Telling The Family (Mika, Lady Nerida, Ashish)
Aug 29, 2013 22:44:47 GMT -4
Post by Empress Aymelek on Aug 29, 2013 22:44:47 GMT -4
AYMELEK: There was no sound when Aymelek drifted through the palace. A golden saree type gown wrapped around her, edged in sparkling gold thread, with a teardrop emerald handing at her forehead, the golden band around her head thin and delicate, glinting with hints of the diamonds that encrusted the surface. Princess Aymelek was on a mission to turn the old abandoned buildings of the city into places for homeless children to seek shelter safely. Orphanages were a new concept but it seemed to her the way to begin the process of turning broken lives into whole ones again. A hand held to the gold silk , lifting it so her sandaled feet could move quicker. She was passing the library, whispering to herself about the need to snap up the properties before someone decided that the city needed another tanner or whatever the latest rage in trades happened to be. Kasim was up ahead speaking to someone. She dropped the golden silk allowing the gown to swirl once more around her feet, slowed in her steps and greeted the man with Kasim as she would any other. "Greetings and welcome to the Palace. I hope you tried the fruit, the caravan brought it in only yesterday." Dark hair hung to her hips in rippling waves of natural curl, the smooth creamed coffee skin seemed unrealistically unblemished, the large kohl lined eyes with thick fringes of lash were not the dark brown one might expect but an unusual shade of deep, dark, mahogany with a star burst of gold around the pupil. They seemed to always glint. Her friendliness could not be denied, at least, to those she did not perceive as a threat to her peace and sanity.
MIKA: Mika looked at the woman that approached and noticed her dress, the sort of crown upon her head. He would assume her to be the princess, especially with the way she greeted him. "I have not eaten yet," he confessed. He'd had a lot of other things on his mind, to be perfectly honest. Before long a massive wolf came from another hall, seeming to respond to an unvoiced call. He looked at the woman with bright eyes, then sat by its master's side. Mika easily pet the wolf's big head and looked at Kasim again. "I am content to wander on my own," he told the man. "Assuming there is no where that is forbidden to me." It sounded like he might have some privledge here, if he was going to be the emperor. But then, he hadn't exactly been crowned yet. He looked at the princess again. SHe was pretty - beautiful, in fact - but he still had trouble reconciling the fact that he would be married to the girl in just a few days' time. To think, he'd resigned himself to not marrying for some time, if at all. He was sure his mother would be thrilled... or perhaps just as taken off guard as he had been. He'd already had a message sent to his family. They deserved to know as soon as possible.
KASIM Kasim bowed, and stated quite clearly. "Nowhere is forbidden, sir. If you have a need, you've only to call. There are ropes throughout the palace that can be used to summon someone for assitance." He bowed again and the tall, dark skinned advisor to the Emir, took several steps back, then finally turned and went on his way.
AYMELEK: There was no way Aymelek could hide her surprise. First that a wolf, a wolf was wandering about the palace. Secondly that this man dismissed Kasim and said he was going to wander on his own? Then to add more confusion to the situation, Kasim backed away from this man as if he were royalty. Only turning his back when a proper distance from him. Aymelek looked toward Kasim as he departed, then she looked the stranger over again. He was handsome, he had the look of the north about him. Her girls had told her that a friend of her fathers was visiting. A northerner they called 'the Ghost'. She settled her unusual eyes on the wolf again, curious. However! Raised to be courteous she continued on in the conversation as if there wasn't a gigantic wolf sitting by the strange man. "Then you should definitely eat. The day is growing long for no food." She smiled pleasantly. "Shall I arrange for food to be sent to you? You have your rooms yet?" Guests often spent time at the palace and having envoys from the four corners of Susa was not an oddity at all for Aymelek. "You've met with my father? He is returned to his rooms?" she asked curiously,wanting to go visit him if that were the case
MIKA: "I hear I do, somewhere. I haven't been there yet, either." Kasim had given him some direction on how to find his quarters, but he hadn't wandered that way just yet. "Are you Aymelek?" Perhaps that was blut, but... he always was. "Yes, I met with Adir. He is still out in a garden..." He glanced over his shoulder and gestured. "Somewhere." He could find his way through forests, mountain passes, and across frozen lakes... but he was quite sure he'd lose himself in this damned palace. Well, perhaps not as long as he had Ghost with him. "He seemed tired," he said. Adir had also mentioned that someone would eventually come to get him so that he could retire to his rooms, but Mika had no way of knowing if that had been done yet.
