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- Osalder paces nervously, back and forth between the ruined archway and the gnarled old creosote tree, He knows he hasn't been followed to their secret meeting place, but now, more than ever... it's important that they do not get caught.
- Kalitiri runs through the archway, panting. "Sorry! Dad wanted to go over the ceremonies with me one last time."
- Osalder: One look at Osalder's face tells Kalitiri that all is not well.
- Kalitiri: "Oh honey, what's going on? Don't deny something's wrong, it's written all over your face!"
- Kalitiri does some semi-teasing finger-wagging.
- Osalder: "Dad told me we can't... we can't see each other anymore."
- Osalder takes Kalitiri's shoulders in his hands.
- Kalitiri rolls her eyes. "What business is it of his that we see one another? You're not going to listen to him, are you?" She sticks her lower lip out in a pout.
- Osalder: "Kal... listen. He says that he's your father, too. He had a... thing... with your mom. We can't get married."
- Osalder blushes deeply, as if the shame is his as well. Perhaps it is.
- Kalitiri: "Daddy always says that blood doesn't matter - spirit does. I may come from your Dad's loins, but I'm from MY Father's heart." Kalitiri starts to tear up. "Such a little thing as blood... should it stop the passion we've shared?!" She buries her face in Osalder's shoulder.
- Osalder accepts Kalitiri into a reluctant embrace.
- Osalder wrestles with his emotions, tries to find something to say.
- Osalder: "Kal, your father, he's... a little out of touch."
- Kalitiri: Kalitiri sighs... this is an argument they've been over again and again.
- Kalitiri: "Yes, Daddy's a little... eccentric. Who wouldn't be with the history he has? But he's wise, and has forgotten more than you and I know combined."
- Osalder: "Yes, I know, I know... and we owe him everything." Osalder strokes Kal's hair gently. "But what kind of future can we have together? We can't get married. We can't have children. Your parents marriage is... unique."
- Kalitiri: "And why can't we get married? This isn't TETH, you know... something your father seems to have forgotten." She turns away in a huff. "It's you who holds my love, your children I wish to bear. If we do not marry, surely I will die of heartbreak!"
- Osalder rolls his eyes at Kalitiri's dramatic turn of phrase. She must have been reading her mother's romantic stories again.
- Osalder: "Kal, please..."
- Kalitiri: "Besides," she continues, whipping around to face him again, "how are you sure he's YOUR dad? Didn't your mother sleep with... what's his name... the same time your father slept with Mom?"
- Osalder's eyes go wide. "..."
- Osalder: "I..."
- Kalitiri: Kalitiri puts her hands over her mouth. "Oh honey, you didn't know?! I'm sorry!"
- Osalder sits down on a fallen chunk of masonry.
- Osalder looks up into Kalitiri's eyes, stunned, but still hopeful.
- Kalitiri: "I don't think Daddy knows I know, but I hear him talking to Mom sometimes about the whole situation..."
- Osalder pulls Kalitiri into a desperate embrace, pushing away the shame and burying the suspicion that the timing may not really be all that good for her to be right.
- Isadora goes looking for Rahkleth late one afternoon, a day or three after her return to Green Lake.
- Isadora: She looks calm, as she usually does in these parts, but will wait semi-obtrusively nearby if Rahkleth is drilling.
- Rahkleth: It isn't hard to find him. All the officers of the Oaks know that he is tending to his horse after returning from capturing the land drake and having removed it from the region. Rahkleth is giving the beast a good rub down before returning it to its stall.
- Isadora: "I need to talk to you," Isadora says, leaning up against a nearby post and watching him. "Old business."
- Rahkleth: "Good evening, Lady Isadora." He greets while continuing his task. "I can certainly spare you some time. Can it wait until I finish or should I call for a groom?"
- Isadora: "I can talk while you work. If I'm wrong, it'll be a very short conversation--no trouble at all."
