Orphans Abroad


Tirsday morning Ossian knocks at Marius' door. He is dressed for a journey; he has replaced his usual light blue and white with, well, darker blue and... white. But the clothes do look more sturdy than his normal wear; today he even sports boots and a vest. He carries two saddle bags and a flat very well crafted leather case, probably containing sketches and paper. Ossian is also armed, with a slender sword.

When Marius opens Ossian grins "Ready to go?"

Marius smiles. "Let us relieve Ce'e from custody, and I should be." He steps back inside and grabs a cloak suitable for travelling, and then closes the door behind him.

[Lest anyone think Marius merely carries a cloak and otherwise goes along with Ossian as starkers as the day he was born, Marius was up early checking to make sure his preparations were intact and, infact, ready, including the order to try to find out if Ce'e had any special requests. In order to do that, he got dressed. You do realize, of course, that my usual PBeM style is to spend way too much time on wardrobe, right? I'm trying to break myself of the habit. Actually, black looks pretty good on me. No, wait, that's not what I meant. I MEANT that I'm trying not to spend pages detailing everything one might wear and making lots of costume in-jokes. So just take it that Marius looks good: not "dashing," because he's going incognito. He looks clean, though, and fairly generic: dressings for legs and long sleeves for the arms, very good walking/riding shoes (likely boots of some nature), and his personal things. Also, his sword, his knives, and his ring of the Ruby.]

"Good" Ossian says. "Lead the way."

He will lead Ossian through to where Ce'e is. "Ce'e, it is time for a journey. I have made preparations as well as I can make them for us. Will you please accompany us now?"

"Yes, my Lord." Ce'e follows.

Marius could get used to this. Actually, he doesn't very much like the whole subservience thing: he likes order, and discipline, sodomy, rum, and the lash...erm. I take some of those back. [giggle] On the other hand, he's beginning to understand, and it's much better to be polite and ask for things accordingly, and get results, than to have to argue, wheedle, plead, and blackmail people into things. Of course, he does think of what he understands of the whole Lord of Chaos thing to be a variety of blackmail, but that's neither here nor there, and here I go digressing again...

[What's the plan from here? It's easy to get some horses and ride out, but a general description of how you want to travel would be v. useful to your GMs...]

Marius is following Ossian's nose, because it always knows. Erm. Something like that. Ossian's got the lead.

The plan is to get some horses, ride out and then follow Ossian's nose... Ossian will start shifting shadows looking for the orphanage where he spent his first years. He goes for the things he can remember: the color of the sky, the shape and form of the vegetation, the smells, the birdsong. This is done at a relatively leisurely pace; Ossian wants precision more than speed.

If Marius does not protest they will spend the nights outdoors too.

Marius has no protests in this regard, provided the weather cooperates to a certain extent.

[But of course.]

There is some difficulty at first, becuase Ce'e does not know how to ride and is not familiar with horses, but eventually the party mounts and rides out of the castle.

Marius is stuck because his first few thoughts at explaining how to do it has to do with "sea legs" and "horse legs," and that doesn't make any sense at all. He will ask Ce'e about "steeds" in the Courts and if there is such thing as a "temporary Affine," to try to suggest to Ce'e that that is what the horse is to him, maybe a servant whose sapience is limited?

Ossian begins his shifting at the first switchback, turning towards a smoother, fatter sun, less yellow and more red. It proceeds slowly across the sky, fighting against the passage of time. The sky is first, a subtle darkening, a certain haziness in the horizon and the birds are close. It came with a seascape that seemed wrong to Ossian, but was probably a good trade off.

The seaside leads to roads and eventually to towns. Ossian turns the party in along a road that has signs that look familiar. Soon Ossian will be able to turn towards places he has not seen in many years. Now he is close.

The two travellers and their companion find themselves at the top of a river valley, clear water pouring into a rivulet that becomes first a stream and then a river as it rides downward. Far across the valley, there is a red tower with a steeply pointed roof poking out from the trees.

