"And then daddy said that the ice was over twenty-four inches thick and I was like whoa that's a lot of ice to get through just for some fish." Runa was rambling, like she typically did. "The trees were all naked-- but the trees here stay green forever, 'ksinka? They must be magic trees. Do they have unicorns where we're going?" The young girl shifted, leaning across Aksinya's lap so that she could see out the window of the carriage better.
"I bet they have roads made of rainbows," she said. It was simply a matter of fact. She'd bet quite a bit of her family's money on it if she could. The trees passed her gaze one by one and she sighed, content with the simultaneous presence of both Ivan and his wife.
Aksinya grinned, all benevolence in the midst of discomfort. She pressed back into her seat as Runa leaned across her, hands gloved in light fabric in her lap.
"It's not quite so glamorous as that, I'm sorry to say. The roads are rather ordinary." She shifted, posture pretty.
"Though I did see a unicorn, once." A sidelong glance to her husband, all amoureux.
Ivan peered up from the book he held in his lap, and remembered to flip a page. He shared a slight smile with his wife, and looked back to either his book or Runa's ankles as he told the requisite tale.
"It's true. We were young then, if you can imagine. Not even engaged. I was the one who scared the creature off, but 'Ksinka here had him purring. Did you know unicorns purr, little lady?"
Runa had, of course, just recently seen her first cat-- otherwise the idea of purring would have been completely lost on the poor girl.
Cats were apparently also magical in Runa's land of fantastic creatures.
"Do they really? Do they get along well with cats, then?"
"That depends very much on the cat and unicorn in question," he said, raising his brows and speaking with utter stoicism. "The unicorns of our homelands associate solely with white cats and kittens, because of the snow. How easy would it be to hunt a unicorn if he had a litter of tabby kittens tailing him? But Arosian unicorns," he tilted his book, which happened to be called a Primer On The Traditions Of The Southern Deserts,"...comingle exclusively with calicos. Have you ever seen a calico?"
The girl's eyes were wide with wonder. "I don't even know what that is!" How exotic!
"It is a type of cat that is always a queen," he explained. "And always very beautiful. If 'Ksinka were a cat, she would be a calico. Most definitely."
Aksinya shook her head. In the expanse of wild stories she'd propped an elbow on the window's edge, knuckles gracing her cheek. Her eyes surveyed the scene passing by, absent and distant.
"I should hope I'd be white; I'd like to still be of my homeland. I want to find my little unicorn, and I can't do that if I'm a calico."
"'ksinka," Runa asked, studying the woman's face, eyes so distant. Like she wasn't there. "If I was a cat, what kind of cat would I be?"
The woman drew attention to the present, absinthe eyes settling across the girl and her pretty face. She thought for a moment, a quiet hum filling the silence. "A very, very sweet, little one." Aksinya nodded decidedly. "With a pink little nose and dainty paws."
This seemed to satisfy the little noble as she settled into the woman's lap, content to watch the trees go by-- at least for the moment.
"A very little one", Ivan chimed, his attention returning to his book, or, this time, Aksinya's embroidered travelling boots. After a protracted pause,"...my dear, are you certain you brought all that you need?"
"Runa, darling?" Nary a beat missed. A canted head imparted the question with an odd sort of relinquishment -- as though Ivan's inquiries couldn't possibly have been directed at her.
But they were. After all, Runa was a brat and would amuse herself quite prettily with twigs and flowers and babbling brooks and local brigands twice her age. Ivan had a few silly story books stowed in his bag if the locale wasn't enough. Aksinya, however, was a lady, and his last wish was to bore her for such a selfish jaunt. He watched his wife oddly, but failed to say a word.
"Ivan packed all my things," the girl murmured, blithe and unmoving. Perhaps the passing pattern of lights and darks were lulling the girl into a dream state.
"Not all of them," he quickly corrected.
"Runa, if you'd be so kind--" a gesture was all the implication needed. In the settled dirt of the topic she had not-quite-gracefully disposed of, a cigarette and its holder had been produced -- a gracious request for the little ward to remove herself from Aksinya's lap.
The girl whined with great drama before she sat up, eyes trained now on the cigarette. 'Ksinka always looked so regal and ladylike with the smoke pluming from her lips. It always smelled so sweet.
It was no myth that Saessalyssa had a weakness for sweets.
"Ivan," the young noble asked. "When will I be old enough to smoke like 'Ksinka?"
Ivan produced a match, always prepared to enable such an attractive habit, and looked to Runa dismissively. "When you have a husband to ask that question, rather than me." A fair answer, colored with brutal realism.
Aksinya -- glamourous darling -- leaned to the match gratefully, all spark and embers and curled paper trails. She transferred the holder to prop out the window, scattering ash as the wheels bumped along the road. At Ivan's admonishment she smiled reassuringly, offering Runa nothing but a wink -- all fun, all girlish games.
And Runa, all pouts and internal mockeries, settled into her corner as though it would make the journey go by faster.