The governor’s temporary home. [open to all] ~ [Part II] Summer era XIII

[Palacrisis D Jones]

5th Brightening of Ioannes. ~ Summer of Era I of the Celestine Mandate (current Pattern), Era XIII Post Fractum.
Paradigm: Isle of the Crown Returns

The Elfhame.

The party that rode slowly through the summer burgeoning of the Tawnleaf was small, accompanying the governor were his adopted children Kallick a dorin pup who had recently received some instruction in the arts of soldering with his fathers friend Raliric Erad’Gard in Centripax and Meyra D Jones who was learning the subtle arts of managing the governors workload as his new secretary. Sir Percival, Sir Gareth, Sir Tristan and Sir Tarquin, all knights of The Argent Sword acted as guards and a single wagon carried all the various bits and pieces that made up Palacrisis’s wandering lifestyle including “the tent” that was both home and office.

Pala had explained to the youngsters that it was vital that he got around the major centers of population in the early days of his governorship "Press some flesh, show myself and most of all learn. Learn about the elves and the way they conduct their business. This is what this trip is about; your old father is going back to school and the only problem with that is finding a tutor.”

Meyra had turned in her saddle to look at him and commented "Learn pah! I have seen you with all those old dusty tomes you must have been reading about elves for cycles!"

He chuckled "Yes, that’s true but book learning is only the opinion of one man, the author of that said tome. He may be wrong, he may have an agenda or he may write simply to fill up space on paper, until we actually talk to real elves in their “Elfhame” we must not form any opinion on Silrosia and its inhabitants. I refuse to be burdened with misconceptions and rigid stereotypes of the people who live in these beautiful forests. So kids look learn and listen, that’s what I have to do and I suggest you follow my example. If half of what I have read is true then Silrosia is a delight to the senses and a balm to a troubled soul so be polite to these people and remember the elves live longer than we do .You may meet a young elf buck who looks your age Meyra but he may in fact be nearer a hundred so be careful."

Like any father Palacrisis constantly worried about his daughter and “unsuitable relationships” but before he could lecture further on this subject, Sir Tristan rode up and announced that in his opinion “they were no more than five miles away from the city.” At this Pala gave the order that they should set up camp and while the knights were busying themselves with this task. Pala, the children and Sir Tristan rode on towards the city that the elves called variously Syl’rosya or the Silrosia Stockade.

By necessity they rode slowly as the Tawnleaf thickened and darkened the further they slipped along the road that serviced the route from Imperia. they had the feeling of being watched by alien eyes but not one of them saw a single elf to account for this feeling but Pala knew that “the old ones” were watching bows at the ready for any sign of trouble from the small party.

The Tawnleaf was therefore beautiful in its ancient majesty but tainted by the ever present hint of menace and the party drew a collective sigh of relief as the walls and gates of Silrosia came into sight.

The camp site

Situated on the edge of the Tawnleaf the selected site was a far cry from the scrubland of Imperia, verdant green with a back drop of old trees that heralded the Tawnleaf, with a sweet cold stream and plenty of fallen fire wood, it was a perfect spot to erect the governors “tent”

Palacrisis had bought the “Suradeq” before he had left Alleria Prime for just such an eventuality. He had realised and indeed he had discussed it with Milo that for the first few months of his governance he would be peripatetic that meant that he would have to haul home, office and conference room around with him. Hardly the grand mansions and palaces of Alleria Prime Diana or Primus Gaudeo but beggars could not be choosers. The grand tent was a compromise.

Although very plain and grayish-white on the outside, the tent was lined inside from top to bottom with exquisite geometric patterns in brilliant reds, greens, blues and yellows, showing flowers and lotus designs. Every centimeter of it was painstakingly sewn by hand. Each part of the tent had a name, the “belma”is the wall or side of the tent; the “saket” the slope that goes up to the tent's peak; the “saqf” is the tent's ceiling and the canopied entrance was called the “sallabla”.

The interior was lit by lanterns and the floor had colourful carpets cushions and fabrics strewn artfully around. The first time they had used the tent had provoked some amusement as eating and drinking lying down with elbows resting on cushions was an art form foreign to Pala but it was once he got used to the notion very comfortable.

This was his temporary home and office for the first few months of his governorship, eccentric maybe but eminently practical considering two factors the first being the sheer weight of miles he planned to travel and secondly the knotty problem of which city would eventually become his home and by virtue of that the capital of Arakmat!

visitors were welcome to call in and ask to see Palacrisis and should someone come a calling they would be greeted by a young girl who was leaning the secret arts of the secretary , Meyra the governors adopted daughter will greet each visitor with a simple Serale and welcome to the “Suradeq” of the governor how may I help you?