This may be a good place to stop. The horses seem tired. Especially Ce'e's.

2 questions:
Does Ossian recognise the tower on the other side of the valley? How tired does Ce'e's horse look? (Does it look like "natural" tiredness.)

1: No.
2: It could be natural, caused by a novice rider. Or perhaps Ce'e is heavier than he looks.

Marius, while he can handle the basics of taking care of such a beast, thinks it would require someone skilled in the veterinary arts to give much more of a, "Ah. Well, let's make sure not to tire it out," response. If he notices Ossian's investigation, that's all he'll add.

Is Ossian keeping up a lively conversation? Marius will certainly offer his share, suggesting a discussion of what Brennan offered ("Let's not go to his grandmother's, even if the path leads that way,") Caine's warnings, ("Arden doesn't seem lovely this time of year,") and occasionally asking Ce'e if it is "experiencing any discomfort."

Ossian does keep the conversation going, yes, but now and then he asks Marius to be quiet for a little while, while Ossian is manipulating the sounds of nature. Ossian will ask about news from Brennan and the other's trip to chaos. (I don't think Ossian has heard much about it at all, considering they came back only a few days back.)

"I learned much regarding the title of Lord of Chaos, and that at least the label is just as significant as being called a Lord of Order might be amongst our cousins," he says, with an air of self-depreciation. "I understand that--" he pauses and looks at Ce'e, "that there have been more changes within the Family as a whole. I saw the Lady Paige's children," he uses them as an example, as the tone turns to, "and maybe there's more I shouldn't talk about right here and now."

Ossian frowns at the last, but becomes excited over the news about Paige "I heard about her return only late in the evening before we left. Should have visited her myself it that was not the case. How are her children?"

Marius laughs. "I am the last person one should go to with that question. They are small and pink, and I saw them in what may have been the best stage, asleep." He flushes slightly, as if thinking of something, and then adds, "They were bigger than I had expected, but time plays tricks on many trips, so perhaps it is normal." He shrugs. "They were...precious, I suppose," he suggests, awkwardly.

Ossian smiles and nods. "No doubt they have inherited their mother's temperament."

"I...know much less than I would like to on that account, and so cannot make the comparison." If [Marius's] smile goes a little dreamy, it's not entirely obvious. "I would grandly prophesy great things for them, but that is as much curse as blessing."

Ossian frowns: "The real curse would be to wish them boring lives.

"Paige is... not boring. She's a true friend, but don't get in the way of her anger. That's the simple advise I have."

He will also ask Marius if he has any theories about how Trumps will work with the kids of the cousins.

"I have no reason to believe that there should be any difference, but, if there would be..." he muses, biting his lower lip for a moment, "it seems to me that there's a great opportunity for speculation. For example, if there's a direct connection between blood ties and Trump strength, it would suggest a lot of experiments with Trump and blood. If it were a matter of initiations, that could be another variable. We could say that with experience a Trump connection could be changed; someone more familiar with the use would likely have greater facilities, as if it were a skill. Yet some people may have more of a natural aptitude, if there's magic to it, or a connection to blood. What were you thinking of in particular?"

Now and then Ossian will tell Marius som things about the place they are going to.

Are they good memories or bad ones?

A mix. Ossian speaks fondly of the nature around the orphanage, the smells and colors. His opinion about the people seems to be more mixed. He is very unsure of the nature of the place. Maybe the place was tied to some religious organisation, he concludes.

"Not the place I would have reared a boy of the Blood," Marius suggests, "presuming there were other options. Did you learn anything of note there, or were they primarily caretakers and not tutors?"

"They did not teach us to read and write and such, no. But I do remember that we used to sing. I think we were to young to be taught any theoretical things, anyway. But being taken from that place was certainly wondrous." Ossian's expression grows very somber "Because of that, I can't hate Brand."

"There has not been enough time made for music and merriment, so I hope that the singing was grand." [Marius is] quiet for a moment. "Do you ever worry that your past association," the unspoken `with Brand' is obvious, "is taken against you?"

