Unravelling the Past at the Marquis and Spider

[Nell du'Galle]

TS: Cycle four of Melora, Spring, Era XIV

It had taken a short time to reach the Marquis and Spider. As the Podesta of Chelseanna had promised, rooms had been arranged for the Regent and his entourage. There was a flurry of activity as trunks were unpacked, security arrangements checked and double checked, rooms claimed and children settled for an afternoon nap. It all happened swiftly, yet likely not swiftly enough for Nell and Milo’s rediscovered friend who was waiting to hear about the past stolen from her memory. Nell waited anxiously for the last servant to leave the main room of their suite and for the Rosemen to close the doors to finally allow them some privacy, all the time looking towards J’lyara as though her presence was still some sort of dream.

At last they were alone and Nell eased herself down on one of the sofas in the suite, next to a low table where glasses were waiting to be filled from a bottle of pale white wine. A platter for fruit was arranged in tempting slices, yet she had no appetite. She looked to Milo, soft brown eyes hanging on him briefly as she tried to smile, yet dreading the coming conversation for while they could tell J’lyara what she longed to hear, the news was likely to be bittersweet. Nell looked a little flushed for the warmth of the island would take some getting used. The rooms were not stuffy though for the windows stood wide open to let the fresh air meander in and the soft scent of flowers, cut and arranged in vases about the room, lent a delicate perfume.

“I’m not sure where to begin, J’lyara,” Nell said, trying to keep her smile steady. “Can you remember anything of your past life?” It was a tentative toe in the water. “Can you remember your name? It’s nearly two eras since we saw you in Taralon on the river boat.”

[Milo L'Evienne]

While by necessity, Nell and Milo were both aware by now of the security process that need be observed prior to enjoying any measurable semblance of privacy and solitude, it must have been something to behold for one not accustomed to it as Rosemen poured through every room and corridor, systematically checked every closet, cabinet, corner, cubby hole and balcony, and checked again before eventually finalizing their measures and leaving the sovereign family and their guest in peace.

At the end of it, a good number of them had taken up posts in hallways outside suite doors, at the ends of corridors or stairways and on outside balconies. Given Milo’s tendency to move about on an impulse, they’d gotten quicker about it over the past era or so, more flexible as well, so much in fact that he thought little of it these brightenings.

Still, this brightening he was glad to see their measures concluded and to hear Sir James' report before the senior knight excused himself and stepped out into the hall, thus finally leaving them their privacy. It was an uncomfortable moment though, that first one and Milo returned Nell’s smile with what he hoped was an encouraging one while he poured three glasses worth of wine and then sat beside her on the couch.

Laying his hand on hers when she began to speak, he realized how difficult it must be for his love, looking to tell her closest friend what she longed to hear, but realizing that much of it would be anything but. And for J’lyara, without any apparent inkling of what she would. Difficult for him too, for both a natural sense of empathy for both Nell and J'lyara, but too for having found himself in the position of playing a personal role in what things had come to. Still, there was nothing for it but to hear what J’lyara might remember, if anything, and then gently tell her the rest.

[J'lyara]

“J'lyara. I hadn't remembered...but I'd tried to remember. Dara was the closest I could come. That's my name, J'lyara.” She said it with a sense of finality and with a sense of relief that was easily evident on her face. Wide, hazel eyes glistened with unshed tears as she looked at them both and for the first time since her tragic ordeal, she felt some semblance of what she must have been before return to her. It was as if she could sense what Nell and Milo meant to her, even without benefit of full recall. Just being in their presence had already begun to stir what she'd previously thought lost.

“I get brief images filling my head and voices from the past fill my ears when something unexpected triggers it. But I don't remember what happened to me so I've been almost afraid to remember...I think I've subconsciously been trying not to remember.” She put her hand to mouth and looked into Nell's eyes and then up at Milo.

“Was I employed? I seem to have more knowledge of things dealing with the laws of the Empire than the average person I meet. And I was beginning to consider asking the Podesta if I might work for him at the Tower but I love working downstairs at the Cafe*...all the people who come through here...so interesting....” Standing up, she began to pace the floor some, restlessness coming over her and renewed frustration as she pushed her bangs forcefully back from her face and blew upward, revealing the scar at her hairline once again, evidence of the culprit that was cause for her current memory troubles.

Nearly two eras prior...

“I've sent for a healer, Cecilia. I hear tell that he knows some special techniques...fairly advanced for a thing like this. I think he might be able to bring her memories back, by 'putting her under' he said.”

Cecilia Hollet looked at the sleeping red head again and frowned, the short pleasantly plump matriarch of the Abestat Hollets wasn't going to allow it. “Look at th' poor child. She could barely stand up straight and she looked a dreadful mess when she got here. That bump to 'er head nearly killed 'er. I think 'er rememberin' would be the worst thing we could do to 'er and I'll not 'ave it. She can begin anew, leave them demons behind 'er and start afresh. Send that healer friend of yours on his way. I can take care of this one. See that...the swellin's already startin' to go down...” A thick hand, hardened with callouses from a life of hard work, picked up a soft cool cloth and dabbed it gently to J'lyara's head once again...

