There is 1 message in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. [DL-W] If it were only so easy to mend a heart.
From: "Arlene" <wondermom@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 01:18:35 -0400
From: "Arlene" <wondermom@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Subject: [DL-W] If it were only so easy to mend a heart.
Day 12
Evening
Fowler Estates
---
"I really can't..."
"But you must stay for a piece of dragonberry pie," Lord Fowler
beamed.
And a piece of J'red's favorite pie appeared as if out of nowhere
before
him on the table.
"Father, I have to return to the warren. I didn't even let anyone
know
I was coming here...." J'red exclaimed.
"As if you need permission to come see me?" J'red's father laughed.
"I have to be up early. We've only a few more days to prepare before
Reolden arrives."
"I'm sure your wing is more than adequately prepared. You remind me
of
your mother, the way you worry so much about every little detail. But
at least she knew when she was done."
J'red sighed and picked up the dessert fork and began to devour the
pie.
It was good. "I suppose you are right," he replied around a mouth
full
of pie.
The older Fowler sat back and sipped a brandy. He enjoyed it when his
son visited. Not only did he fill the old man's passionate obsession
with everything dragon and warren, but he also spoke to the old man,
if
not as quite an equal, at least as someone close to it. Lord Fowler
was
surrounded by servants and sycophants -- and his daughter. But
Jennifer, who had excused herself after dinner as soon as she possibly
could, barely spoke to him either, unless she wanted something, like a
party or a dress.
And that reminded the old lord about the reason of J'red's visit.
"So,
tell me again about this dress that you have our seamstress so busily
stitching?"
"Mending," J'red corrected.
"Right. You said it belongs to that intriguing young woman, Ari? So,
how did it get torn that it needs mending? And how did it end up in
your possession?"
J'red sighed. He'd tried to be evasive earlier, but his father was
like
a dog with a bone. No use trying to dissuade him until he'd gotten
all
the meat.
"It's her gown for the ball for when the Prince arrives."
"Yes, I know about the ball. We're planning on attending. But
how...?"
"Hold on, I'm getting to it," J'red smiled. "She never had to wear a
dress in the settlement. I suppose she'll get used to wearing them at
court," He said with a sad note in his voice before continuing,
"Anyway,
she was practicing walking in the gown when I ... startled her. She
tripped and tore it."
"And you felt responsible because you startled her?"
"Something like that, yes," J'red wasn't about to tell him about
seeing
how gracefully Ari had been walking around in the slit underskirts,
which had given him the idea for how to fix the skirt of the gown. He
certainly hoped it worked.
Lord Fowler nodded, satisfied at last, it seemed.
"And, now, Father, I really must be going." J'red pushed the empty
plate away and rose from the table, nodding to the servant who pulled
out his chair. How easy it seemed for him to fall back into the old
patterns of behavior, and how very difficult it had been for Ari when
she had come with him to dinner.
How could she possibly manage at court, when she was so used to doing
as
she wished and doing for herself, where there would be dozens more
servants who would do everything from pulling out her chair to combing
her hair. J'red shook his head, his worry clearly showing on his
face.
Lord Fowler noted his son's countenance, but said nothing. He'd be
sure
to talk to the warrenlady when he arrived in Whiteriver and get to the
bottom of all this nonsense about that girl going to court. Ari
didn't
belong there, and Lady Cecily hadn't spent all those years raising her
to be an independent young woman to have her turned into a puppet by
the
king. Ari was a dragonrider, besides, and she belonged in the warren,
just as J'red belonged in the warren. And he wondered briefly if Ari
and J'red didn't also belong together.
He clapped his son on the shoulder and smiled, "Well, I will be seeing
you in two days."
"Yes, I'll be here with a few other riders to transport you and
Jennifer
to the warren."
"Don't let us interfere with your duties! Send someone if you can't
make it yourself, like that sweet girl, the courier, the one that
can't
hear. What's her name?"
"Eleanora?"
"AH! Yes, Eleanora. She is always a pleasure."
J'red grinned, "I'll be sure to tell her you said so." He had heard
about one of Eleanora's visit, when she'd been accompanied by Barsel,
but what his father didn't know, wouldn't hurt him, so he kept that to
himself.
---
TAG: KK - When does he tell Eleanora?
---
The seamstress came bustling up, completely out of breath, for having
run, it appeared, from whatever room she occupied. She was smiling
broadly as she came, "It is completed, m'lord!" She turned to the
young
girl who came rushing behind her, carrying the gown, carefully draped
across her two outstretched arms. "And the material! Such as I've
never dreamed of working with! So exquisite!"
J'red's smile widened and he gave the seamstress a warm embrace, then
he
took the dress from the girl's arms. He couldn't even tell where it
had
been torn. "You have done a remarkable job."
She beamed, "I hope I have been able to accomplish what you wished."
"Only one way to find out, and that's to take this back to the woman
who
owns it." With that he bid them all adieu.
---
Late Evening
The Warren
---
Firefly landed on the ledge outside Ari's apartment. J'red was
disappointed to find that Ari was not there. It was dark inside, and
J'red stumbled on something before reaching a chair on which to lay
the
dress. Firefly was kind enough to give him a bit of light to find his
way back outside again.
"She is with... her cousin, Trendall's rider," came Firefly's
surprised
reply to J'red's unasked question.
"Prince Reolden?" J'red at first thought that Ari had gone to meet
him,
but he quickly realized that Firefly must mean that he was in the
warren.
"Yes, they arrived just before dinner," Firefly answered.
J'red closed his eyes wearily and sighed. She was already with the
prince. He'd lost her already.
---
TAG: Carys - When does Ari find the dress, and does she notice?
---
Summary:
Day 12
Evening
J'red has dinner with his father at the Fowler Estates. Over dessert
the topic of conversation turns back to Ari and her gown. J'red
explains how Ari had torn it when he'd startled her, and that was why
he'd brought it to their seamstress to mend it.
J'red returns to the warren and returns the dress to Ari's apartment.
When she is not there, Firefly finds out that she is with Prince
Reolden. J'red is surprised that the prince has already arrived, and
that Ari is already in his company. He fears that he has already lost
her.
---
Respectfully submitted by:
Arlene Jacobs
AKA
J'red rider of Firefly
Hamn Fowler, a Lord of the Domain
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
To Join World Weavers, visit: http://www.worldweavers.net/
Only members of WorldWeavers Worlds should post to this list. To post
messages to this group, send email to WeaversFiction@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