"Worry?" Ossian exclaims "It has been taken against me every now and then ever since I arrived to Amber, Marius. Mostly because I cannot keep my mouth shut.

"It is of course useful at some instances too ..."

"They're not boats," Marius notes [of the horses]. "You don't have to put most boats to sleep for the night, although I do know a tale or two of exception," as he will gladly take the opportunity to stop. It's been a while since he's been on a journey by horse, himself.

"While the horses are stronger than us, they also tire a faster. We could kill them by overexhausting them. It is hard to find such good horses, so we'd better not kill them." Ossian does also seem rather tired after all the Shadow shifting. He will however spend some time beginning on a new Trump sketch of Marius.

Who will, of course, oblige as necessary.

[GMs? I suppose it will take more than a watch for Ossian to make a decent Trump sketch? He will definitely not work longer than that on the sketch.]

No, Ossian can make a sketch of Marius in a watch. How long it will last? Hard to say. It's not a sealed trump...

[Hm. Ossian does not want to do an as-quick-as-possible-extremely-frail sketch. I am beginning to suspect that the info I have about Trump painting times is a bit out-of-date. According to that it should take at least a day to paint a sketch of Marius, unless having painted a Marius sketch once helps? How long would a full Trump take?]

Longer. Minimum a week. Full trumps require more effort and tools.

Ce'e dismounts if told to do so, and stands there, not really doing anything. Ossian notes that he looks slightly different this evening. Less like Jovian, somehow.

Who does Ce'e look like now, then?

[Interested in the answer as well...]

Marius has no idea. In fact only Ossian notices. Ossian thinks "more like Marius".

Marius will certainly assist Ce'e in giving very basic instructions on doing things. He tries to think of Ce'e as a child, one of whom he is fond, while doing so. Reminders, really, with no patronizing, but unsure as to where Ce'e differs. It adds to his information about this creature, and probably vice versa.

Ossian tilts his head slightly to the left. "We are going to take a break for the night. Eat and sleep." Ossian pauses "...eh. Do you sleep at night, Ce'e?"

"No, my Lord. Do you have a task for me this night?" Ce'e looks to Marius for guidance.

"We could use a guard." Ossian suggests to Marius.

Marius considers it, his glance at Ossian suggesting that the thought had also been on his mind, but he spends a moment thinking about it even so. "Sir Ce'e, I must admit," he starts, "that I am still quite ignorant of your nature. Do you tire, and thus, rest? Can you dream?"

He wants to know how much energy Ce'e requires (and how the affine is empowered), certainly...

Ce'e is not significantly fatigued, but could use sustenance in the next few days. A rice cake would be useful, something perhaps half the size and sentience of the horse would do well.

"Alive?" Ossian asks. His voice anticipates disgust.

"Yes. That seems to be required for an item to be nourishing, on this side of the inflection point." Ce'e does not seem to notice the emotion in Ossian's question, and his voice is flat, as usual. Except that it sounds slightly more like Marius' voice than it used to.

[The podling grows...] Marius doesn't seem surprised, nor does he seem to mind. "You said 'sentience,'" he points out to Ce'e. "Is that something you can measure so we can find the best nourishment? I am afraid there are some sentiences that are deemed," he smiles, "less appropriate than others, especially in some sentients' opinions."

"No, my lord."

Ossian takes a deep breath. Then he asks "I am curious how much you have learned about the way of life on this side of the 'inflection point'. Which kind of creatures do you think people could accept you eating?"

"I do not know, my Lord. If I offended, I would expect my Master to protect me. If I were attacked, I would defend myself, as I am valuable to my Master. I would not try anything too powerful, as I am not strong enough to absorb much without affecting my personship."

[Ossian]
"Marius can protect you, but not from everything."

Marius neither denies nor confirms this.

Ossian sighs, takes another deep breath "Ok, it works like this; You are not supposed to eat anything which can talk. Nor the children of such a being." Ossian glances at Marius "Even then, in most places it is not accepted to eat things alive. You have to do your eating in places where noone can see or hear you. Otherwise you will place yourself and your Master in difficulties."

