Loria: Iron Triumph
(don't like direction of story, but cut and add things to later chapters; atypical Dael behaviour? not quite believable yet, modify)
"Hey! Big boy!"
Dael stopped in mid-stride, huffing a little under the weight of his bags, and looked around the street. A dark blue carriage had stopped about ten metres further down the road, pulled in hastily outside the crowded Exchange, and Taramyn was leaning out the window to wave.
"Hey! Morning!" Dael bellowed back over the crowds.
"How come you -" Taramyn broke off as a coach-driver behind him started cursing him out. "Ahh, can it already! We've only stopped a few seconds!"
"Yeah, and I've got business, you little bastard! Move it on!"
Dael shook his head as he watched the argument commence. Taramyn Ashcroft could simply never understand why the world wouldn't just stop and go around him.
"Wait right there, Dael!" the mainlander finally shouted. "We'll just get out the way - didn't realise we'd stopped in front of Lorian royalty!"
"I'll royally kick your arse, you mouthy pup!"
Both the carriage and the coach rattled on along the busy street. Samara and Yulie emerged from the Dreamwings Boutique a few doors down, where they'd all arranged to meet, and joined him while he was still watching the road.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Samara a bit irritably. She was always a big fan of plans and schedules. "We were just about to give up on you. You're lucky we even saw you in these crowds."
"Sorry, Mara," he said placidly. "I stopped to buy up on picnic supplies. You'll thank me when we're sitting around waiting for the parade."
Yulie peeked in one of Dael's bags. "Ooh!" she exclaimed. "Bumblebees! I love these!"
"If it's made of sugar, it's in here," he declared, dispensing two of the black-and-yellow sweets to the girls with a kingly air.
Samara held hers in her palm carefully, a familiar expression on her narrow face.
"Please don't form attachments to my lollies," Dael sighed. "Look, it's not cute, it's evil. Eeeevil bumblebee, raaagh!"
She cast him a withering Ice-Queen look, then pocketed the sweet when she seemed to think he wasn't looking. "Let's go find my cousin. She camped out all night to save our space."
"Um, just a minute," he said. "I'm waiting for someone."
"Someone else? Who?"
"Hey! Look down there!" exclaimed Yulie. "Isn't that the Ashcrofts?"
The look Samara shot Dael could have killed a team of bullocks. He tried to edge out of its range behind Yulie, following her gaze down the street instead.
Taramyn and Luthan were both threading their way through busy Maxilen Street, though as usual Luthan was trailing a little behind and looking less than enthused. Both of them were wearing their blue apprentice robes, oddly, rather than normal clothes.
"What on earth are you two jokes in uniform for?" Dael asked them with a chuckle as they hurried up.
"Well, that's what I was just going to ask you!" replied Taramyn brightly. As he spoke, a third figure in tan fatigues showed up behind him and his brother - their watcher, Officer Raithe. "Don't we have class today?"
"Nope," Dael said. "Which reminds me - hail the Iron Triumph, lads."
"Hail the Triumph," answered the Ashcroft youngest, grinning even wider. "Though you oddball Lorians celebrate it on the wrong day."
"Hail the Iron Triumph," said Luthan noncommittally, while silent Officer Raithe simply nodded. "I didn't realise that Ancaladis respected any of our holidays. We certainly had to turn up for Founding Day and both Solstices."
"Don't be daft," snorted Dael. "She doesn't -give- us the holiday. We just know better than to show our faces today."
The Ashcrofts both looked surprised. "No-one goes to class?" Luthan asked.
"Not the ones who value their necks. She'll be in a vicious enough mood for a while afterwards as is."
"More so than usual?" Taramyn whistled. "Let me get this straight - she's so scary that even -Samara- skips class?"
Samara smiled her famous Antismile, the tight pull of her lips that actually meant she was annoyed.
Taramyn shook his head. "Wow. This has got to be serious, then. Oh, sorry - hail the Triumph, girls."
"Yes, hail," Samara said.