AYMELEK: Aymelek grinned when he said he had not been to his rooms yet, then she sucked in a breath. "Oh, how presumptuous of me. Yes, I am Aymelek. It's my good pleasure to meet you....." she waited for him to fill in the blank. She did not reach out her hand. The only men to touch Aymelek was her father, her eunuch and someday her husband. Otherwise, she was considered untouchable by males in general. There was a burst of hub bub at the end of the hallway. A servant of the palace was rushing forward with an elderly couple behind him. As if on a search, and finding what he wanted.
LADY NERIDA: "Mika...." came the breathkess voice of Lady Nerida. "Oh my darling boy..." she was walking to her son and immediately put a hand to his cheek, the weathered face of his mother looking up at him adoringly.
ASHISH: Ashish was right behind his wife, reaching around her to tug his son's arm in a manly wordless sign of solidairty.
AYMELEK: Aymelek smiled at them all. "So you must be Mika.." she said to Mika, "I shall arrange for food to be sent to your rooms." With that, Aymelek went to do just that and to find her father.
MIKA: "Mika Nerida," he said by way of introduction. He did not offer her his hand, either. He looked back when he heard people approaching. Ghost yipped and his tail thumped the floor when the elder Nerida couple hurried over. Mika smiled when he saw his mother and he leaned down so she had an easier time touching him. He gently gripped his father's arm. "It's good to see you both," he said. He looked at Aymelek and nodded. "Yes, thank you." He looked at his parents again and breathed a quiet sigh. "I take it the messenger arrived and delivered his news, then," he said with a weak sort of smile. He wasn't even sure what to say to his parents.
LADY NERIDA: "Yes, we came right away, Mika. Is there something wrong?" She looked around her, not quite believing that were in the Palace, but seeing Mika's face she was at least relieved that nothing too devastating was happening. The weak smile though? Concern etched her face, her eyes like the color of a northern winter, studied her baby boy's face. Soon both hands were at his face, the small woman aware that he was bending to be accessible to her.
ASHISH: "Son, why are we standing in the palace of Susa? Why are you here?" Ashish glanced up and down the hall, feeling slightly exposed but despite the fact that his hands bore evidence of his craft, the artisan carried himself with the same bearing he always did. A quiet confidence.
LADY NERIDA: "Are you in trouble, Mika? Tell us what to do for you." Because in Lady Nerida's mind, no matter what happened, Mika was hers and she would support him until her last breath. *
MIKA: "No, I'm not in trouble. Mother, please." He gently took her hands and gave them a light kiss. "Relax, please." He sighed and looked at them both, then drew them out of the middle of the hall. There was a bench nearby; he coaxed his mother to sit, at least. He let go of her hands and ran one of his own through his hair. He supposed he should just be blunt. "Emir Sarraf seeks an alliance with the peoples of Dimmamark. Apparently... I have been nominated as their representative." He frowned and absently pet Ghost. "And as such... will be marrying Aymelek, and joining the two realms." He couldn't believe, even as it came out of his mouth. He looked at his parents, feeling a bit helpless and wishing he'd had time to talk to them about it before agreeing to this, but... Time, apparently, was of the essence and there was very little to spare. He felt badly that not even the princess knew yet, and hse'd just been standing there. But maybe it wasn't exactly his place to tell her - surely her father would.
LADY NERIDA: Lady Nerida took a seat on the bench as her son led. The colorful scarf worn over her head slipped back, sliding down the auburn colored hair that was threaded through with gray. Her robes were quality though hardly frivolous, but the Nerida's were a well respected family in the city and in Susa in general. Once Mika started speaking, she blinked, once, in complete and utter shock. Did Mika just say he was marrying the Princess? She felt perhaps she heard it all wrong. "Did you just say...."
ASHISH: Ashish interrupted Lady Nerida's words with a choked strangled sound. He damn well knew what he heard. The fact that he was sure what he heard did not lessen the surprise. at. all. "But that would mean...."
LADY NERIDA: "How soon? this is.."
ASHISH: "Shocking, but very flattering."
MIKA: "Three days," he sighed. Well, at least they thought it was flattering. He supposed he should be flattered - not just that the people of the north more or less nominated him to prevent war, but also that Emir Sarraf thought that he would be a decent match for his daughter. But the man didn't know him. He rubbed his forehead and resisted the urge to just stop pacing. He felt a bit... trapped. He knew the feeling would pass. "Three days from now I'll be married to a girl I don't know, and when the Emir dies, I will be emperor of two lands." Gods, he felt lightheaded.