Ce'e looks at Marius for confirmation.

Marius smiles at the Cloudeater. "Sir Ce'e, my Cousin is correct in his concern. I believe there may be many exceptions to his rule, however for now, I would like you to take his suggestion carefully. I would amend it to suggest that the eating could be done in front of myself, especially if there is any question as to its suitability. It pleases me to have you ask me if you have any questions."

"Yes, my lord."

...but he will be suggesting a watch for "items approaching," would not be inappropriate. (Of course, he wants to phrase it so he's not awoken at every passing moth...)

Ce'e will do this. GMs want to see the instructions. :)

"Ce'e, I would have you watch for approaching beings, sentient or not, that have at least a medium possibility of causing harm to any of us. Should they show any such intent or direct opportunity, please disturb at least one of us with haste in our slumber, as such a resting state is fairly indefensible. Preferably, shaking us extremely gently to more vigorously until we acknowledge you."

"Yes, my Lord."

[The night passes without interruption.]

Ossian and Marius have food in their saddlebags and water in the stream. Do they camp here? If so, do they do anything special before going to sleep?

If they happen to have a spyglass in their packs, Ossian would like to have a closer look at that tower. Other than that, nothing from Ossian.

Sure! It's some miles away and out of the path that Ossian had in mind, but it's a tall, thin tower made of brick with a sharp peaked conical top.

Marius will attempt to make Ce'e as comfortable as he understands how. Some of what he may wish to do before resting requires Ce'e's answer to Ossian to continue.

[Let us know your plans for camping and moving on in the morning.]

[You don't want me to get into camping details, trust me.]

The plan is to sleep when it gets too dark, and get up with the sun. Unless it is freezingly cold, only a small fire, and only while cooking the food.

In regards to the location, we're not camping like in a park next to the town limits? It's a "suitable camping location," where it wouldn't seem unusual?

[you are not. it is.]

If the weather looks good, Ossian will want to sleep without any shelter, just his sleeping roll (or whatever low-tech thing they sleep on. Possibly llama skins.) and a blanket, hopefully with Ce'e as guard. Ossian will fake sleep for a while to see what Ce'e does when they sleep.

Marius is obviously amenable to the visible portions of this. He intends to sleep lightly, but will take his sleep when he can get it. If Ce'e is going to slash his throat, better it be sooner than later.

"I'm curious about that tower. What do you think about getting sidetracked a few hours tomorrow, Marius?"

Marius chuckles. "If it looks interesting, I'll count it as part of the adventure," he suggests.

The morning comes as mornings are wont to do, and morning tasks are taken care of. Eventually, the horses are saddled and the journey recommences. After some hours, the trio arrives at the clearing in which the tower is located. It is a tall, octagonal tower located on the ridge between two watersheds, and it had, at one time, a series of outbuildings attached to it. The buildings look to have burned, but the tower seems untouched. It has an open door on the ground floor and no other obvious entryway. The outbuildings are in a state of ruins, and seem to have been abandoned for many, many years.

Ossian wants to explore the inside. Just for the fun of it.

The tower rises several floors, to a point above the treeline. The bottom of it holds the burned remains of a circular staircase. There is a door about one flight up (about where the stair resumes), and an opening in the ceiling, not far below where you think the sharply-peaked roof must start. While the stairs are burned here, there don't seem to be any traces of soot or ashes on the walls.

"Does this tower remind you of anything?" Marius asks.

"No, not really. But it appeared without me putting it there. It makes me curious. And there is something strange about this fire. No soot on the walls." Ossian looks up. "I'd like to see what is up there. It seems to be untouched by the fire."

[Two questions: I'm unclear as to if the stairs are on the inside or the outside of the tower? Does the wall look like Ossian could climb it?]

