bypass their own mistakes or stupidity. Feeling scrutinized under the attentive watch of all three of her guests, Aria merely nodded, keeping her face impassive.
"I see. Do you happen to know why?"
The woman nodded quickly, apparently anticipating that question. "The neighborhood we lived in was rough. We had lived in the poorer side of Cados," even in the faint light Aria saw the woman blush, but she plowed on determinedly, "my cubs do not yet have the mastery of their gift, they are too young. So when the neighbors witnessed my daughter shift while playing with her Human friends, they took the news unkindly."
"Prejudice is still around, if not as rampant as it once was," Aria sympathized. "Please go on."
She nodded, looking encouraged. Her daughter had averted her gaze, and was picking absently at the course ends of her doll's hair. "There was a time where the Humans simply pretended nothing had happen. Then they began avoiding us. When my husband tried to explain that Kara did not yet have control of her abilities, they misunderstood. They called her dangerous, fearing for their children- you know she wouldn't have hurt anyone, don't you, Ambassador? She couldn't control her shifting, yes, but certainly her actions- they attempted to have us leave, but it was our home, my husband insisted we hold our ground until the storm passed."
"One evening there were men outside our home smelling heavily of drink. They jeered and told us to leave, calling us names and insulting our young. My husband had enough. He severely injured the three, and there were soldiers at our door the following morn. They detained him because they fear him; we fled, thinking they would lock us away, too."
Aria thought she understood. "So you want us to have him released?"
"Yes, Ambassador. Please."
Aria resisted a sigh, pausing to thoughtfully adjust her bangles. She cast a sideways glance at Amizade, stalling having to speak. "While your husband acted in defending his family and home, if he attacked the men, he is at fault. He broke the rules of the Human city...I'm sorry, I do not believe there is anything I can do for you."
The color drained from the mother's face. "What?" she breathed incredulously, "you cannot be serious! He was detained for being a Werecat!" She looked desperately to Amizade, and Aria remained silent, interested in the response her companion would give.
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Post by Amizade Hasina on Jan 10, 2011 22:41:09 GMT -5
Amizade tried to be as impassive as the Ambassador and stood in a stance that her years of training had taught her, one hand lazily on the hilt of her sword, her feet spread shoulder width apart and her eyes always assessing the situation. Ami sighed through her nose "If I may Ambassador." She stepped forward out of the entrance of the tent to stand just barely behind Aria "I, or We could make a case of prejudice. If need be we could also make a case that we, the Werecats are half of the vast army that protects the humans." Amizade was thinking now "Though, if the humans in Cados are really stuck on their ways they'd say the child." She gestured to Kara "Needed to be trained early, since birth even, on how to control her powers." Ami smirked a bit "All of us that are aware of the way our powers work, they know that we should not, can not train our cubs so early." The Warrior remembered her training and knew that she was right "If that will not work in the human city that." Ami paused to think about what she was about to say. This decision could totally change the families life, be it good or bad "We could put your husband in the service of Ambassador Aria as a solider and they would almost have to release him, at least shorten his time." The Werecat nodded, she liked this idea "I think, though, we would have to say that he had been a solider previous to his arrest in order to get him released soon." Amizade stopped her pacing and glanced over at Aria to make sure she was saying the right thing.
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Post by Aria Talei on Jan 11, 2011 19:42:33 GMT -5
Aria watched Amizade carefully. She was grateful for the input, and pleased to see that the woman held her own opinion and did not falter under pressure, but she disagreed.
"Unfair or no for Humans to torment the cub," she said, "this man did break Human law. Any Human who struck another with a sword would be imprisoned, as well. We cannot make exceptions for our people."
She saw the mother's face flush angrily, but continued before giving her a chance to speak. "As for placing him in my personal guard, I do not believe that would make much of a difference. Saying he was a soldier previous to the arrest, I believe, will only cause doubts in the Human officials as to the control we exert over our warriors. This is ignoring the fact, of course, that that would be telling the King a blatant lie." For that is who it would come down to, eventually- though it would be the guard captain's decision, ultimately, Aria had her doubts that he would not ask his leader for his input.
"How long is your husband's sentence?"
"Six months," the mother's voice trembled with fury. "What do you suppose is going to happen to us in the meantime, with our breadwinner behind bars?"
