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Tweak says, "And then there were none"

Lady Calista Kolite (thesecretikeep) wrote in watchers_rp,
@ 2017-05-25 17:39:00

Entry tags:

#day 007/07 may, calista, priya

Who: Calista and Priya
Where: The forest around Kingswood
When: Morning

Calista didn't often take time just for herself. She would spend most of her days with her children, but for when they were in lessons or down for naps, but this morning she had reached the conclusion that she needed to spend the morning completely on her own. She had not told Dustin, for he would have insisted on coming with the thought that he was being romantic or chivalrous, and she didn't tell the children so that they did not tell their father. All she wanted was an hour or two out in the woods with her horse and her thoughts, calming any errant thoughts before they escaped and something... bad happened. Like a fit or something else. As of late she had been feeling as though a part of her was doing its best to escape, something she wasn't sure about, and it terrified her. Her dreams were stranger than they'd been in recent memory and she just needed to be on her own.

"There is nothing to worry about here anyhow, is there?" Calista asked her horse, running a soothing hand along her neck as they walked along the path. Calista took a deep breath, enjoying the scent of damp earth and leaves, the colors of the sunlight as it filtered down to the path. This was what she had needed.

A quiet hum welled up in her throat and Calista let it spill out, humming an old song from her childhood, reaching out to brush her fingers against a dew-heavy leaf, smiling at the water that dripped onto her hand. Maybe she should do this more often. Whatever knot had been forming somewhere in her mind, whatever dread she had been feeling, seemed to melt away out here, away from court and her family and every little worry she had had. Although the snapping of a branch nearby caused her to jerk her head in that direction.
"Hello?"

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handofthekeeper
2017-05-31 03:59 pm UTC (link)

Being surprised was clear, but Priya couldn't tell whether Calista was happy to see her as well as surprised. She smiled all the same, shrugging. "I thought I'd best acquaint myself with the local wilderness and local horses. It can't all be festivities, now, can it?"

She rode further, then carefully made it so her horse stood side by side with Calista's. She gave the woman a soft smile. "Would you like to ride together? I would cherish your company."

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thesecretikeep
2017-05-31 07:27 pm UTC (link)

Years of keeping her emotional reactions to a minimum - excepting when she was in the throes of some sort of fit - meant that Calista did so even without consciously thinking about it. "It cannot be," she agreed, thinking of the hunt that had taken place the previous day. "They may not even be the best part." Seeing her sister and daughter, those might be the best parts.

Calista glanced over to Priya, giving a smile in reply to the one she received. "Yes, I would like that." The word 'cherish' made her cheeks heat up. "I have thought of you," she confessed as she urged her horse to take another step. It was easier to say not looking at her. "Wondering if perhaps you were enjoying the festivities that they were having in the city proper."

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handofthekeeper
2017-06-01 10:34 pm UTC (link)

"I agree. The best part so far has been making your acquaintance, to be perfectly honest." Priya confessed, lowering her head as she smiled sheepishly. So far there hadn't been a great part of being here, but if it depended on her, there would be.

She enjoyed the peach-colored heat on Calista's cheeks, a sign that the woman was not indifferent to her, much as she had sensed. Priya felt a pang of some sort in her own chest when Calista said she had thought of her, however, and this was nothing to do with the Keeper or her service to Him. It was her turn to blush. "I have been, yes. I've been getting to know Kingswood, its locales of note, its people. It is all very different from the quiet place I come from." She looked to her new friend. "How have you fared so far?"

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thesecretikeep
2017-06-02 06:42 pm UTC (link)

Priya must have been trying to make Calista blush, for she felt her cheeks heating up more at the confession about meeting her being the best part. Why? She wanted to ask. What was so special about her? She was like every other noblewoman from Empyrean, a bit more like them than she was those from Arcadie even, and surely there were more interesting ones to be found. The ladies from Ardghal were more interesting with their culture, for a perfect example, even if they were strange. Her meeting with Reyne the prior day floated to the forefront of her mind as though to remind her that it had happened.

"I am glad you are settling well. Knowing one's surroundings is never anything but beneficial, I have found." Perhaps that was why she felt more comfortable in Kolite now than she did here in Kingswood. "I have fared well." There had been the issue with Dustin and the matter of the hunt, but she didn't think she should bother Priya with something like that. "I met a woman from Ardghal yesterday, which was interesting in and of itself. Otherwise... I think I have just been adjusting to being in Elkwood Castle." A thought perched on the edge of her lips before she let it out. "I was truly just glad that my son was not maimed in the training yard as Lady Leavey's was." Word of that surely had filtered to the commoners. People seemed to love the more gorey things about life.

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handofthekeeper
2017-06-03 05:16 pm UTC (link)

Nodding in agreement, Priya brought her horse to a slow, pleasant trotting by Calista's side, admiring the other's beauty against the forest's wilderness. She raised an eyebrow at the 'woman from Árdghal', wondering if it was one of'hers' of one of the endless ladies of Árdghal who all made great minions and Bringers of Death as far as she was concerned.