[Chrysannia Syl'lithar]

9th of Ioannes

A courier wearing the colors of Syl'rosya and bearing the symbol of the Thane arrived carrying in his hands a letter.

To His Imperial Excellency
Palacrisis D. Jones
Governor of Arakmat

From Her Grace
Glioca U'sionayl
Thane of Syl'rosya

Welcome to Syl'rosya, Excellency.

I know that your trip from Imperia to Syl'rosya was a long and tiring one, but I hope you are well at the edge of the Tawnleaf. The forest hold many wonders for those that wish to dwell inside it or to those that even dwell near its magical foliage.

It would please myself greatly if you would travel the brightening long journy to Syl'rosya to meet with myself and the other officials of the stockade. I do not expect you to trek the long distance in one brightening so I have made preperations for you spend the darkening at the home of Jaraelium Celerrond. The Lord will meet your personally along the path from your campsite to the city and escort you to his home within the forests. When daylight breaks he will give you an honor guard of Syl'rosyan soldiers so that you may arrive in the fashion of an honored guest of Syl'rosya.

Please send a reply back with the runner so I can make preperations for the size of the party you will be coming with.

Glioca U'sionayl

[Palacrisis D Jones]

9th of Ioannes

Meyra met the courier at the entrance of the tent and bade him sit and take refreshment whilst her father the governor composed a suitable reply to the letter

Palacrisis read the carefully worded missive and personally dipped quill to ink and in a clear script began to draft a reply

To Her Grace
The Lady Thane of Syl’rosya
Glioca U’sionayl

Serale

I thank you for your gracious letter and your invitation which I am honoured to accept. Equally the kindness of the lord Jaraelium Celerrondis is most appreciated and I would wish you to give him my thanks prior to making my own gratefulness plain to him whence we meet.

I look forward to meeting the officials and hope that we may freely exchange thoughts and ideas. My visit is of the nature of an opportunity to acquaint myself with your city, surroundings and people in the hope that I may learn more of your ways and customs.

My party will be just three persons, myself, my daughter the Lady Meyra D Jones and Sir Tristan who acts as my personal man. I am confident that the warmth that you so hospitably bestow upon us requires no more of us to stretch the bounds of welcome.

Until we meet

Your servant in the empire.

Palacrisis D Jones [Governor of Arakmat]

The letter was dried and sealed and placed into the hands of the courier who was able to ride back within the candlemark.

later

Clothes!…Camping out does not always allow for the depth and variety of wardrobe that one would wish for and for the 13 era’s old Meyra this was a problem. The soft green split skirt riding dress was fine for meeting an elf lord along the road but evening and day wear was a problem. She finally settled on a blue gown of the empire line for evening and a floral green and yellow day dress would have to suffice .She missed Rosie her cether maid who would have more ideas and helped her with the packing but Meyra coped even managing to stick hair brushes and combs in her fathers saddle bags when she ran out of room in her own.

Pala had picked a soft brown doublet and cloak and soft leather boots for the ride, a long blue coat and trousers for any formal meetings and stuffed his old black cloak and wide brimmed hat into his bags. He had snorted “that he was not a blooming clothes horse” but it would not do to insult his hosts by turning up like a tramp.

Sir Tristan wore armour but he spent the day polishing it till it shone and did not smell like he was wearing a rusty old can of fish!


10th Ioannes

At the due hour the three set out for the meeting spot riding carefully along the path in the cool early brightening air heading into the Tawnleaf . The boy Dingwall, Pala’s expert on all things equine, had groomed their horses and curried their coats until they shone, “River” the Sandbred bay led the way. Meyra’s pony a cute little grey tapped her way behind and the black war horse of Sir Tristan took up the rear its great hooves crunching deeply into the damp forest path. The road bent slightly and a grassy verge held back the great trees from the path and Pala halted the party and so it was on this grassy knoll, they waited for the escort to meet them.

[Petri]

Late Imperos, Summer of Era XIII

An unlikely trio approached the temporary home of Arakmat’s Governor on foot and from the direction of the Restwood, two of them better suited to air and trees than a foot beaten path. This pair of sprites both male and female, willowy in build, winged in the way of dragonflies, diminutive in stature and graceful. Their lumbering companion trailing behind them…not so much. Petri had outfitted himself in a singular article of clothing…silk blue trousers designed for better aerodynamics and stitched their surface over with an intricate design of silver thread. The rest of him was bare, his feet bare too and he’d only a small rucksack tossed over his narrow shoulder. His hair was an unruly mop that while failing to conceal large pointed ears, did a fair job of it with large green eyes set in an eternally childlike face. Wings like a dragonfly’s were partly unfolded as he walked, translucent silver and shot through with veins of technicolor blue. At just shy of two and a half feet, the sprite was just short of adulthood, but well past childhood.