J'lyara fiddled with the ring on her finger once again, it being a source of comfort to her many a night when she'd lain awake and cried until she could cry no more and fell into a fitful slumber. It had been the drawing and the painting that had begun to calm her...feed her soul with something she couldn't grasp hold to. She'd begun to see in the lives around her that which she couldn't have herself or that which she'd lost and couldn't remember, putting it to parchment and collecting the moments were like a balm to her ache.

The sketch she'd done of the Imperial family's festive arrival to the island lay on a table and though not the greatest work of art to ever grace the Empire, the moment itself had been captured with a vivid detail lacking only color.

She was crying again and swore under her breath, swiping at her eyes as she sat back down and reached for Nell's hands, her eyes trailing up to Milo in turn. “Am I married? I feel...I sense that a part of me is missing. I feel....married...and....” she sobbed in between her words, “I think that has to be the most difficult part of not remembering my life....needing to see the face of the man who put this ring on my finger. I feel so certain...just...was I...am I married?”



* - ooc: I had hoped J'ly would be working at the Cafe officially before this but hopefully it's alright to assume that Shortround would have given her the job, waiting tables. Sorry for the delay!!

[Nell du'Galle]

Nell watched J’lyara with troubled eyes as the woman paced the room. There was so much to tell her, and some of it would be difficult – but then there was plenty to say that was good, that would bring relief to her friend also. Nell clasped J’lyara’s hands, her own eyes welling with tears in sympathy. “Yes, yes … to a wonderful man who has missed you so much,” Nell said, trying to reassure J’lyara. Nell took a deep breath and began to speak of all the things which her friend needed to know.

“You are J’lyara Jones. You were brought up in Aelyria Prime by Nemal and Messin Vine, a good couple who owned a bakery there. But you were their adopted daughter. A few eras ago, though, you came to Taralon and discovered your birth mother, Marae Austerfield. She is a nun who cares for orphaned children, and she is the daughter of Baroness Bela Austerfield. You were reunited with them and they care for you. You were in the process of opening an orphange in Taralon, with great plans for extending this into a network of orphanages across the Empire. You are also an advocate of the law. You have worked for the prefecture in Paxia in the past. And yes, you were married, to Palacrisis Jones. You met him in Taralon where he was Thane and married him there. He is now the Governor of Arakmat. You have no children of your own, but Pala has adopted children to whom you are mother.”

Nell spoke as simply as she could, relaying the facts as they were, although some facts were omitted. The circumstances surrounding Marae Austerfield’s past was not referred to, for learning that your mother had been part of a hayan cult would likely be too distressing to hear at this juncture. And besides, J’lyara had asked her to keep that secret, even from Milo. As to the current situation of Pala remarrying, having had his marriage to J’lyara dissolved, Nell hesitated and looked to Milo for help. Quite simply, Nell didn’t think she could keep the bitterness out of her voice if she spoke of the recent marriage in the capital.


OOC: I'd give Tarot a poke to approve any assumptions as Shortie is MIA

[Milo L'Evienne]

While sat through the rest of it with a mind for J’lyara’s state of mind as her past was related to her, while empathetic to her plight and sympathetic to the position Nell was in, Milo would be the first to admit he’d rather perform almost any task put before him than pick up the story where it left off. But given the silence that played out for a second or three after Nell looked to him, he realized there was no choice. J’lyara deserved the truth, never mind his preference for not being the bearer of bad tidings.

He frowned and took a drink of his wine first while looking for the gentlest way to go about it, but realized there was no sugar coating it, no dancing around it, it was what it was and there was nothing for it but to put it as gently as possible.

”J’lyara, things have recently changed, and as difficult as this may be for you to hear and as difficult as it is for me to relate them, they’re things you must be made aware of,” he said gently. ”I’m sure that you’re aware that as current sovereign, I also find myself in the position of acting as head of the church of the faith.” Ironic, but true. ”As a result, I am occasionally put in the position of being approached on the topic of divorce since this is a decision ultimately left to the sovereign to approve or deny. Fortunately it has not come to me often given it is a subject to be handled with great care given the view of the church historically in regards to divorce. My preference when requests for divorce arise is to refer the parties involved to a priest for counsel, then ultimately act upon his advice. As a result of the few cases come before me, I have yet to grant any divorces.”

”Dissolution of marriage however is a somewhat different matter, given the circumstances involved and in fact is an even rarer topic to come my way. J’lyara, shortly after I stepped into the role of intendant, Pala and I visited and we talked at length about your disappearance. He was devastated as would be expected, he’d spent months looking for you without a clue as to your whereabouts or what had become of you and was both physically and mentally exhausted. He knew not what else to do but throw himself into his work on behalf of the Empire, which he indeed did. Later I was to appoint him to the Governorship of Arakmat.”