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth stops for a moment and looks at her quizically. "I've known you for a long time now, my Lady. You're rarely wrong." He then continues his task. "Regardless... I'm at your service."
- Isadora: "I'm wrong about a staggering multitude of things--I just cover smoothly," says Isadora, but without the usual accompanying grin. "Think back a few years. Do you remember a fellow named Savas who visited here from Kaitaine?"
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth's eyes widen just a bit. He obviously doesn't cover quite as well... but he is quick and the moment passes. "Savas? How long ago was this?"
- Isadora: "About sixteen years. He came shortly after I returned from a trip to Kaitaine." Her tone is casual, but her eyes stay fixed on Rahkleth as he works. "He had a rather loud argument with me in the orchard, and then he apparently left town quite abruptly."
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth brushes the horse down some more and then leads it to a stall. "Yes. I remember this Savas fellow. Has he returned?" He asks quietly and quite obviously using the horse to shield his face.
- Isadora: "Not at all. In fact, discreet inquiries about his family suggest that he's quite vanished." She waits a beat, then adds, "I came to see if you knew anything about that."
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth shuts the stall door and turns to her with a sigh. "I hate these games. If you have something you wish to ask me, Isadora, just ask. We've known each other too long to do otherwise." It's quite noticable that he dropped the "lady" from her name. He rarely does that.
- Isadora: "Have we? That's good, then. Did you kill Savas?" She looks him in the eye, expression empty of everything but mild curiosity.
- Rahkleth: "Yes." Rahkleth nods.
- Isadora: "Why?"
- Rahkleth: "He made himself my enemy. That's what I do to enemies." He shrugs. "Do you really care that he's gone that much?"
- Isadora: "I only care if you killed him because of my indiscretions."
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth sighs... again. "Does it really matter? It was sixteen years ago. He was a threat to you, Ohkfels and the stability of the city. I dealt with it."
- Isadora: "You wanted me to just ask you, Rahkleth, so I'm asking." Her face softens in a smile. "That's one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me, and you'd goddamn well better ask me first if you're going to kill in my name again."
- Rahkleth: "I have ever confidence that I won't ever need to again." Rahkleth smiles and the weight of the world lifts from his shoulders just a hair.
- Okhfels: Okhfels' voice can be heard as he approaches, greeting the troopers and giving his throaty chuckle at their jests. "She's in the stable, sir."
- Rahkleth: "Does he know?" Rahkleth whispers hastily and with a slight edge of panic.
- Isadora: "You Tethians and your optimism--it must be all that bracing mountain air when you're young." As the sound of Okhfels' feet nears, Isadora shakes her head quickly in response to the question.
- Okhfels: "Iz?" Okhfels steps into the square of light at the stable door. "I just got word... the gate will open soon. We need to get going."
- Isadora: "Hey there," Isadora says, kissing Okhfels' cheek with a smile. "I was just thanking Rahkleth for his years of loyal service."
- Okhfels: Okhfels smiles and puts an arm around Isadora's waist. There was a time when he would question a secluded liaison between his wife and one of his best friends, but that day is long past.
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth tosses a nod toward Okhfels. "Evening, sir." Isadora might be smooth as silk but there is a tension to Rahkleth's face.
- Okhfels: Okhfels escorts Isadora out of the stable. "What's bothering /him/?"
- Isadora: "Having the lady of the house checking up made him nervous, I think," says Isadora in a calm approximation of the truth. "Just settling an unresolved question about that old business that Osalder brought up."
- Okhfels: "Oh." Okhfels masterfully changes the subject. "So what should I wear to Kaitaine?"
- Rahkleth: Rahkleth leaves the stable by a side exit and heads directly for his favorite bar, intending to down more than a few.
- Isadora: "Whatever you like. You'll be exotic no matter what you do, and if I have any parties to inflict we'll just have something made. You'll see, the city's delightfully wasteful that way." Isadora pats his arm, letting the subject drop.
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