[RP] Supplementary fic
(Well, it was going to be either fic or exam stress, and I figured fic was probably mildly more entertaining)
On arriving back at the Collegium late the next morning, Talisee was met by a pair of Unicorns, mind healers of the Arcanum.
They looked very concerned and ask Talisee to accompany them to their office for a little talk.
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Talisee perched cross-legged on a bench on the edge of the little quadrangle, her body relaxed, her face fixed in an expression of serene calm that would have worried her father far more than mere rumours of trouble at a ball. With term due to start tomorrow, she was determined not to be too far behind her classmates; and that meant practicing what she was worst at. For hours, if that was what it took.
"Talisee?" The voice was low and soft, slipping into her awareness like silk velvet without disrupting her meditations.
The care was wasted as Tally's immediate recognition of the speaker flung her awake all at once. "Uncle Madrossi?" she said with disbelieving hope as she opened her eyes.
He squatted in front of her, arms folded across his knees, scrutinising her face. His dark hair shone like black silk in the rays of the weak autumn sunshine. "You will catch cold if you sit out here so," he chided her affectionately. "May I join you?"
"Please," Tally said in a heartfelt tone of voice, assuming a more ladylike posture and scooting up the bench to give him room to sit. "I was looking for you earlier," she added, "but I couldn't find you."
"So I heard when I returned to the Arcanum," Madrossi said, sitting down and twisting sideways, one knee up on the bench, so that he could face her. "Jenna tells me you are feeling better," he said gently.
"Yes, much," Tally said firmly, and then quickly continued before he had a chance to speak. "I'm so sorry, Uncle Madrossi, I was so upset I wasn't thinking straight, and I know I said some very hurtful things to you, and I wanted to say I'm so sorry I hurt you, and that I worried you so much, when you were only trying to help me." Her face tilted up towards his, her worried blue eyes searching his warm hazel ones.
"Oh, my Talisee, so caring, so generous." Madrossi reached out and pulled her into a tender embrace, kissing the top of her head. "You should not have been worrying about me. I was a little hurt, yes, but only because I was afraid that your classmates had been doing something to hurt you again. It gives me pain to think of such things. Are you sure you are quite well?" He pulled back for a moment to look at her, and she felt his magic, warm and peaceful and healing, wrap her like a blanket.
Tally hugged Madrossi hard, and nestled trustingly against him. "I'm fine," she told him. "I just got... a bit overtired." She hesitates. "Is that why you sent the Unicorns to talk to me?" she decides at last.
"I spoke with Faine and Gareth, yes," he said carefully. "I was worried that you would not let me comfort you, and then when your bed had not been slept in, I feared that something very bad had happened to you. They are healers as I am, and I thought perhaps it would be good for you to have someone to speak to."
"They weren't very nice, Uncle Madrossi," Tally told him regretfully.
"They were worried, Talisee," he pointed out. "You had been upset so suddenly, and then you would not tell them why. Like me, they were concerned that something serious had happened to you, that is all."
"Sorry." Tally looks down for a moment. "I just... I just didn't want to tell them what people had been saying, it wouldn't have been fair on you."
She could not see his expression, but she thought maybe he was surprised. He held her very tight for a moment before setting her at a little distance from him, holding her by the shoulders, smiling a little. "You are very precious to me, my Talisee," he said. "When I see you crying so it hurts me more than any amount of malicious lies told by those who are envious of me. Do you understand?"
"I guess so." Tally searched his face. "You're really not hurt?"
"Not now that I have seen for myself that my princess is safe and well." He stood up and took her by the hands. "Now shall we go into lunch, for I think you would not care to miss that two days in a row?" He raised an eyebrow, well aware of Tally's weakness.
Tally bounced to her feet, laughing a little at his teasing. "Yes please, Uncle Madrossi. Oh, I wanted to tell you about the magic we did on the terrace, Daddy wouldn't understand..." And together, the very image of a loving parent with a cherished and indulged child, they went in to lunch.
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How on earth did a character who is in essence a cross between Songbird and Allie end up so hopelessly and determinedly naive?!