"Hail the Triumph!" put in Yulie brightly. "Lucky you met us today - now you can actually enjoy the holiday!"
"Looks like!" Taramyn looked around at all the bustle. "Feyton's actually looking a bit like a real city today, too! What happens for the Triumph around here?"
Dael inwardly shook his head at that description of Feyton, wondering if the mainlander was ever going to stop mortally offending Samara, and let Yulie answer the question. "Well ... there's the parade, of course, with all the costumes and masks. That goes all around the old city - you know, Tenting and so on. There are plenty of cute little stalls around the place, too."
"Great," said Taramyn cheerily. "Where do they hold the plays?"
"Plays? Um, they don't."
"Really? Oh. Well, when do the contests start?"
"There aren't any contests."
Taramyn started to look a little disappointed. "The sing-offs? The big dance-circles?"
"We've got a parade. That's it," said Samara icily. "It's popular enough, strangely, that we have to find a place to sit for it very early. So we really should get going."
"Oh. Okay." Taramyn glanced back at Luthan, who was watching the dragons fluttering in the shop window of the Dreamwings Boutique. "We should have a look at this parade, Luth. You guys have any recommendations for a good place to sit?"
"Um ..." Yulie scrunched up her nose. "Actually, you probably won't find any places you can really see the parade from by now. It's really, really hard if you don't start early. Samara's cousin had to camp overnight in our spot!"
"Really?" said Taramyn. "Wow."
Dael looked pointedly at Samara, but with true Ice-Queenly poise she gave no sign of noticing, maintaining a polite silence as she pulled a loose thread from her sleeve.
Taramyn looked at her too, then gave a brisk little smile to smoothe over those awkward moments of silence. Even he could see there was no invitation forthcoming. "Well, you never know! Maybe if we run our carriage at someone fast enough they'll move away. - Nah, I'm joking, promise. We'd better get home and change out of uniform, either way."
"Well -" Dael began.
"Sorry, big boy, we sort of stopped the carriage outside Long Parade. Don't want to be ticking off any more Lorian royalty." He winked and clapped Dael on the shoulder. "Hail the Triumph, guys."
Dael didn't get angry often, but he could definitely feel it kindling away as the two Ashcrofts and their ever-present watcher headed off through the crowds again.
"'Big boy'," said Samara in a disgusted voice. "Is it really possible that someone so obnoxious doesn't realise it?"
"If that doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother you," Dael replied shortly. "Have you ever considered trying to be nice to those two?"
"I don't do fake smiles, Dael." She looked at him, seeming slightly surprised by snippiness from such an amiable quarter. "And I won't pretend otherwise if I dislike someone."
"You make no attempt at all to like them, Samara."
"Dael, they're a pair of arrogant, obnoxious mainlanders who expect everyone and everything to go their way - as they clearly have all their lives. I think I've gathered enough of an impression to know -that- much."
"They're not spiteful. They mean well. I like them, in fact. Taking them on surface impressions isn't fair."
"It'll do for now," she replied in her neutral 'I won't be bothered fighting' voice. She -never- argued. She just stated her piece, if pressed, and kept the rest to herself. Dael knew that was her way; he'd been her friend since childhood.
"Well, I hope not everyone applies that same rule," he said tightly. "Because without bothering to look any deeper, Mara, you sure can start to look like an unfriendly, cold-hearted cow at times."
Yulie looked on in stunned dismay, and Samara just looked stunned, as Dael put down his bag of sweets and walked back in the direction of the coachhouse. He was fairly stunned himself, not to mention upset. When she wasn't being supremely difficult - no, even when she was - she was one of his best friends.
By the time he'd made it to the coachhouse and joined the staggering queues, he'd become more upset than angry. Samara held grudges as hard as a fae, and it was going to be very hard to patch this up. Underneath all her ice and prickles was a warm-hearted friend he never wanted to lose. And anyway, to some extent, she'd been right. The Ashcrofts could be insufferable. Taramyn -was- a loud, thoughtless joy-boy. Luthan -was- an aloof, arrogant pain.