Stairs are inside, a spiral of wood around the empty center. The first level or so are in pieces in the bottom, ruined. The second level starts about a level above. Ossian could climb the wall. There are rough stones and the remains of the stair's supports around the tower.

Ossian looks at Marius. "Lets climb up!"

[Marius] has no intention to stop Ossian on this one.

The climb is easy and Ossian quickly scales the ruined lower stairway. Some ways up, after testing his footing, Ossian lowers himself onto the remains of the stairs. They don't even wobble. He climbs up and reaches a flimsy wooden door, made of thin planks and painted a deep green. The paint is very old, and seems to have been indifferently applied.

Ossian examines the door and the floor: Are there _any_ signs of the fire up here? (I.e. is there anything around that seems to have been heated up, for instance?) Is everything covered with dust, or is the place clean?

[The stairs are clean, unburnt, and free of dust.]

"Hey. This is too clean." Ossian observes.

"Wind?" Marius proposes. "What may look solid to our eyes may be riddled by others."

Ossian shakes his head. "Now I think you have lost me, Marius. But I think wind is unlikely."

"Then someone maintained it recently. Does the who concern us? They seem..." he pauses, then chooses the word, "primitive," but the word has question to it as if he is not sure of how to judge.

Ossian nods "They don't really seem to have anything here. Still they keep it clean. Weird."

"Unless this place has some historical significance for them."

Ossian knocks on the door and enters if noone answers. He is alert for any signs of life both here and further up in the tower.

Marius chuckles at Ossian's knock. "Shall we say we're travelling salesmen?"

"Selling what? Stairs?" Ossian asks.

No one answers, and Ossian opens the door. A small section of stairs continues up, just far enough for the door on the stairs below. Inside is a single octagonal room, with wide openings in the south and west walls. There is some water pooled on the floor near the large windows, perhaps runoff from the snow. There are several rotted wooden frames in the tower and skins. It's like a cross between a cooper's shop and a tanners. Several of the pieces are on a large desk or table. Other than that, the room is bare.

Ossian steps inside, carefully (he does not want to fall through a rotten floor). How does the skins look? (Rotten, conserved?) What animal are they from?

[Floor is solid]

[The skins are from some animal that had the misfortune to be skinned by these guys. The skin looks like it was stretched over the wooden frame. It could've been a musical instrument, but not recently.]

"What do you think?" Ossian asks Marius "This part at least looks uninhabited."

[And a few clarifications: The 'openings' to the south and west = the windows , right?]

[Yes, but they're wide and mid-height and not paned. "regularly shaped hole in the wall" is as descriptive as "window".]

[The stairs referred to above is not inside this room?]

The stairs led to the this room but are not in the room. They are below the room.

"Does this have any meaning to you?" Marius asks. "I have less familiarity with towers than lighthouses," he smiles blandly.

"Not really. It's some kind of craftsman's place. But why would this craftsman be working in a tower?" Ossian says as he lifts one of the skins from the table to inspect it (and whatever may be under it) closer "Of course the view is better from here."

"Vantage is an acceptable reason for building tall, also privacy, or concerns of space. Having to climb such as we did might prevent the casual customer. Perhaps they have wings like a bird, or bat?" Anything to support either proposition?

Ossians eyes gets somewhat dreamy "Wings... Using those open windows for entrance. Other than that, I don't know. We could consult the cards for the fun of it."

[Hm. I am still unsure of the geometry of this tower. If we are in the only room there is not much left to investigate. If there are other rooms, let's go there...]

Nope, one big open room with some remants and large windows sowth and west. If there were lights up here, it could be a lighthouse, but it's nowhere near the sea.

I think I understand the geometry, but while Marius will carefully survey the place for trap doors, valuables, or anything else of quick note, he isn't looking for anything specific.

Further searching reveals nothing that Ossian and Marius find significant or interesting more than momentarily.

When they have finished searching the place, Ossian suggest they should move on. He will continue the shifting towards the orphanage, for the moment concentrating on the sounds of the surrounding nature; birdsong and the rustle of leaves.

