The City of Keahns

Sae hadn't been able to catch the bag of coins, his motor skills faulty at best. Chasing after it, glad that nothing had fallen out, he thought to himself, Doctor...I could get used to that. Running off titles for himself as he straightened, watching the Wild Elf and Madge leave. Doctor Sae, no; Doctor Saedor, maybe; Doctor Aranhael...that sounded nice. Shutting the door behind the two, he sighed, deciding he better clean up again.

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Shadowsigh was silent as the soldier spoke to Madge, looking around for any signs of her father or Francis. "What would you like to do, then?" he asked when he saw the expression on her face. "I'm sure your father can wait."

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"You are welcome," Aron said lowly, forcing himself to bow slightly, as was custom, especially among nobles. "I will be at my home." Straightening, he left swiftly, forcing himself not to say something that might hurt his people.
 
Madge looked at Shadowsigh, really and truly unsure. "I don't know... I don't really care, anything I guess." She heard the remark about her father, and laughed dryly. "Him? Wait? Right. Oh well, he'll deal." She shrugged a bit. "I say we take justice on Francis."

Judias started reading over the papers as Aron left. Knowing the king, Aron would not get his way, and honestly Judias could care less. His mind wandered as he thought of both the task at hand with war, and his daughter with Francis. Had Francis actually hit Madge? He couldn't be sure.
 
Shadowsigh's eyebrows raised slightly at her preposition. "You are suggesting we kill him...or....?" he frowned slightly. "My bone knife was taken from me...I have no weapon to do so. I am almost positive that no one would listen to me if I tried anything less than that..."

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Aron returned to his home. Finding his wife Serah in the sitting room, reading to his two youngest, he sat down on the couch across from them, smiling as he listened to her calming voice. When she had finished the chapter and the boys had run off, shouting about playing outside, he moved to their vacated loveseat next to his wife's chair. Kissing her cheek, he said, "The terms of surrender won't be finalized until tomorrow. But I think we've a crisis averted. I just hope that their 'king' is a merciful one...I swear to Echenar, if they put the city in chains, I will kill every last one of them." At his sudden outburst of anger, Serah got up, sitting next to him and pulling him close to her.


"You worry too much, dear," she said, kissing him softly. "It will be better, I promise."
 
Madge shrugged. "It's a possibility. He won't have any transportation back for another few days, so he's stuck here. We could come up with an awful scheme and have him blamed for it..That works too." She bit her lip. She badly wanted revenge- in any way possible. She didn't care if she killed him, or if he was blamed of a crime he never commited. Either way, he would be punished. There was no doubt in her mind about that. "What do you think?"

Judias set up an arrangement with his soldiers- he'd leave for the King within a few hours, Francis could come if he so chose. While he was gone, Madge was to be watched closely. There was no saying if he would return, or just a messenger. The soldiers agreed and nodded, and he prepared to go.
 
"I could..." Shadowsigh thought about it for a moment. "I do not know, maybe...a few days...I think it would be easiest to kill him. I will need a weapon, if you want me to do so." He smiled wanly at Madge, walking her back towards her house. "I think that framing him for something he did not do would be too difficult for just a few days. I would not be able to kill enough people in that time..." he trailed off, thinking. "I think it would be easiest to kill him...Or maybe kidnapping him would work, too."
 
"Either or. You can choose on that, I can provide you with the materials you need." She smiled to herself, and opened the door to her house letting Shadowsigh in. She closed it behind her, and went to the kitchen. "Gah..Hungry...Want something to eat," she said, searching through the fridge. She grabbed some fruit. "I'm gonna make fruit salad..Want some?" She started to chop up the fruit and peel it.
 
"Sure," he answered, walking into the living room. Sitting down on the couch, he asked, "Do you want me to help?" before retreating into his mind, thinking about how it was that he would kill Francis. He would have to do it quietly, or else he would probably be executed, regardless of what Madge would say. He supposed he could figure out where the man was living at, and do it there...He also could make it look like a suicide, if he wanted, but he decided that it would be best to send a proper message to the rest of his kind. Still not sure, he sighed heavily, leaning back against the cushions of the couch.
 
She dumped the chopped and peeled fruit in a bowl. In a smaller bowl she put cream and sugar in, mixing it hard and fast for a few minutes. When it was a light, fluffy texture she smiled. She put the whipped cream in the fruit salad, and mixed it in. Grabbing two bowls and two spoons, and dished some out. She brought it out to the living room, and gave him a bowl, sitting next to him eating her own. "Mmm.. I haven't had this since I was a kid."
 
Shadowsigh was unsure about how to use the spoon until he saw Madge eating, upon which he copied her. "It is good," he told her, smiling appreciatively. His people only used sugar for when they were drying meats for particularly harsh winters, and he found it delightful when mixed with the cream and whipped. Spooning fruit into his mouth, he said, "No one has made me food before, not like this...thank you."
 
She smiled, and nodded. "No problem." She put her bowl down, and grabbed the journal she forgot was ripped. She looked it over. "I'm going to have to make some paste and stick it back together..." She sighed, frowning a bit. She put the book in her lap and took another bite of the fruit salad. "So, tell me more about your tribe," she said questioningly. She truly was interested.
 
"We are the El'set tribe," he told her in between bites of the salad, "though most others, even elves, think that Wild Elves are all one great tribe. We live in the plains, towards the southwest, and have for many generations. After the war with the Chiak tribe, we gained the right to our home again, and we have lived there since. Do you have any specific questions about my people?" he asked her, knowing that if she didn't, they might be there for a long time.
 