"Hey! Big boy!"
Dael stopped in mid-stride, huffing a little under the weight of his bags, and looked around the street. A dark blue carriage had stopped about ten metres further down the road, pulled in hastily outside the crowded Exchange, and Taramyn was leaning out the window to wave.
"Hey! Morning!" Dael bellowed back over the crowds.
"How come you -" Taramyn broke off as a coach-driver behind him started cursing him out. "Ahh, can it already! We've only stopped a few seconds!"
"Yeah, and I've got business, you little bastard! Move it on!"
Dael shook his head as he watched the argument commence. Taramyn Ashcroft could simply never understand why the world wouldn't just stop and go around him.
"Wait right there, Dael!" the mainlander finally shouted. "We'll just get out the way - didn't realise we'd stopped in front of Lorian royalty!"
"I'll royally kick your arse, you mouthy pup!"
Both the carriage and the coach rattled on along the busy street. Samara and Yulie emerged from the Dreamwings Boutique a few doors down, where they'd all arranged to meet, and joined him while he was still watching the road.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Samara a bit irritably. She was always a big fan of plans and schedules. "We were just about to give up on you. You're lucky we even saw you in these crowds."
"Sorry, Mara," he said placidly. "I stopped to buy up on picnic supplies. You'll thank me when we're sitting around waiting for the parade."
Yulie peeked in one of Dael's bags. "Ooh!" she exclaimed. "Bumblebees! I love these!"
"If it's made of sugar, it's in here," he declared, dispensing two of the black-and-yellow sweets to the girls with a kingly air.
Samara held hers in her palm carefully, a familiar expression on her narrow face.
"Please don't form attachments to my lollies," Dael sighed. "Look, it's not cute, it's evil. Eeeevil bumblebee, raaagh!"
She cast him a withering Ice-Queen look, then pocketed the sweet when she seemed to think he wasn't looking. "Let's go find my cousin. She camped out all night to save our space."
"Um, just a minute," he said. "I'm waiting for someone."
"Someone else? Who?"
"Hey! Look down there!" exclaimed Yulie. "Isn't that the Ashcrofts?"
The look Samara shot Dael could have killed a team of bullocks. He tried to edge out of its range behind Yulie, following her gaze down the street instead.
Taramyn and Luthan were both threading their way through busy Maxilen Street, though as usual Luthan was trailing a little behind and looking less than enthused. Both of them were wearing their blue apprentice robes, oddly, rather than normal clothes.
"What on earth are you two jokes in uniform for?" Dael asked them with a chuckle as they hurried up.
"Well, that's what I was just going to ask you!" replied Taramyn brightly. As he spoke, a third figure in tan fatigues showed up behind him and his brother - their watcher, Officer Raithe. "Don't we have class today?"
"Nope," Dael said. "Which reminds me - hail the Iron Triumph, lads."
"Hail the Triumph," answered the Ashcroft youngest, grinning even wider. "Though you oddball Lorians celebrate it on the wrong day."
"Hail the Iron Triumph," said Luthan noncommittally, while silent Officer Raithe simply nodded. "I didn't realise that Ancaladis respected any of our holidays. We certainly had to turn up for Founding Day and both Solstices."
"Don't be daft," snorted Dael. "She doesn't -give- us the holiday. We just know better than to show our faces today."
The Ashcrofts both looked surprised. "No-one goes to class?" Luthan asked.
"Not the ones who value their necks. She'll be in a vicious enough mood for a while afterwards as is."
"More so than usual?" Taramyn whistled. "Let me get this straight - she's so scary that even -Samara- skips class?"
Samara smiled her famous Antismile, the tight pull of her lips that actually meant she was annoyed.
Taramyn shook his head. "Wow. This has got to be serious, then. Oh, sorry - hail the Triumph, girls."
"Yes, hail," Samara said.
"Hail the Triumph!" put in Yulie brightly. "Lucky you met us today - now you can actually enjoy the holiday!"