The only thing I would say otherwise done is that Marius does want the Cloudeater fed. And in his presence, so if we can have side-stepped for that to have happened, I'd appreciate it, otherwise, we can play that out later.

It happens quietly offstage.

The threesome eat and depart, riding back and forth over the ridgetops to provide good opportunities for shifting shadow. More pieces click into place as they traverse the ways and the weather turns warmer, which feels right.


Meg heads off to the home of her eldest son. The house she lived in with her husband, where she raised her children, the place she went to after leaving the orphanage.

Jenna (casting: Abi Tucker) welcomes her mother-in-law in with smiles, but is a little surprised when Meg cuts off her talk of town gossip.

"Is Peter about? I have the most interesting news, and there may not be any time to lose. Will!" Meg shouts for her grandson, and when the boy bursts through the door to throw himself at her for a hug she returns it quickly. "Now off and fetch your father for me, my love." Meg puts her basket down and then seems to take a second breath.

Will dashes off to find his father.

"I'm sorry, dear, I'm all aquiver." Meg's eyes roam around the room to find a source of conciliation. "Oh, what a lovely arrangement of flowers, they look so fine on the sill there."

"Thank you, Mother Carper," Jenna replies, but she's still a little confused by Meg's unusual behavior. "Here, let me get you a cup of tea."

She offers Meg a seat at the kitchen table, and makes up a pot of tea. While Jenna is working, Will dashes back in, a few steps ahead of his father. "Mother!" Peter says as he comes into the kitchen. "Will said you have urgent news for me. What is it?"

"No one's hurt," says Meg, realising she's worried her family unnecessarily. "It's just some news that the council should like to know of, about the East, and Renady." She goes over to Peter and puts a hand on his cheek. "In the past, your father would have told me how to go on. I just had to come and ask you."

Peter sits down opposite Meg, and Jenna brings each of them a mug of steaming hot tea before joining them at the table. She sends Will out to play, and closes the door.

"Tell us about it, Mother," Peter says. "What's Renady up to now?"

"Mother Prudence is retiring and the Archbishop is replacing her with a toady from the Renady court," Meg replies. She leans forward.

Peter makes a face, and leans in to listen to his stepmother.

"But that's just a minor worry. Renady's war in the East has progressed enough so that they're sending orphaned children back to Renady. And they want to expand St Trista's and send some here, and in exchange this new Sister who's supposed to be taking over is offering trade deals."

Meg face grows dark and her voice is tense.

"Sounds to me like Renady might be getting ready to make an open grab for our trade routes. I didn't think that was something to lose time over." She knows as well as Peter that the Council can accept the loss of the sources of most of the town's wealth, or go to war to defend it.

Peter's eyes grow wide. "That would be news indeed. The Council would have to move ... what did the Sister offer? If we're to bring this to the Council, we need to have something reasonably solid."

"Nothing completely certain, but then she wouldn't," replies Meg. "The Archbishop would have a word with Howarth and he'd bring trade to the town." Meg chews a finger. "How good an offer it is depends on how much influence the Archbishop has." She folds her hands again. "But what worries me is that notion of bringing trade to Abford, like that's in Renady's gift."

"Well," says Peter, "Then I should tell you a rumor I heard yesterday while I was at the Guildhouse. The Guild was abuzz with a rumor that a strange ship from a country in the west had sailed into Renady harbor a few weeks back. It was nobody they'd ever heard of, and they came with spices and cloth and silver. They're still in Renady, and they're buying Renady wool."

He frowns. "I wonder if that's this new trade your Sister is offering."

"The west?" Meg blinks. "Spices from the west? And a new trade link?"

Meg leans in intently. "What would that do to our business? Maybe we should send someone to see for certain?"

Peter expounds on several possibilities for what a new trade could do for the Carpers, from the optimistic to the pessimistic. He agrees that someone should go to Renady, and wonders whether Meg thinks Garth or Morris would be better for the job.