The female sprite with him was a good three inches taller and walked a pace or two behind as a show of deference, though something in this redheaded and blue eyed spitfire’s expression said she was only humoring her male counterpart. A beautiful creature with an in charge way about her, Fia wore next to nothing and sported wings of translucent green. The third member of the party was an uncommonly large brown bear that ambled along behind them, brass bell jingling on his red leather collar, possessed of a size and intermittent yawn and groan that surely cleared a path of passersby quicker than a by your leave might have.

”I told you Petri, it won’t do any good to come here. He’s the boss of Arakmat and he’s busy. And you can’t undo it anyway, the law says so. Maybe he’ll find out you stole into Imperia without paying too and throw you in gaol,” she pointed out with arms crossed over her not so ample bosom, and by way of trying to dissuade a companion as stubbornly tenacious as herself.

”It wasn’t stealing,” Petri denied while stopping to eye the tent sprung up in front of them. ”The guards only said I couldn’t go through the gates without paying. They didn’t say I couldn’t fly over the wall. And if he’s the boss, then he can undo it. Besides, it was an accident, not an on purpose.” So saying and ignoring the skyward roll of Fia’s eyes, Petri led the trio through the entrance of the tent where his own eyes grew wide with curiosity on seeing the interior. Fia came after, her lips drawn into a thin line and then Edward, ambling and bell jingling as the large bear sat down and groaned past a wide and toothy yawn. Hands dropped deep in the pockets of his trousers, Petri met the girl there with a grin that took up a large portion of his childlike face. ”Vedui tu, I’m Petri and this is Fia,” he added with a glance at his companion, who managed a deceptively demure smile in response. ”and Edward. We want to see the governor about some very important business, see?”

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Meyra the governor’s daughter was beginning to understand just what it took to be a secretary her predecessor the venerable Clarisse von Dribblepot never let anything disturb her equilibrium and that was a state of mind that Meyra was desperately trying to emulate. Already she had dealt with elves and Orc’s and nasty little men with shivery swords that made her toes curl but the sight that meandered into the camp chattering away at ninety to the dozen was a new one.

It was not so much the sight of fae folk after all had she not met Sharyina the queen of the faes in Taralon, what really flummoxed her was the bear! Shock fear and then a fit of giggles ran their course one after another. However no matter that the governors camp was simply a collection of tents pitched in a circle he did have protection. The four knights lounged around the camp playing dice over cups of wine but they were always alert for trouble and as the bear made its entrance the definition of trouble manifested itself into fur teeth and claw, hands grasped weapons, bow spear and axes and the knights a second previously apparently intent on their gaming were alert and ready to spring to Palacrisis’ defense. When the bear sat down in a ridiculous parody of the human pose they relaxed a fraction but cold hard eyes never left the furry visitor.

Meyra blinked at the odd bear and then returned her attention to the two fae folk Serale er Vedui Petri and Fia would you wait here whilst I see if the governor can see you now?

She returned a few moments later with a tall human dressed in long white robes who stopped dead at the sight before him. Er Serale Petri and Fia I assume that your bear has learnt his manners and will not attack. ….. he turned to Meyra and asked her do we still have that big pot of honey, why don’t you find it and see if the bear …er Edward would like a snack?

Turning to his visitors he smiled gently , Sorry about that we do not often get visited by the fae folk , please be welcome to my humble home and tell me what it is that brings you to see me.

He graciously lifted the outer curtain and led the pair inside the colourful tent and gestured to the cushions on the floor inviting them to sit and discuss their problem

[Petri]

”Edward?” Petri repeated with wide eyes and glanced back at the bear, Edward having dropped back to all four and found himself a sturdy pole to scratch his backside on. ”Oh Edward’s alright. He tried to eat me once but Master Elemmiire put a spell on him and now he’s my friend,” he chattered on while following Palacrisis through the outer curtain with hands still dropped into his pockets, Fia and Edward following in his wake. ”He only doesn’t like gnomes b’cause they tease him and that’s why he has a bell on his collar so they can hear him coming. Where’d you get this tent?” he asked-stopped dead in his tracks, given a mind too often switched directions on a whim and enraptured by a symphony of colors.

Still, he sat himself down cross-legged and Fia beside him, Edward sprawling out nearby like a massive rug and with a long suffering groan in the process. ”See, I want you to fix this,” Petri carried on while pulling his rucksack off his narrow shoulder and dumping it out on the pillows. ”Fia says you can’t fix it b’cause the law says so but it was an accident not an on purpose.” So saying, the sprite began rummaging through the emptied contents of his bag. There was a handful of river rocks in the mix, a large marble, a few bruised strawberries and wild plums, strings of broken beads, a few crumpled crown notes, a small set of panpipes and a boiled egg, a little worse for wear, shell cracked and with lint stuck on. ”I told you Petri, you can’t change what is. I told him,” Fia added then, having sat herself gracefully beside Petri but looking the governor dead in the eye as if willing him in no certain terms to see things her way. ”I told him that he doesn’t understand how this works at all and that you’ll only tell him that too. It’s forever,” she maintained adamantly with chin set and narrowed eyes directed at both while the male sprite still digging through his belongings.

