Myrrish Children Stick Together
Log Info
- Title: Myrrish Children Stick Together
- Emitter: Andelena
- Place: Temple of Daeus / Temple of Eluna
It's an odd feeling to come back to the Temple of Daeus again without her husband by her side, but Andelena newly-Donnelly is here nonetheless, dressed in her mithral armor and white cloak. Deliverance hangs off a sword-belt on her hip in another feeling of odd belonging, like it's been an age since she last wore the sword out even though it'd only been maybe a week.
Andelena's steel-gray eyes haven't lost their sharp keen, however, and the woman looks around for signs of the man who'd summoned her here. Of course, she can't help but bashfully smile when some of her fellow Sunguards posted around the Temple congratulate her on the wedding. For all of the intensity around her on a usual basis, Andelena could occasionally be stripped down to the happy bride with just a word or two, but she bounces back to business quickly enough.
"Y'see Sir Seldan here today? The Silverguard?" she asks one. "Unless I've gotten all soft and he's just sitting and waiting for me." It was a possibility. The most she's had to find in the past few days have been calico cats hiding in laundry baskets or in suits of armor.
"Sir Seldan? He usually just pays his respects from time to time, or he's looking for Sunguard Zeke. He doesn't usually stick around. You tried Eluna Seeress' temple?" comes the answer, from one of the older Sunblades on guard at the periphery. "I didn't even know you knew him."
Andelena ruffles her hair a little in a slight gesture of embarrassment. "See, looking for him at the Seeress's Temple would have made too much damn sense now," she says with a slightly bashful grin. "Yeah, I know him. Great guy. I just figured since he'd left a message for me here, he'd be looking to meet me here, but, hey." She leaves out the part where their past meetings have largely been things of chance.
"I guess I'll head that way," she says, making her way for the entrance. "Brightest of days."
As it happens, the Seeress' Temple is exactly where Seldan is on this ridiculously hot Alexandria summer day, a place of quiet and cool austerity even in the summer heat. It's a nice place to be on a day like this, even if it is given to silence and contemplation.
Indeed, Seldan is no different, sitting cross-legged on a meditation mat, seemingly deep in meditation. Gone is the armor in favor of shirt, sleeveless in deference to the weather, trousers, and open-front sorcerer's robe. The lack of sleeves reveals the mountains of Khazad-Duin tattooed in lifelike detail across one shoulder, and a furry tail wrapping around the other bicep.
Andelena knows better than to disturb a man in meditation, although her armor means she's not astoundingly quiet, although the material that her armor is made from means that it's quieter than most. She waits, but she can't help but look at the tattoos that are revealed from Seldan's choice of dress today. There's a small smirk on her face when she looks particularly at the furry tail.
The Sunguard closes her own eyes for a moment and offers a small sentiment of praise for Eluna--for She is Daeus's beloved daughter, after all--in the meantime while she waits for Seldan to finish.
It doesn't take long. It seems that Seldan is quite aware of the movement of armor in the sanctuary, quiet or not, and after a few minutes looks up. On seeing Andelena nearby, he immediately rises, and bows low, lower than he normally would. The gesture is very formal, and to a Myrrish nobly-born woman, reads of apology.
Andelena smiles gently at Seldan as he bows. "Brightest of days, Sir Seldan," she says. "And her light on your path. I, uh..."
The fact that it's an apologetic bow isn't missed. She may thoroughly be a commoner now in all aspects legal, but she hasn't forgotten all of those etiquette lessons. "Everything alright?" she asks. "I know you asked to see me, but I didn't think it'd be like this."
"It is well enough, now." Seldan straightens, and steps off of the meditation mat, picking it up and moving to place it atop a stack by one of the pillars. He then gestures that they should move away from the pool, so as not to disturb other practitioners and worshippers. "First, I am given to understand that congratulations are in order. May the Draco Solis bless you both." He uses the Myrrish referent for Daeus, out of habit it seems, but stands straight and tall, oddly impassive, as - one awaiting judgment? Most strange.
"Second, I am given to understand that Master Calogref appeared at your wedding feast and behaved churlishly. The fault for his appearance is mine, and for that would I ask your forgiveness."
"Your fault?" Andelena looks flabbergasted by the very notion that Seldan had anything to do with her older brother appearing at her wedding feast. But only a few seconds later, her steel-gray eyes widen with realization.
"Zeke said he'd ask people he knew to save Gale--you were one of them? Sir Seldan, I..."