Meg thinks Garth would do a better job, and that it would be good for Jacob to go too, both for his own sake and now that he's not quite so newly wed his wife can start getting used to the fact that he'll have to travel for business regularly, but defers to Peter's judgement on whether to send both of them. And if the Guild is full of the rumour, then the Carpers may not be the only ones thinking of sending someone, and a shared party would be safer.

They agree to send Garth and Jacob with a party. After her discussions with Jaimsey [below], he sends one of his people along as well.

In the interval before the announcement of Sister Humility's appointment to St Trista's Meg sets about talking with all the patrons of St Trista's she has access to, and all those of the town and surrounds that might contribute to or benefit from the extension of the orphanage, and basically setting them up to approach Sister Humility individually once she's officially appointed. She leaves to Peter to handle setting up negotiations on the town's behalf though the Council and Guild and instead focuses on the individual level rather than the international. Her aim is to ensure that Sister Humility is too busy being talked to and individually negotiating matters that Meg could have easily handled collectively, that Meg will be able to ensure that the changes to the orphanage happen as she thinks they should.

Sister Humility is very busy. That doesn't seem to stop her from making plans, and Meg doesn't like all that she hears. There will be significant expansion of the orphanage, of course, but by the time Sister Humility takes up the position formally, the plans will be pretty solidly set.

The main building, including the offices, seems to be targeted for a significant overhaul. There will be a new building that will house the offices and the older offices will be converted to work spaces or dormitory rooms for older children.

Meg opposes the plan to separate the older children from the younger children. She politely and discreetly explains that a large part of why the orphanage can operate for so many children with the number of staff it has is because the older children look after the younger ones. She brings up specific instances of problems that have been prevented or solved because of the current arrangement, many involving the tendency of the younger children to bully each other without significantly older children present to keep it under control.

She suggests that if the older offices are converted to dormitories, they are converted into another multi-age dormitory, and that if the concern is to provide the older children with greater privacy, partial screens separating their sleeping areas from the rest should suffice without separating the children so much that the younger ones can wreak havoc unchecked. She points out that the sort of problems that mixing the ages prevents are likely to become more prevalent with an influx of new children, and that the benefits, of a family-like atmosphere, will be all the more necessary for new children far removed from all they've known.

She sets up her interactions with Sister Humility so as to encourage her to discuss things privately with Meg before making any public announcements, through an apparent desire to protect Sister Humility's dignity and prevent her parading her lack of experience with orphanages when a simple chat can sort it all out easily.

Sister Humility is willing to take some advice, but Meg finds her hard-headed on certain issues. While Meg is able to convince her on practical grounds not to separate the children on the basis of age, when Meg points out some of the difficulties with some of her other plans, Sister Humility smiles, nods, and goes her own way.

[Meg] keeps herself very busy, but frets over having to wait for news from the East and the state of the towns trade links there, and news from Renady. Her fretfulness doesn't show as irritableness, but restlessness and rather more helpfulness towards her daughters-in-law, especially those whose husbands are off travelling.

The daughters-in-law are glad for the extra help, especially Jacob's wife, who isn't used to managing without her husband.

Meg takes the tone that these times when husbands are off travelling, while regrettable in some ways, can be regarded as pleasant holidays by focussing on the consolation that it won't be for too long, and it's a good chance to do all those jobs that men just get in the way of. And as well as supporting Jacob's wife directly, keeps an eye out to ensure that her sisters-in-law are supporting her too, as there's some sorts of help that come best from them than a mother-in-law.

Meg requests help from Jaimsey Black for news from Renady, news from the East, and asks him if he can find out any dirt on Sister Humility, what her connections are and what she can actually deliver. He can easily send someone with the group travelling to Renady.

Jaimsey agrees to help Meg with the Sister, and sends a man with the Carper party. He hires on as a guard; Meg recognizes him when she sees the boys off.

Meg continues to have strange dreams. Many of them are about travelling and war, and they are often vivid, but they disperse easily in the daylight.

Sister Humility will be confirmed by the bishop in her new office in another three weeks after the formal announcement.

