Vedette Niveue-Uthral (in_the_service) wrote in adusta, @ 2009-11-27 20:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | ithacles, vedette uthral |
ways to keep warm (ithacles)
The winter harvest was long over, thankfully, which meant the dead of winter had set in. Snow blocked all of the passes that led in or out of the capital city of Faustben and nearly everyone who could stay indoors was indoors. The castle itself was set as warmly as possible, even if one could see their breath hanging in the air in every corridor they did make sure that every room had a fire going, or at least had hot coals of some sort burning for the residents warmth. Many people unaccustomed to a winter here would have froze to death if not properly prepared. Vedette thought everyone was slightly wimpy for it. Wandering around in two or three heavy jackets and cloaks over their heavy tunics and pants. Some even walked around with blankets round their bodies to keep the cold out.
She felt free in it. Each night she could creep out and lay in the snow that collected on her balcony in nearly nothing and be alone. And be cold. She could freeze her human form and still feel as right as rain. The castle staff wandered around with teeth chattering when they thought no one could hear. Whispering the hopes that they would be back in their warm bed soon. Vedette rejected every offer to place a tin of coals under her blankets before she retired. She had no need for a warm bed. In fact, she had to get up every morning and make her bed look slept in and then mess up the balcony's snow so that no one knew she'd been out there sleeping in it.
The snow was beautiful though.
This particular night was an anniversary of sorts. The day she was born. She didn't want to think about it, or about another year spent without her parents and family. Without dragons. Without her clan. She'd drank her way through every bottle of wine she had in her room and wasn't satisfied with it. Earlier in the day she'd told everyone who knocked that she wasn't feeling well. But really she wasn't feeling much of anything besides the empty pit that the old part of her had left. Iluq was long gone now and Vedette was all she had to live with.
But there wasn't anymore wine here. Carefully she slipped out of her room and down the stairs that led to the kitchens. She only tripped once over a planter, why these people kept trees inside during winter she'd never know. Down through the kitchens and into the cellars. The Cellars of the Castle were massive. She assumed it was because Ithacles was a lush, but really it was the safest place to store all of the King's collection, as well as collections for those visiting Faustben whom would find themselves at the Kings table. No one could notice a barrel.. or two gone. She was so thirsty, she opened the third door, leaning to most of their white and sweeter wines only to nearly trip and fall over some one's legs.
She caught herself on a barrel and looked around.
A fat priest, she almost nodded, they drank a lot more than sacramental wine.. when her eyes also fell on Ithacles. Her cheeks were hardly rosy but she probably already smelled of wine. Well, neither of them would mind her drinking out of a barrel because they already were. She took the ladle the priest was holding and put it into the barrel before either man could say a word. She brought it to her lips and took a heavy drink before passing it off to Ithacles. She pushed a crate over and sat down heavily upon it to wait for her next turn.
"Is this to keep the cold out?"