”But I received a letter from him this past Junctior, a request of me in my capacity as head of the Church of the Faith, that given the time elapsed since the date of your disappearance, and the fact that no evidence had subsequently come to light in regards to your whereabouts or continued well-being, that I might resolve the status of the marriage. He had met someone and wanted to remarry. It was not a position I’d ever hoped to be in J’lyara and I imagine it was as difficult a question for him to ask as it was for me to answer. I can assure you in fact that it was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve made to date.”

”Ultimately, I could not resolve myself to granting an order of divorce, given it would have meant noting abandonment or similar as the cause, and I could not at all imagine that this was the case. I felt strongly that if you had not returned after so much time had elapsed, with no indication of your whereabouts, it could only be because you were no longer able to return. And so ultimately given a need to resolve your status, I granted a dissolution of marriage based on the assumption of death. I attached a waiting period to that order with an option to reverse it in order to allow time for changes of heart, or for objections to arise as a result of the publication of intent. But ultimately, Pala and this young woman met with a priest in Alleria Prime, he viewed the decree, approved their intentions and as a result performed the wedding ceremony on the last brightening of this past winter…”

There was more of course, though what he’d told was what had been up to now. What now, would be a bit of a tangle to sort out. Not a complicated one for all that was needed was the stroke of a pen and a shifting of paperwork, but one not particularly pleasant given the circumstances. His role was an easy one practically speaking, not so for the parties involved. A dissolution of marriage based on the assumption of death could only be reversed and rendered null and void now that J’lyara had been discovered alive, which then meant that she and Pala were still indeed lawfully married. Given the new marriage was carried out upon a writ that was as a result, based again on a faulty premise, the validity of the new marriage was compromised both legally and in the eyes of the church. Which ultimately meant that until things were resolved amongst the parties concerned, at least in the eyes of both Church and State, Pala was either a bigamist, an adulterer, or both.

[J'lyara]

As Nell confirmed what she knew to be true in her heart, fresh tears of joy sprang to her eyes. She listened to her life being summarized in a way only someone who knew her before very well could do, and so it was with the utmost trust that J'lyara listened to what Nell had to say. The names and the facts of her life serving to jog hazy images and a growing familiarity with herself that she'd been without for far too long.

The mention of her mother, Marae Austerfield, brought the word "Mist" suddenly swimming into her head and then she was assaulted by a memory that made her face turn pale.

Mist's daughter danced bewitchingly around the high preist as if urging him on. She seemed as if she were completely enraptured by the killing that was about to happen, taken in by the evil pulse that held Haya's grip on the room and its inhabitants. The Mist stand-in acted for all her life as if she were hungering for it as much as the high priest. Moving so that she was standing directly behind him, she hadn't given anyone a chance to question her presence. A shapely, uncovered, leg with a high-heeled, open-toed shoe on a perfect foot draped around the lower part of the Hayan preist's body and her hands gripped his chest from behind as she moved against him.

J'lyara dared not speak lest she unintentionally give herself away. It was a dangerous game she was playing. Inside, she was horrified that she might never recover from this darkening dancing within Haya's grasp. It could never be considered wise to play with a goddess, especially one that demanded loyalty the way in which Haya surely would.

Her body seemed to go into a momentary state of shock as she remembered what happened that night in vivid detail. She had blood on her hands and the thought of it...of the person she might have been before sickened her. Blinking several times, she shook herself out of it and looked back up at Nell with a semi-tortured gaze wondering if she truly wanted to remember who J'lyara Jones really was before the accident.

She was silent for a moment soaking it all in, feeling comforted by the knowledge that yes, she did have a husband and his name was Palacrisis. She would speak it later once she was alone. Speak it over and over, trying to remember his face.

And then Milo began to speak, quickly gaining her full attention as she sat quietly holding Nell's hand. At first, she didn't understand why he was speaking of divorce and dissolution of marriage when Nell had only just said she was married to a wonderful man. When it dawned on her, as she heard it...understood it that not only had her marriage been dissolved but that her husband was no longer her own...he'd married another. And even with her lack of memory of the details of her own life, she knew that the ending of marriages in the Empire was rarely done.

The inside of her stomach seemed ready to toss out what she'd eaten for Rosyun and she let out an exasperated, heart broken sob. “He's...remarried? But...I...I'm not...who is she? Have you met her? Is he...truly happy?” She couldn't bring herself to say the rest of what she was thinking. Is he truly happy without me? Who will now help me put the pieces of my life back together?

How odd it was to have her heart ache so painfully over a man she could scarcely remember. Swiping at her puffy eyes once again, she seemed to be filled with a new resolve and she sat up straighter, her jumbled emotions pushed aside for practicality. “Will you help me to contact my family? In Taralon? Or...was I closer to my adoptive parents...the Vines? I can't very well show up on my husband's door step if he has a new wife.” Her head was swimming with trying to figure out what to do and grateful beyond measure to them both, which was evident in her eyes. Eyes that no longer seemed as disconnected and unaware. It seemed she was beginning to remember, perhaps more than she even wanted to.