It takes her another moment before she can comprehend how to respond. "I should be thanking you, not accepting your apology," she says. "And I also know--you're not a fool. You wouldn't have let him do something like that if it wasn't for a good reason, and Gale even said there was a man who ordered him out of the room..."
Andelena runs a hand through her hair again, scratching her scalp in thought. "That must have been you. What happened?"
"I had been tasked with his protection, once he was safely away from the house in which we found him," Seldan explains in low tones. "I was able to free him from the enchantments in which he was entangled, but on checking for others became aware of the presence of a demon, likely following him. I ordered him out, that the battle might be contained and that none would be placed at risk, for it was within the walls of Her temple. I was - perhaps overly harsh, but there was not time for explanations."
"Harsh is the only way Gale learns shit," Andelena responds with a small, small smile. "You wouldn't believe how he'd cry as a kid when I would rough him up because he tried picking a fight with me. The fact you were able to get him out without having to physically throw him out is a minor miracle of itself. Thicker than a bucket of day-old oats, like my husband says on occasion." There's a widening grin on her face when she says husband, of course.
She folds her arms then and nods, the grin falling away to a more serious expression. "You did what you're supposed to, Sir Seldan--and what you're good at doing. Protecting people. I just hope you and everyone was okay. I was one of the people who was involved in... the fiendish attack on the Temple of Daeus some time ago." She points to the cheek on her face. "That's where I got this from."
Her lips press together into a small line. "I feel like--there's gotta be something the Temples can do. Fiends getting inside a holy place--that's twice now in recent memory."
"Worry not for me, Sunguard." Something in Seldan's returning small smile has relaxed, just a little bit, as she does not appear to be angry. "I know not how Zeke knew, but come to me he did. We were able to throw it down and banish it from this place, at the least."
He assumes a parade-rest stance, the mark of a man growing up in military training. "I would not have had you subjected to such, and with full measure do I agree. Yet is such an event thrice in my memory, and a fourth, does one count vampires." There is not a shred of humor in that. "But, for what might be done - for that would I speak to the High Seeress, for she will know better than I if there are defenses that may be erected against such." His gaze goes to the floor. "It was I who raised the matter to the temples, of summoning and teleportation gone awry, some years past."
The mention of vampires puts a chill in Andelena that results in the slight shudder. The memory of Kol is one that she won't--and couldn't--forget, after all. The look that Seldan gives with the comment about the temples and summoning also results in the Sunguard studying the Silverguard for a moment.
"It sounds to me like you hold that personally on your shoulders," she says quietly. "What happened then, that is. You must feel pretty damn frustrated when... Well, when it keeps happening."
"Matters have improved, from what they were," Seldan begins slowly. "More effort is required to protect that which is sacred, and there remains more to be done." Still, the slump of his shoulders says that Andelena has accurately assessed the matter. "Time was when I ventured not into the city, save only that I was fully kitted for battle as I might be in the wilds, for battle was as often like to find me in the square as in the wilderness."
Sympathy reigns in Andelena's steel-gray eyes as she considers Seldan's words, a small frown on her lips. "And yet you're here anyway," she says. "In service to people because you are who you are. Committed to Daeus's noble daughter and to protecting people. It's... Well, it's a thankless fucking job. Especially when people can view protection as hindrance, even though there's a damn good reason for it."
She offers Seldan a small, small smile. "Yet--there are people whose lives you saved by being there when you were, yeah? That's what keeps me going, honestly. That we're doing good in the world. Still, it's nice to get a thank you every once in a while, so... Thank you for saving my idiot brother's life. He may have crashed my wedding feast, but I'd rather him be alive than... what the alternative could have been."
Again, Seldan's eyes lower, and he stares at the marble floor for a moment before seeming to remember himself, and pulling himself upright. "I am pleased to be of service, Sunguard. Still is there a thing I would ask of you in this." He releases a slow breath. "I shall not conceal this from you, Sunguard. Your brother does not understand the danger he is in. When we arrived, a demon had taken him, and was preparing to carry him away. We were able to stop it, and escape with him ere another evil arrived."
The blue eyes on her are steady and sober. "Naught does he remember of his enchantment. It is in my mind that he will not heed anyone, save perhaps you. I cannot force him to remain against his will, and will not, could I do so. Yet would I have him understand his situation. Your brother's home is full of evil, Sunguard.
"Does he return there unwitting, his life and soul are likely forfeit."
"I know it is," Andelena responds quietly, returning that sober look with all of its weight. "It's why I wanted him out of there to begin with. But--with the wedding around the corner... That was why Zeke told us not to worry and he'd get help."