How long before Meg can reasonably expect any word back on any of these enquiries?

It won't be until the confirmation at the earliest. News from Renady and the East travels by horseback or foot. And there isn't really any local dirt on Sister Humility yet.

Sister Humility's confirmation by the Bishop, after which she is officially Mother Humility, and Mother Prudence is merely elderly Sister Prudence, is a grand, if sober affair well-attended by locals, the clergy, and a few courtiers from Renady. One of them appears to be Mother Humility's sister.

The orphans all sing beautifully, the ceremony is moving, the sermon is meaningful. In general, it is everything that Meg could desire, except for Mother Humility's elevation.

There are two strange children at the ceremony. Meg overhears someone from the Tailor's Guild whispering to his wife that they're Eastern children, the first ones to be brought to Abford.

Afterwards, Meg heads over to these children.

"Hello there. You did a very good job of standing still for all that time."

Meg takes some honey sweets out of her pocket, and offers them.

"What are your names?"

The children are a boy aged perhaps twelve, and a girl of seven or eight. The girl whispers something to the boy in their Eastern language, which Meg doesn't understand. He responds with a couple of quick words in the same tongue and says to Meg, "My name is Thilo, Lady. My sister is Kerta."

He doesn't take the sweet, but he's eyeing them with a certain nervous interest. So is the girl.

"Would you like one?" Meg offers again. "My grandchildren can't get enough of them." Meg pops a sweet in her own mouth.

Kerta whispers something to her brother in Eastern again, and he says, "Yes, please. Thank you, Lady." He takes one for himself, and prods his sister. She takes one and smiles at Meg, and says something Meg doesn't understand.

Thilo prods her again, and she says, with a thick Eastern accent, "Thank you." Thilo has already put his sweet in his mouth, and is clearly savoring it.

Meg smiles and tries to recall the phrases of Eastern she's heard from those who trade with the East. She makes a stab at "You're welcome, Kerta."

Kerta looks up quickly and smiles, and says a couple of very quick words in Eastern. When Meg doesn't show immediate comprehension, she looks a bit disappointed.

Mother Humility is across the room, speaking with the Bishop.

Meg keeps an eye on the conversation, observing the tone and the body language, but not going up immediately. Instead she stays with Thilo and Kerta.

"My name is Mistress Carper. Have you met any other children since you've been here?"

"Just today, Mistress Carper. The singing children. They tell us we will live here and learn how to be Westerners, like the singers." Thilo not-too-surreptitiously takes his sister's hand and holds it tightly.

The Bishop's conversation with Mother Humility seems to be going reasonably successfully based on what Meg can see at the moment.

"I'll introduce you to a friend of mine, then."

Meg looks around appraising the other children present, before deciding on a girl not more than a year older than Thilo appears.

"Katy," she calls. "Katy, come here, my love."

Katy looks around from her conversation with two friends. When she sees Meg she smiles and comes over.

"Mistress Carper, did you enjoy the singing?" she asks.

"Yes, it was very nicely done," Meg smiles. "Now, I'd like to introduce you to Thilo," she nods to the boy. "And this is his sister, Kerta. I'd like you to look after them, introduce them to people, and make sure they're ok."

"Yes, Mistress Carper," Katy nods.

Meg turns directly to Thilo and Kerta again. "This is Katy, I've known her since she was small. Why don't you teach her some Eastern words and she can teach you some Western ones?"

"Yes, Mistress Carper," Thilo says. He adds to Katy, "It is nice to meet you. I enjoyed listening to you singing."

"Thank you," says Katy. She draws the Eastern children toward her two friends, clearly meaning to include the two other girls in the language lesson. As they drift off, Thilo says, "Be careful what you say around the sisters; they have told us only to speak in your language."

Meg rolls her eyes over that comment, and makes a mental note to point out to the sisters that it is much easier to apprentice a child to a man who trades with the East when that child has some ability with the language. She sighs. Later.


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Last modified: 1 January 2005