Making an Impression
Nov. 27th, 2012 11:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feredarStory: Making an Impression
Year: 987 FY
Characters: Lonura, Kesshare
Warnings: None
Notes: Kesshare's garden looks something like this.
Heart pounding, Lonura readjusted the fall of her skirt for the seventeenth time, and pushed open the gate to Her Highness's private garden. She had somehow managed to make it through seven months as Nolani's favorite without meeting the formidable Crown Princess. 'Lani hadn't tried to make her--she wasn't sure she ever did, with any of her favorites--and the Crown Princess hadn't seemed to have any interest in meeting her anyway.
But she and 'Lani had lasted a long time--for her--and Lonura had come back to her room after leaving 'Lani's this morning to find a note on her table, requesting that she join the Crown Princess in the garden that afternoon. So, as much as she didn't want to, she cleaned up and changed and made herself as presentable as possible, and wound her way through the residential wing to the Crown Princess's suite.
She found her standing by the fountain in the center. A small table was set up on the gravel nearby, just past the walkway, under a tree. The Crown Princess was wearing her circlet, and a soft, shimmery dress in a matching shade of rose. She turned, she must have heard Lonura on the gravel--it was white gravel, perfectly polished, all four quadrants had the same white gravel. She smiled.
"Thank you for joining me, Lady Lonura."
Lonura flushed and knelt before her. "Your Highness," she murmured.
"Please join me," the older woman said, and Lonura heard her crossing the gravel to the table. Trying to be graceful, she joined her and sat as well. Tea was poured, and Lonura watched the mint leaves swirl in her glass and tried to relax. She had no idea what the Crown Princess wanted with her, but...
After a moment, she spoke. "I don't know very much about you, Lady Lonura," she said thoughtfully. "I know your family, of course. But not you."
"I-is that why you brought me here, Highness?" Lonura said, then winced when her voice shook.
The Crown Princess smiled, a wolfish, hunter's smile. "I take pains to investigate all of my children's associates, Lady Lonura," she said. "I have no objection to you. You are not aligned with any faction that opposes mine, your family was a good one, you certainly provide more aesthetic charm than some of my daughter's choices."
Lonura's face burned and she dropped her eyes back to her tea. "Thank you, Highness," she whispered, not sure at all what else to say.
"You are, however," the Crown Princess went on without seeming to notice Lonura's discomfiture, "the closest of my daughter's favorites. It has been difficult for me to predict her choices. Trust me, Lady Lonura, I want you to stay. While you remain...charming, at least."
Which meant that, should Lonura dare interfere in anything the Crown Princess planned for Nolani, she would likely end up as dead as the last Crown Prince, under equally murky circumstances. She gripped her cup tight to keep her hands from shaking. "I understand, Highness."
"Good." The business dispensed with, the Crown Princess smoothly shifted the conversation to more pleasant matters, but Lonura couldn't shake the feeling that everything she said was being weighed and measured, and if she somehow fell short--or surpassed the mark too far--she would wind up in an accidental urn as soon as enough time had passed to divert suspicion.
But, by the same token, that the Crown Princess wanted Nolani's favorite to be someone she could control was equally certain. If I can convince her I'm not a threat, nothing will go wrong. She clung to that thought, and what dignity and grace she had, and somehow survived the interview.
She crept along the smooth white gravel, next to the still pool at the center of the garden, and wished she dared look back or outright flee. She hoped only that she never had to endure something this frightening ever again.
Year: 987 FY
Characters: Lonura, Kesshare
Warnings: None
Notes: Kesshare's garden looks something like this.
Heart pounding, Lonura readjusted the fall of her skirt for the seventeenth time, and pushed open the gate to Her Highness's private garden. She had somehow managed to make it through seven months as Nolani's favorite without meeting the formidable Crown Princess. 'Lani hadn't tried to make her--she wasn't sure she ever did, with any of her favorites--and the Crown Princess hadn't seemed to have any interest in meeting her anyway.
But she and 'Lani had lasted a long time--for her--and Lonura had come back to her room after leaving 'Lani's this morning to find a note on her table, requesting that she join the Crown Princess in the garden that afternoon. So, as much as she didn't want to, she cleaned up and changed and made herself as presentable as possible, and wound her way through the residential wing to the Crown Princess's suite.
She found her standing by the fountain in the center. A small table was set up on the gravel nearby, just past the walkway, under a tree. The Crown Princess was wearing her circlet, and a soft, shimmery dress in a matching shade of rose. She turned, she must have heard Lonura on the gravel--it was white gravel, perfectly polished, all four quadrants had the same white gravel. She smiled.
"Thank you for joining me, Lady Lonura."
Lonura flushed and knelt before her. "Your Highness," she murmured.
"Please join me," the older woman said, and Lonura heard her crossing the gravel to the table. Trying to be graceful, she joined her and sat as well. Tea was poured, and Lonura watched the mint leaves swirl in her glass and tried to relax. She had no idea what the Crown Princess wanted with her, but...
After a moment, she spoke. "I don't know very much about you, Lady Lonura," she said thoughtfully. "I know your family, of course. But not you."
"I-is that why you brought me here, Highness?" Lonura said, then winced when her voice shook.
The Crown Princess smiled, a wolfish, hunter's smile. "I take pains to investigate all of my children's associates, Lady Lonura," she said. "I have no objection to you. You are not aligned with any faction that opposes mine, your family was a good one, you certainly provide more aesthetic charm than some of my daughter's choices."
Lonura's face burned and she dropped her eyes back to her tea. "Thank you, Highness," she whispered, not sure at all what else to say.
"You are, however," the Crown Princess went on without seeming to notice Lonura's discomfiture, "the closest of my daughter's favorites. It has been difficult for me to predict her choices. Trust me, Lady Lonura, I want you to stay. While you remain...charming, at least."
Which meant that, should Lonura dare interfere in anything the Crown Princess planned for Nolani, she would likely end up as dead as the last Crown Prince, under equally murky circumstances. She gripped her cup tight to keep her hands from shaking. "I understand, Highness."
"Good." The business dispensed with, the Crown Princess smoothly shifted the conversation to more pleasant matters, but Lonura couldn't shake the feeling that everything she said was being weighed and measured, and if she somehow fell short--or surpassed the mark too far--she would wind up in an accidental urn as soon as enough time had passed to divert suspicion.
But, by the same token, that the Crown Princess wanted Nolani's favorite to be someone she could control was equally certain. If I can convince her I'm not a threat, nothing will go wrong. She clung to that thought, and what dignity and grace she had, and somehow survived the interview.
She crept along the smooth white gravel, next to the still pool at the center of the garden, and wished she dared look back or outright flee. She hoped only that she never had to endure something this frightening ever again.