Love is in the air

[npc-excolo.livejournal.com]

Sunday, February 14th
Valentine's Day

I sit on my bed with my legs crossed, writing real careful in my notebook. MRS CLARA GRANGER I write, all tidy, then underneath I practice my signature. Clara Granger. That nice man at the market swore it wouldn't take too long for him to propose after he drank the potion. After I practice my signature a few times I write our names together. PETER AND CLARA, and I put them inside a nice big heart.

I hear Momma shouting for me and I sigh. I know she won't approve when Peter and I get together, cos he is a bunch older than me and she says seventeen is way too young to settle down. But I know she married Pop at nineteen, so she's just a hypocrite. And Peter's a real good catch - got his own job, his own place. There's that Maya of course to worry about, I think, and I push my pencil a bit too hard into the page and the point breaks. But once Peter's had the potion he won't remember that he likes her. I just need to work out how to get it to him.

Momma shouts again.

"Coming!" I shout. I know she wants me to go to that dumb Valentine's market and help her sell quilts. Ugh. But Peter might be around town, so I check my hair is nice before I go down.

***

This punch just don't look too appetising. I sigh and shout for Clara again. What is that girl doing? Probably dreaming about that barman. She thinks I don't know she's moony about him. I'm just glad he's got a sweetheart, or else he might go for my Clara - she's real pretty and men like adoring girls. He's much too old for her. I taste the punch and it's real nice, course it is, made from our fruits, but the colour just don't pop. Feeling a bit guilty, I get out some food colourant and drop it in, and it goes a nice reddish colour. That's about right for Valentine's, ain't it? I stopper up the barrel. Clara comes down.

"Get those quilts in the cart, will you?" I say, hustling her out and then getting the punch on the wagon. Roads are clear, so we get set up easy. Just a few stalls for this - jewellery, flowers, all kinds of novelties. I put out the prettiest quilts - maybe some guy'll think one'd make a nice present for his wife, and more practical than earbobs - and set up the punch.

"Free punch, sir?" I say, holding out a cup. After a bit of prodding I get Clara dishing up punch too. Hopefully it'll be a good day.

[OPEN]
[Closed]

Comments

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

The woman explains that she does not know the bloodlines, only that it comes from the stock of her order.

"Your order has certainly taken great care of breeding good stock. She's a beautiful mare. You are fortunate to have her." I say, not minding the turn my day has taken.

"Catherine Orleans" She introduces, but does not offer her hand. "Pardon me, but I don't shake hands." I bow my head in acknowledgement. "It is still a pleasure Miss Orleans... but you said order, is there a title you would prefer?" I ask, scrambling to recall any orders that may breed horses of quality.

Catherine asks me if I raise horses, and I shake my head in the negative. "No. I have just..." Existed for thosands of years and have seen much? "had tehe fortune to be well travelled and have seen these bloodlines before." I explain, for it is a truth of sorts. "But not here in Excolo before."

[catherineknight.livejournal.com]

"Your order has certainly taken great care of breeding good stock. She's a beautiful mare. You are fortunate to have her."

"Thank you," I say, raising my head. Pride is a sin, but I am proud of my Hirondelle. Even back at the order, she was considered an exceptional animal. We were given horses by lot, and I was lucky, but that doesn't mean I'm not proud of her.

He doesn't seem offended when I tell him that I don't shake hands. "It is still a pleasure Miss Orleans... but you said order, is there a title you would prefer?"

"If you must, you can call me 'sir'," I shrug. "But 'Catherine' suits just as well." I've never been terribly picky about that, at least in private conversation. If I was in my armour, that would be one thing...

He shakes his head when I ask if he raises horses. "No. I have just..." a pause, "had the fortune to be well travelled and have seen these bloodlines before."

"Really?" I'm curious. In the time I've traveled I've seen very few horses of the type we raise back at the order. "Where? And where did you hear they originated in Andalusia?" I'm curious, and I sip my drink as I wait for him to respond.

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

"If you must, you can call me 'sir', But 'Catherine' suits just as well."

I look at her, and grin. "Sir? Why, isn't that a title reserved for..." I stop and think. Order... Sir... the closest thing to a war horse I have seen in a few centuries... "Dear lady, are you a knight?" I ask, both incredulous and impressed.

The remark I made about her mare's breeding comes back to bite me in the ass, as I thought it might. "Where? And where did you hear they originated in Andalusia?"

I shrug a little, and smile slightly. "I spent some time in the Spanish territories," Okay, maybe thoughout the Gallic Wars and a few decades after that.... "I saw similiar breeding there. That's the only reason I asked."

We walk a few paces, and I finally ask the question that everyone seems to ask. "So, what brought you to Excolo?" Yes, what would a wandering knight be doing here?

[catherineknight.livejournal.com]

"Sir? Why, isn't that a title reserved for...Dear lady, are you a knight?"

"I am," I nod, "the order of Saint Alberich." I'm glad that someone recognizes it.

"I spent some time in the Spanish territories, I saw similiar breeding there. That's the only reason I asked."

Well, I suppose that explains it. I smile and pat Hirondelle's neck. "I suppose she could have Spanish blood in her. There are stories that the ancestors of our horses came from across the sea, so it is possible."

We begin to walk together, "So, what brought you to Excolo?"

So many people ask this question. I wonder if other folk feel drawn here the way that I did. "God brought me here." I say simply. "He guided me, and brought me here to do battle." I pause, but it seems only polite.... "And you?"

[marbasthefallen.livejournal.com]

"I am, the order of Saint Alberich." I scamble to recall a Saint Alberich, but let us be honest... I have seen many "saints" rise and fall from favour, and even more years than can be counted roll by. My memory is not what it once was.
"I have a smattering of history memorized, but I am unfamiliar with that particular saint. What does your order stand for?" I ask genuinely curious about this enigmatic woman.

As we walk, she thinks about my question and I cannot help but smile a bit at her answer. "God brought me here. He guided me, and brought me here to do battle." Oh dear lady... you think to take on Iblis? There is faith.... then there is a suicide mission. "A noble mission then. Pray tell, what do you think to do battle with?" I ask, wondering what she has heard, and what she hopes to accomplish besides madness or death.

"And you?"

Oh, the answers I could give you, Sir Catherine. But until my mission is complete, I must maintain the facade. "My brother lived here. He sent for me... at the end. But I was too late." I shrug a little and look off, acting as if the mortal's death affected me as it would a brother. "It was the beginning of winter, so I decided to stay on through the season." Manage more of a smile now, for she is being polite and I am not Arik Underwood. She is rather lovely though, in her own way despite the illness that will consume her.

"Can I be so forward to offer to buy you some lunch?" I ask, my interest in her good and piqued. "Or am I keeping you from your day?"