She smiles more warmly at Seldan. "And he did. Don't worry, Sir Seldan. I'll make sure your efforts aren't all for naught. I'll talk to my brother and make damned sure that he's not running back to Selentia. Besides, our baby brother's here in the city, too--so... Could be a good opportunity for a family reunion."
Again, Seldan releases a breath, and bows again, this time an expression of gratitude. "Thank you, Sunguard." He regards her for a moment, questions behind his eyes, but seems to think better of them, and instead inclines his head. "I shall not trouble you further. I wish blessings upon you and your husband - unless you had aught further for me."
"Thank you, Sir Seldan," Andelena offers again, smiling all the wider for Seldan's well-wishes on her marriage. "No, I don't have a thing more to ask. Other than..."
She gestures to the tattoo of the tail on Seldan's arm. "I know what they say about curiosity and cats, but what can I say, I'm interested. You like cats?" she asks genuinely, a twinkle in her steel-grey eyes. "Or is it from a story way too long to tell?" Andelena probably shouldn't keep her husband waiting too long.
Seldan's eyebrows shoot into his hairline at the question, and from the expression of surprise, it is unlikely that he has been asked about that to this point. He looks down at it consideringly. "It is a cat of sorts, but I am uncertain of its origins," he admits. "As my bond with Reunion has grown, images such as this began to appear on my skin. The voices within Reunion are among the souls of my ancestors, and thus do I think the images related to my family. Some I know, some I do not, but I have not - thought to put much research into it, of late. The last words are a touch sad.
Andelena looks intensely curious, although she ducks her head down to look at her sword hanging off its sword-belt. "Are you gonna start giving me tattoos of cats?"
"You would like that far too much," a maternal-sounding voice responds from Deliverance, mildly exasperated. "No, although that is just as curious to me as it is to you."
Andelena snorts. "Killjoy," she says, before looking back at Seldan. Her expression's sympathetic again with that last sad note. "You've had other things demanding a lot on your plate. Maybe you can find the time for it soon, y'know? I'd like to help if I can."
Here she grins widely. "Us kids of Myrrish nobility have to stick together, you know?"
Seldan's eyebrows go up at the maternal-sounding voice, but he only smiles politely. "You find your way." His tone is approving. "May I ask the lady's name? As to my family, it is not a question of time. I have said to you that I am no longer welcome in my family's home, have I not? It is a difficult thing, for it is only my father who will not have me. My ancestors - do not object."
"I am Deliverance," the sword responds to Seldan's ask before Andelena can respond herself. "A servant of the Light as you are, and as Andelena and her husband are."
Andelena smirks just a little. "I call her Livvie for short," she says. "She fucking hates it when I cuss, but we get along just fine."
"I have accepted that getting you to tone down on your... offensive vernacular is a lost cause," Deliverance responds with a sigh. "See, Andelena, why must you curse? Sir Seldan is a fine example of a man who is no longer welcome in his family's noble house, such as yourself, yet he does not go around throwing every word that he knows from the mouths of the unrefined youth."
With that, Andelena pats the sword on the hilt. "Yeah, I remember," she responds to Seldan's query, pointedly ignoring Deliverance. "You and I are alike in that way. And... I suspect alike in some things regarding our swords. Although Livvie's not an ancestor of mine. She just tries to act like the mother I never had."
"Well met, my lady," Seldan greets courteously, straightening himself once again. "My lady mother saw to it that my manners were above question." A very small smile accompanies that, a sad one. "Not all of the Light welcome their own." That's all he says on the matter, for the moment. "Deliverance may have useful advice, but she rules you not. Do not forget it."
His parade-rest stance has barely shifted, as one used to standing still.
Andelena smiles brightly. "It'd be hard to rule me anyway," she says. "Plenty have tried. Only one man's ever succeeded." It's clear by the warmth and affection in her face and voice she means her husband.
"Now, speaking of which," she says, "my man and I are still technically in our post-nuptials, so I better get out of here and go make sure the cats aren't gnawing on him."
She offers Seldan a little wave. "There's more I'd like to talk about, Sir Seldan--way more, if I'll be really damn honest--but I'd like to come home to an intact husband, although knowing my luck, they're all gonna be passed out in bed together."
At once, Seldan inclines his head. "Loath am I to so disrupt. I had not expected a response so soon, though in truth is it well that you did so. In truth should I be going as well. Her light upon your path, Sunguard."