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Post by Amizade Hasina on Jan 13, 2011 19:24:28 GMT -5
Amizade could find no outlet for the husband and so decided to tackle the mother's last question "Well, you could stay here in Feryn for the time being or until you can support yourselves sufficiently " I mean it shouldn't be too hard to find you something to earn some money at, even if it is just enough to scrape by." She turned to Aria "Surely, if we can not do something for the husband, the children's father, we can allow them to stay here and take care of themselves?"
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Post by Aria Talei on Jan 13, 2011 20:44:55 GMT -5
"Of course!" Aria said, surprised that was even in question, "yes, of course they may stay- any of our kin are welcome here, always. I would suggest when your husband is released that you four relocate- I doubt the prejudices of your neighbors will be forgotten.
The woman's look was murderous; having pulled her youngest child, protectively, into her lap, she was stroking his hair as he resumed the enthralling examination of his own toes. Her daughter refused to meet either Aria nor her companion's eyes out of what the Ambassador thought must be shame- she, no doubt, blamed herself for her father's imprisonment.
The Werecat felt a stab of pity. "I'm sorry," she said, quietly but evenly. "We will have a tent erected for your family immediately, and it will be prepared by nightfall; in the mean time, you are welcome to stay here. All of you look as if you could use some rest."
Dipping her head once in closure, Aria turned to leave, aware that she had given the mother, who was still boring holes into her back, the upper hand- by retreating first, nonetheless out of her own home, she had surrendered some respect. She had recognized, in essence, the woman as her superior, though she thought the small gesture was appropriate, considering her loss.
She sighed in frustration, pulling the hair out of my eyes. "You know what," she said dryly to Amizade, once out of earshot of her tent, "how about you take the position of Ambassador, instead?"
It was a joke, of course- yet the sarcasm was still tinged with unmissable bitterness.
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Post by Amizade Hasina on Jan 13, 2011 22:04:32 GMT -5
Amizade laughed "I'm sure I couldn't do any better than you can." She paused to think about what she would do if she was ambassador, nothing much different than Aria was "you can only do what you can. You don't control everything." Ami looked over at her friend, could she even call the Ambassador a friend? I mean she was the Ambassador. Before the warrior could even sensor her words she said "Would you say we are friends?"
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Post by Aria Talei on Jan 13, 2011 22:25:28 GMT -5
Aria chuckled, averted her gaze awkwardly. She kept very few friends- typical of her familiar, whom she blamed for many faults of her personality- as her trust was hard to win over.
"We have just met, Amizade," she laughed, casting her a grin, "but...yes, I would say we are on our path to be such." She hoped she hadn't hurt the woman's feelings- she seemed to eager to please- but she didn't even consider her and Chey to be, technically, friends, and she had known, respected, and cared for her leader the longest. ((IN A NON SEXUAL WAY, YOU BITCHES))
Omitting my childhood, she thought, remembering a time when she hadn't been quite so distant.
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Post by Amizade Hasina on Jan 13, 2011 22:31:26 GMT -5
Amizade smiled "Yeah, I get it. I don't keep many friends either." Ami decided to change to a different topic "I wonder what those stones look like out in the night sky?" The Werecat thought about it wistfully "I bet they look like stars themselves."
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Post by Aria Talei on Jan 13, 2011 22:55:17 GMT -5
Bewildered by the sudden change of conversation, Aria took a second.
"Yes, I'm sure they would," she said, picturing it for herself. "Don't go uprooting my stones, though." She smiled at the other.
They were passing the Chief's tent; glancing over her shoulder, Aria tried to see if Chey had returned home, but tent looked just as deserted as ever. "Chief Kitchi really needs to get home," she sighed. "I was supposed to meet with her much earlier."
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Post by Amizade Hasina on Jan 13, 2011 23:00:42 GMT -5
Ami looked over her shoulder too "You guys seem really close." She gave a sideways smile "It's cool that you have some one to talk to like that. Your job seems really stressful." Amizade sighed, kind of wishing now that she wasn't such a big of a loner in training.
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Post by Aria Talei on Jan 13, 2011 23:05:28 GMT -5
Aria gave a small tip of her head. "Chey is a good leader; I have come to respect her and she, I believe, respects my opinion in return. As for my job being stressful, you haven't an idea," she grinned roguishly.
"I'm often the bearer of bad news. But, yes, Chey does share a good deal of my burden. Plus her own."
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Post by Amizade Hasina on Jan 15, 2011 11:16:14 GMT -5
Amizade laughed "It seeems being so close to each other adds to your stress?" Ami looked around and saw her tent to the left and stopped "You want to come in and have some tea?"
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