"Looks like!" Taramyn looked around at all the bustle. "Feyton's actually looking a bit like a real city today, too! What happens for the Triumph around here?"
Dael inwardly shook his head at that description of Feyton, wondering if the mainlander was ever going to stop mortally offending Samara, and let Yulie answer the question. "Well ... there's the parade, of course, with all the costumes and masks. That goes all around the old city - you know, Tenting and so on. There are plenty of cute little stalls around the place, too."
"Great," said Taramyn cheerily. "Where do they hold the plays?"
"Plays? Um, they don't."
"Really? Oh. Well, when do the contests start?"
"There aren't any contests."
Taramyn started to look a little disappointed. "The sing-offs? The big dance-circles?"
"We've got a parade. That's it," said Samara icily. "It's popular enough, strangely, that we have to find a place to sit for it very early. So we really should get going."
"Oh. Okay." Taramyn glanced back at Luthan, who was watching the dragons fluttering in the shop window of the Dreamwings Boutique. "We should have a look at this parade, Luth. You guys have any recommendations for a good place to sit?"
"Um ..." Yulie scrunched up her nose. "Actually, you probably won't find any places you can really see the parade from by now. It's really, really hard if you don't start early. Samara's cousin had to camp overnight in our spot!"
"Really?" said Taramyn. "Wow."
Dael looked pointedly at Samara, but with true Ice-Queenly poise she gave no sign of noticing, maintaining a polite silence as she pulled a loose thread from her sleeve.
Taramyn looked at her too, then gave a brisk little smile to smoothe over those awkward moments of silence. Even he could see there was no invitation forthcoming. "Well, you never know! Maybe if we run our carriage at someone fast enough they'll move away. - Nah, I'm joking, promise. We'd better get home and change out of uniform, either way."
"Well -" Dael began.
"Sorry, big boy, we sort of stopped the carriage outside Long Parade. Don't want to be ticking off any more Lorian royalty." He winked and clapped Dael on the shoulder. "Hail the Triumph, guys."
Dael didn't get angry often, but he could definitely feel it kindling away as the two Ashcrofts and their ever-present watcher headed off through the crowds again.
"'Big boy'," said Samara in a disgusted voice. "Is it really possible that someone so obnoxious doesn't realise it?"
"If that doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother you," Dael replied shortly. "Have you ever considered trying to be nice to those two?"
"I don't do fake smiles, Dael." She looked at him, seeming slightly surprised by snippiness from such an amiable quarter. "And I won't pretend otherwise if I dislike someone."
"You make no attempt at all to like them, Samara."
"Dael, they're a pair of arrogant, obnoxious mainlanders who expect everyone and everything to go their way - as they clearly have all their lives. I think I've gathered enough of an impression to know -that- much."
"They're not spiteful. They mean well. I like them, in fact. Taking them on surface impressions isn't fair."
"It'll do for now," she replied in her neutral 'I won't be bothered fighting' voice. She -never- argued. She just stated her piece, if pressed, and kept the rest to herself. Dael knew that was her way; he'd been her friend since childhood.
"Well, I hope not everyone applies that same rule," he said tightly. "Because without bothering to look any deeper, Mara, you sure can start to look like an unfriendly, cold-hearted cow at times."
Yulie looked on in stunned dismay, and Samara just looked stunned, as Dael put down his bag of sweets and walked back in the direction of the coachhouse. He was fairly stunned himself, not to mention upset. When she wasn't being supremely difficult - no, even when she was - she was one of his best friends.
By the time he'd made it to the coachhouse and joined the staggering queues, he'd become more upset than angry. Samara held grudges as hard as a fae, and it was going to be very hard to patch this up. Underneath all her ice and prickles was a warm-hearted friend he never wanted to lose. And anyway, to some extent, she'd been right. The Ashcrofts could be insufferable. Taramyn -was- a loud, thoughtless joy-boy. Luthan -was- an aloof, arrogant pain.