LADY NERIDA: Lady Nerida reached for her husband's hand, and gripped it tightly. She was a bit woozy herself, but seeing Mika's distress, she clucked softly. "Well it is a bit much but this is not surprising, you have always had great destiny around you, Mika." then "Three days..." she said thinly.
ASHISH: "Emperor, by the gods...." Ashish looked a little gray around the gills himself. This little family, gathered at the bench, with a big gray wolf sitting peacefully by them, looked a sight. Ashish rubbed his palm down the side of his face with his free hand murmuring words in Susaian that expressed various emotions. Pride. Shock. Fear.
LADY NERIDA: "That was her..." Lady Nerida pointed toward the hall where the young lady departed when they arrived. Lady Nerida started to stand, then realized she might faint, so she sat back down and watched her son pace. "Well, this is good news on many levels, just shocking. Once the idea settles in, you'll see the sense in it...."
ASHISH: Joining lands had always been done through various means throughout history and one of the biggest was arranged marriages. That part was not so much of a shock, but three days? "There was a cryer...." Ashish heard him as they came through the streets to here. "Royal wedding....that was ...you." They had had no clue.
MIKA: "I see the sense in it," Mika sighed. "It's not the sensible part that I'm having trouble with." Just all the rest, which felt... insignificant in the face of what he could accomplish in doing this, but still it was so much. He gave his father a weak smile. "Yes, that was us, I suppose. I'd like for you to tell Dameer and Rhinannon." He didn't want them to hear from gossip, and he had no idea if he would get a chance to see them before the wedding. "Three days... I wish I had more time, there should be notherns here. More than just myself." More of the people he was meant to be representing. He'd send out message birds, see if there were any that could arrive with such short notice. Perhaps those closer to the border.
ASHISH: Ashish nodded. "Of course, son. We will prepare them." And the entire family would be at the wedding.
LADY NERIDA: His wife was nodding mutely. They talked to Mika a few minutes longer and hesitantly left him. His mother hugged him close, kissed his cheeks and whispered how she loved him. This was her special boy. He deserved a special life, but did it have to happen so abruptly? Perhaps. "Send a messenger if you need us for anything, otherwise, we will see you at the wedding." The wedding. It was surreal. She expected Dameer to marry eventually, Rhiannon next, and possibly never Mika, but this was....well. She was a mixture of excited and sad. She was losing her baby boy.
ASHISH: Ashish saw his wife starting to break down with sentiment so he guided her carefully away from Mika, then nodded to his son. "We are proud of you. You are doing a good thing for your people. Us and them." It was true, Mika was always destined for great things.
Unbeknownst to Mika, his wedding would be attended by a force of the northern council, their presence would be known, highlighting their support of the marriage and underlining its significance. The old Emir was dying, but he never did anything half assed. *
MIKA: Mika looked at the woman that approached and noticed her dress, the sort of crown upon her head. He would assume her to be the princess, especially with the way she greeted him. "I have not eaten yet," he confessed. He'd had a lot of other things on his mind, to be perfectly honest. Before long a massive wolf came from another hall, seeming to respond to an unvoiced call. He looked at the woman with bright eyes, then sat by its master's side. Mika easily pet the wolf's big head and looked at Kasim again. "I am content to wander on my own," he told the man. "Assuming there is no where that is forbidden to me." It sounded like he might have some privledge here, if he was going to be the emperor. But then, he hadn't exactly been crowned yet. He looked at the princess again. SHe was pretty - beautiful, in fact - but he still had trouble reconciling the fact that he would be married to the girl in just a few days' time. To think, he'd resigned himself to not marrying for some time, if at all. He was sure his mother would be thrilled... or perhaps just as taken off guard as he had been. He'd already had a message sent to his family. They deserved to know as soon as possible.
KASIM Kasim bowed, and stated quite clearly. "Nowhere is forbidden, sir. If you have a need, you've only to call. There are ropes throughout the palace that can be used to summon someone for assitance." He bowed again and the tall, dark skinned advisor to the Emir, took several steps back, then finally turned and went on his way.