"I don't think I have ever met one," she lied, eyes wide in slight wonder. "What was she like? They say in Árdghal the women lead, it must be a good place to be one. And they must be different, as people."

Priya had, indeed, heard of the incident befalling Lady Leavey's son, and wondered if the Mordha family had had anything to do with it, or merely the Keeper reminding the nobles that even they could suffer from terrible accidents. "Yes, I heard about that. I'm glad your children are alright as well. Is the boy whose fingers...is he recovering?"

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thesecretikeep
2017-06-06 05:00 pm UTC (link)

Calista wasn't surprised Priya had never met one, though that eliminated one country from the list of possibilities about where she was from. Árdghal was clearly off the list. "She was quite talkative," Calista shared. "She was the Lady Reyne Mordha, and she is the leader of her house. The eldest of her sisters. I have met her sister once I believe when I was here before, though I do not think we spoke." Calista truly couldn't remember. Nevina was someone who stood out because she had a higher rank - in her eyes at least - by being so close to the Princess. "She was very forward." Her attitude was undeniably different than Calista's own.

"He is yes, quite well." It was a bit of a miracle how well he was recovering if talk was to be believed. Apparently there was no infection and the boy was already able to get out of his bed, though he was undoubtedly reluctant to return to the training yards. Had she been his mother, then Calista would've made sure that day didn't come for some time no matter what his father might say. Calista worried her lip a little, it was better than raising her hand to her mouth to gnaw at her knuckle, and gave Priya a shy glance. "I am surprised you had not come to the castle yet. Had I never been before then I would have been most eager at an invitation."

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handofthekeeper
2017-06-06 08:34 pm UTC (link)

Able to mask the knowing smile off her face as she recognized the name of Reyne Mordha, older than any of them by many years. "Ah, I see. I should like to visit such a place, I confess. Some would think it unnatural, upside down, but not me. Not many women, I believe."

Her brow raised, head tilted in curiosity. "Forward? How so?" Leaning in closer, Priya had a curious, almost wild smirk. "Did she make advances on you?"

Not that she truly cared, but Priya sighed in relief when Calista told her the boy was doing well, as if it mattered. She decided to focus on what Calista said next instead, giving the woman a smile. "I...I suppose I was shy. But I have met another lady yesterday, Lady Gia...Hmm. I don't remember if she told me her last name. You know her?"

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thesecretikeep
2017-06-07 05:37 am UTC (link)

Calista gave the slightest shrug of her shoulders that the idea of women being in charge of everything. Once she'd have loved that more than anything, but now what would she do with it? Control who my children married. That seemed to be the extent of her concern right now. Her own life was sealed as far as she could see. Women did not leave their husbands, they waited for them to die. Hoping for them to die was even a little too much, or so Calista believed even if she did wish for it. Wishing for anyone dead was surely a sin to the Creator and of all the people to commit those she should make sure to avoid if for fear of bringing current shame to her family name. Or to Aria specifically.

All of her thoughts ground to a stop at the idea of Reyne making advances on her, a sudden red heating her face. "What? No!" Calista denied a little louder than she had anticipated, her cheeks reddening more at the idea of Reyne having made any advances towards her. The only woman who had recently made an advance of any sort at her... was... this line of thought wasn't helping, because if she thought about it? Calista believed that perhaps Priya had done so when they had first met. Or was that wishful thinking? Either way, Calista was unable to banish the heat from her face and kept her eyes fixed firmly on her horse's mane.

"Gia Ridell." The name rolled off Calista's lips easily. She'd met Gia, oh yes she had, and that was the woman one should watch for advances from. She hadn't a single drop of shame from what Calista had witnessed or heard and she spent little time with her because an undeniable piece of her wanted to be like her. "Even those who do not know her personally know of Lady Gia. She is a bit of an eccentric, which I believe is overlooked because of her beauty. Men seem to forget the rumors they hear when she is around. I have already seen several make right fools of themselves around her." Speaking of someone else was finally helping drain the blush from her cheek, and Calista was able to raise her eyes back up to glance over at Priya.

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handofthekeeper
2017-06-09 01:05 am UTC (link)

It saddened her slightly that Calista didn't seem excited by the prospect. A woman contented with having her fate decided on by men was a weakling, in Priya's opinion but then again it was only because He wasn't of this plane that the Keeper did not count. All the same, even His influence had its limits regarding real effects upon her. Everything else, she decided. Ultimately, they were just of different places. Very different.

Calista's furious blushing made her laugh, though it wasn't a mocking laugh that escaped Priya's lips. "Now, now, you don't need to be so bothered! There are women who...do that. And you did say she was very forward, after all. Though now I wonder what, exactly, your meaning must have been."

Upon hearing the full name of her 'new friend', Priya brightened, nodding. "Yes! That's her, alright. I helped her find some supplies for a project she is working on. She does seem eccentric, but quite fun. And beautiful, you're correct." Smirking, Priya tilted her head. "What rumors?"

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