"Oh..that's cool.." She took a few more bites of her fruit salad before responding. "Do you guys have any traditions?" She looked towards Shadowsigh. 'He's a very interesting creature..' She pondered to herself.

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Judias talked to Francis, who seemed to prefer to wait until his own horse would be here so he could ride back. Judias respected his wishes and left the villages, going to his meeting with the King. He got to the palace, and was let in, escorted to the throne room.

In the room, the King, and Queen sat in their thrones. An advisor stood next to the king, and there was one empty throne for Francis. Judias stepped forwards. "I have a proposition from the elven people of Keahn's," he said.
The King looked at Judias, and nodded. "Proceed."
 
"Traditions..." he muttered, before announcing, "We have too many of those, if you would ask me. But, I am surprised you asked about that first. Normally, outsiders tend to wish to learn more about our religion, the one of us godless heathens in the wilds. But...traditions. All of the El'set are considered equals. Every summer, we have a festival where our the eldest of our children become men and woman, no longer boys and girls. They receive this piercing," he gestured towards the wolf pup's claw on his let ear, "and considered truly one of the El'set. Every sixteen years, there is another festival where the men and women from the last sixteen are given tests to determine who would be the next tribeleader." He continued, telling her about his people's various traditions and customs. Finally, he started on the one thing that even the most liberal of people found odd.

"Honor, traditionally, is the one thing we valued over all else. It is not as," he searched for the word, "...big as it used to be, but it is still important. It is why I refused to run when I have had the chance. When you were hurt and I had hit that man, I considered running and returning to my people, but my honor would not allow it. Honor is the last thing to go, when all else is taken from you. That is what our gods have taught us." He smiled, remembering that one time when his honor had been pushed to its limit and it took all the power of the gods to regain it.
 
"Huh." She leaned back, thinking about what he had said. It was an interesting concept, honor being valued above all else. She ondered about herself, if she had any honor. She began to think, going quiet.

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Judias announced the elven proposal. "They would like for the elven citizens to be not chained and not treated like slaves, as he put it. He would like it to run as a regular city, even if under our control. In return, we can have whatever else we want.." Judias paused. "He wants some freedom."
The King turned to his advisor, and they spoke, whispering to each other.

(Opinion on outturn in the Throne room?)
 
Seeing how she had gone quiet, Shadowsigh did as well, setting his now-empty bowl on the coffee table. Deciding to wait until she said anything more, he said, "I will take the dishes to the kitchen, and try to clean them if I can." Standing up to leave, he picked up both of their bowls, smiling slightly, though his heart ached as he longed to be home, in his tent or helping around their camp.

((I'm leaning more towards the plea being rejected, since I have some ideas for it already, but I am fine either way (:))
 
((Sounds good.))
Madge smiled. "Thanks.." But she wasn't really paying much attention. She was too busy wondering and thinking. After a few moments she got up, and went to the kitchen to help him.

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Judias waited patient. After about fifteen minutes, the King turned back to Judias with an answer.
"I, King William, have come to the conclusion that the elven city will be rejected." The King sighed. "Thank you, Judias for relaying their message anyways. It is too much of a risk to accept their request. You are dismissed, but you need to stay here. Have your daughter look over Keahns."

Judias nodded, and bowed to the king before leaving. He prepared a message to go to his daughter, and gave it to a messenger. The messenger left right away.


(Sorry about the wait, been busy- UBER busy. I may/may not post again till Wednesday)
 
After drying the dishes with a cloth, Shadowsigh asked, "You...uh, would not happen to have any clothes I can borrow? I only have these..." he gestured towards the pants he was wearing, running a hand over the soft animal fur. "I would be happy for anything..." He smiled slightly, trying to appear friendly and amiable, even when he and his tribe had attacked her people just hours before. Brushing a strand of his dark hair out of his eyes, he asked, "It has been bothering me all day...how did you come to have your name? Madge Wells...it sounds very unusual to me."

((It's okay! I can wait))
 
(Haha, I might be on today after all.)

Madge smiled. "I have some clothes, if they don't fit I can check with a few friends.." She put away the dishes, and listened to his question. "Well, my mother was trying to figure out what to call me, when my grandmother died. My grandmother's name was Pearl, and Madge means Pearl. Wells is our family name, it's our last name."

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The messenger was on his way to the city.
 
"Huh," Shadowsigh said, thinking. "My people are different. The first part of our name is our family name, and the second part is the different way...When a child reaches the age of five, we set out over one hundred objects in front of the baby. The first thing that the child takes determines their name. Mine was...unusual," he said with a laugh. "I wasn't taking interest in the objects, but I went to my uncle, who was my tribeleader then. He was sighing when I did, and that was how my name was decided." He grinned slightly, vaguely remembering the day when his name had one from simply 'Shadow' to 'Shadowsigh'. "Oh," he added, "thank you for offering me clothing, too."
 
Madge smiled, thinking about how interesting their way of naming was. "I like that way better than ours.. It's like letting people decide for their selves." She nodded, and smiled again. "No problem, I don't mind getting you some clothes." She put the extra fruit salad into the fridge, and then sighed. "I'm going to have to make some paste to keep my book together..." He voice faded off as someone knocked on the door. "Who could that be.." She walked off to the door, and opened it, seeing a messenger. "What d'you want?"

"Miss, I have a message from your father." He held out the scroll, she took it and closed the door in his face. "What the.."
 
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