AYMELEK: There was no way Aymelek could hide her surprise. First that a wolf, a wolf was wandering about the palace. Secondly that this man dismissed Kasim and said he was going to wander on his own? Then to add more confusion to the situation, Kasim backed away from this man as if he were royalty. Only turning his back when a proper distance from him. Aymelek looked toward Kasim as he departed, then she looked the stranger over again. He was handsome, he had the look of the north about him. Her girls had told her that a friend of her fathers was visiting. A northerner they called 'the Ghost'. She settled her unusual eyes on the wolf again, curious. However! Raised to be courteous she continued on in the conversation as if there wasn't a gigantic wolf sitting by the strange man. "Then you should definitely eat. The day is growing long for no food." She smiled pleasantly. "Shall I arrange for food to be sent to you? You have your rooms yet?" Guests often spent time at the palace and having envoys from the four corners of Susa was not an oddity at all for Aymelek. "You've met with my father? He is returned to his rooms?" she asked curiously,wanting to go visit him if that were the case
MIKA: "I hear I do, somewhere. I haven't been there yet, either." Kasim had given him some direction on how to find his quarters, but he hadn't wandered that way just yet. "Are you Aymelek?" Perhaps that was blut, but... he always was. "Yes, I met with Adir. He is still out in a garden..." He glanced over his shoulder and gestured. "Somewhere." He could find his way through forests, mountain passes, and across frozen lakes... but he was quite sure he'd lose himself in this damned palace. Well, perhaps not as long as he had Ghost with him. "He seemed tired," he said. Adir had also mentioned that someone would eventually come to get him so that he could retire to his rooms, but Mika had no way of knowing if that had been done yet.
AYMELEK: Aymelek grinned when he said he had not been to his rooms yet, then she sucked in a breath. "Oh, how presumptuous of me. Yes, I am Aymelek. It's my good pleasure to meet you....." she waited for him to fill in the blank. She did not reach out her hand. The only men to touch Aymelek was her father, her eunuch and someday her husband. Otherwise, she was considered untouchable by males in general. There was a burst of hub bub at the end of the hallway. A servant of the palace was rushing forward with an elderly couple behind him. As if on a search, and finding what he wanted.
LADY NERIDA: "Mika...." came the breathkess voice of Lady Nerida. "Oh my darling boy..." she was walking to her son and immediately put a hand to his cheek, the weathered face of his mother looking up at him adoringly.
ASHISH: Ashish was right behind his wife, reaching around her to tug his son's arm in a manly wordless sign of solidairty.
AYMELEK: Aymelek smiled at them all. "So you must be Mika.." she said to Mika, "I shall arrange for food to be sent to your rooms." With that, Aymelek went to do just that and to find her father.
MIKA: "Mika Nerida," he said by way of introduction. He did not offer her his hand, either. He looked back when he heard people approaching. Ghost yipped and his tail thumped the floor when the elder Nerida couple hurried over. Mika smiled when he saw his mother and he leaned down so she had an easier time touching him. He gently gripped his father's arm. "It's good to see you both," he said. He looked at Aymelek and nodded. "Yes, thank you." He looked at his parents again and breathed a quiet sigh. "I take it the messenger arrived and delivered his news, then," he said with a weak sort of smile. He wasn't even sure what to say to his parents.
LADY NERIDA: "Yes, we came right away, Mika. Is there something wrong?" She looked around her, not quite believing that were in the Palace, but seeing Mika's face she was at least relieved that nothing too devastating was happening. The weak smile though? Concern etched her face, her eyes like the color of a northern winter, studied her baby boy's face. Soon both hands were at his face, the small woman aware that he was bending to be accessible to her.
ASHISH: "Son, why are we standing in the palace of Susa? Why are you here?" Ashish glanced up and down the hall, feeling slightly exposed but despite the fact that his hands bore evidence of his craft, the artisan carried himself with the same bearing he always did. A quiet confidence.
LADY NERIDA: "Are you in trouble, Mika? Tell us what to do for you." Because in Lady Nerida's mind, no matter what happened, Mika was hers and she would support him until her last breath. *
MIKA: "No, I'm not in trouble. Mother, please." He gently took her hands and gave them a light kiss. "Relax, please." He sighed and looked at them both, then drew them out of the middle of the hall. There was a bench nearby; he coaxed his mother to sit, at least. He let go of her hands and ran one of his own through his hair. He supposed he should just be blunt. "Emir Sarraf seeks an alliance with the peoples of Dimmamark. Apparently... I have been nominated as their representative." He frowned and absently pet Ghost. "And as such... will be marrying Aymelek, and joining the two realms." He couldn't believe, even as it came out of his mouth. He looked at his parents, feeling a bit helpless and wishing he'd had time to talk to them about it before agreeing to this, but... Time, apparently, was of the essence and there was very little to spare. He felt badly that not even the princess knew yet, and hse'd just been standing there. But maybe it wasn't exactly his place to tell her - surely her father would.
LADY NERIDA: Lady Nerida took a seat on the bench as her son led. The colorful scarf worn over her head slipped back, sliding down the auburn colored hair that was threaded through with gray. Her robes were quality though hardly frivolous, but the Nerida's were a well respected family in the city and in Susa in general. Once Mika started speaking, she blinked, once, in complete and utter shock. Did Mika just say he was marrying the Princess? She felt perhaps she heard it all wrong. "Did you just say...."
ASHISH: Ashish interrupted Lady Nerida's words with a choked strangled sound. He damn well knew what he heard. The fact that he was sure what he heard did not lessen the surprise. at. all. "But that would mean...."
LADY NERIDA: "How soon? this is.."
ASHISH: "Shocking, but very flattering."
MIKA: "Three days," he sighed. Well, at least they thought it was flattering. He supposed he should be flattered - not just that the people of the north more or less nominated him to prevent war, but also that Emir Sarraf thought that he would be a decent match for his daughter. But the man didn't know him. He rubbed his forehead and resisted the urge to just stop pacing. He felt a bit... trapped. He knew the feeling would pass. "Three days from now I'll be married to a girl I don't know, and when the Emir dies, I will be emperor of two lands." Gods, he felt lightheaded.
LADY NERIDA: Lady Nerida reached for her husband's hand, and gripped it tightly. She was a bit woozy herself, but seeing Mika's distress, she clucked softly. "Well it is a bit much but this is not surprising, you have always had great destiny around you, Mika." then "Three days..." she said thinly.
ASHISH: "Emperor, by the gods...." Ashish looked a little gray around the gills himself. This little family, gathered at the bench, with a big gray wolf sitting peacefully by them, looked a sight. Ashish rubbed his palm down the side of his face with his free hand murmuring words in Susaian that expressed various emotions. Pride. Shock. Fear.
LADY NERIDA: "That was her..." Lady Nerida pointed toward the hall where the young lady departed when they arrived. Lady Nerida started to stand, then realized she might faint, so she sat back down and watched her son pace. "Well, this is good news on many levels, just shocking. Once the idea settles in, you'll see the sense in it...."
ASHISH: Joining lands had always been done through various means throughout history and one of the biggest was arranged marriages. That part was not so much of a shock, but three days? "There was a cryer...." Ashish heard him as they came through the streets to here. "Royal wedding....that was ...you." They had had no clue.
MIKA: "I see the sense in it," Mika sighed. "It's not the sensible part that I'm having trouble with." Just all the rest, which felt... insignificant in the face of what he could accomplish in doing this, but still it was so much. He gave his father a weak smile. "Yes, that was us, I suppose. I'd like for you to tell Dameer and Rhinannon." He didn't want them to hear from gossip, and he had no idea if he would get a chance to see them before the wedding. "Three days... I wish I had more time, there should be notherns here. More than just myself." More of the people he was meant to be representing. He'd send out message birds, see if there were any that could arrive with such short notice. Perhaps those closer to the border.
ASHISH: Ashish nodded. "Of course, son. We will prepare them." And the entire family would be at the wedding.
LADY NERIDA: His wife was nodding mutely. They talked to Mika a few minutes longer and hesitantly left him. His mother hugged him close, kissed his cheeks and whispered how she loved him. This was her special boy. He deserved a special life, but did it have to happen so abruptly? Perhaps. "Send a messenger if you need us for anything, otherwise, we will see you at the wedding." The wedding. It was surreal. She expected Dameer to marry eventually, Rhiannon next, and possibly never Mika, but this was....well. She was a mixture of excited and sad. She was losing her baby boy.
ASHISH: Ashish saw his wife starting to break down with sentiment so he guided her carefully away from Mika, then nodded to his son. "We are proud of you. You are doing a good thing for your people. Us and them." It was true, Mika was always destined for great things.
Unbeknownst to Mika, his wedding would be attended by a force of the northern council, their presence would be known, highlighting their support of the marriage and underlining its significance. The old Emir was dying, but he never did anything half assed. *