”I thought she was a bird. You know, one of those bright feathered birds that talk? A pirate in Imperia told me where to buy one and sent me to a Palace where I should tell them I was looking for a bird,” Petri chimed in with a expression born of revelation when he found what he was looking for. It was a document of some sort, rumpled, sticky, stained and had been torn apart several times and stuck back together with sap. Meticulously smoothing the document out, he handed it reverently to Palacrisis. It was a slave ownership document, Fia’s name filled in and Petri’s mark signed at the bottom. ”Anyway, I didn’t see any birds when I got there. It wasn't like a place that sells pets at all. There were only women with no clothes on and men who were throwing their crowns on a table while another fellow spun a big wheel and then took their crowns away. They must not have wanted them and didn’t mind b’cause they kept taking more out of their pockets and putting them on the table.” Beside him, Fia rolled her eyes skyward and drummed graceful fingers on her knee impatiently.

”But since the pirate said so I told them I was looking for a bird that talked a lot and they said they had one upstairs. But they said she might bite and try to boss me. I told them though that I could fix her right up and only needed five minutes to get the job done. I don’t know why they thought it was funny b'cause I put befriend spells on animals all the time-I’m a druid see-but they did. But when I got upstairs they had her on a perch with a ring around her ankle to stop her flying away…”

”You told them to Petri,” Fia added with arms crossed over her chest. ”I thought you were a bird. It was an accident,” the sprite argued with a glance shot at her that said, innefectively, ‘You’re not the boss of me’ before looking back to the Governor hopefully. ”She said I needed to buy her and sprites aren’t supposed to be slaves so I did and gave them three hundred paper crowns…so I could take her away and let her go back to the traveling show where she was doing fancy flying tricks for them. I thought I could tear up the papers, see? Then she wouldn’t be a slave anymore.”

”You can’t just tear up the papers Petri. I told you last time I put them back together. Just because there’s no papers doesn’t make it so. It’s forever and stop hiding them in the knot of that tree. The birds keep taking bits away for their nests. I told him you see,” she carried on and looking back at Palacrisis, ”that he bought me fair and square and that its forever so I have to go where he goes and do what he tells me. The law says so, and he just doesn’t understand how this works so you can tell him and get it out of his head.”

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Whenever arrogance sits on someone’s shoulders and the owner of the shoulders thinks he has heard it all two sprites and tame brown bear wander into your tent and shatter that illusion. The story was so strange that it just had to be true, he did not know whether to laugh or cry so gathering his wits Palacrisis resorted to the facts.

I see a strange and bizarre story indeed, so let me see if I have all the pertinent facts. You Petri on the advice of a pirate went to a house of negotiable pleasure in order to purchase a parrot. The madam showed you Fia instead and you offered three hundred crowns for her. In return you got Fia and a paper signing over ownership. Your intention was to set her free so she could go back to the circus but Fia refuses to accept her freedom because you signed a paper and now she is property rather than a free sprite and this is the point of dispute between you two?

He rang the bell and Meyra came in, “Some tea please Meyra and some of those sweet cookies for my guests”The tray arrived with all the requisites including a large jar of yellow honey for Edward.

Tea and honey gave him a little time to think and he started by addressing Fia

Fia what do you want to do, are you content to remain the property of Petri or do you want to fly free? Just because Petri has a piece of paper does not make you a slave. I know the law and I can change the law if it is unfair but before we talk about the bits of paper I want to hear your heart, are you free or are you the property of this well intentioned sprite? Do you want to stay with Petri or fly your own road?

[Petri]

In response to the outlining of his story, Petri stared back at the Governor wide eyed and solemn till running up against an obstacle of terms. Fine brows pulled together and his face transformed itself into utter befuddlement while he silently repeated the phrase ‘negotiable pleasure’. Then sensing his predicament and all too aware of his unworldly ways, Fia popped up on her knees and whispered a quiet explanation in his ear. The sprite’s expression managed several transformations as a result, slow revelation, then sheepish realization while he blushed down to his very toenails. Smiling coyly at Palacrisis, Fia settled herself back in and Edward snored nearby. Petri nodded his head in the affirmative as the Governor went on. He stumbled once again over the small detail of payment amounts given the only fib he’d ever concocted in all his eras. Sprites just weren’t engineered for lying after all, no more than for malice or prejudice…except for gnomes. Nobody liked a gnome.

Subterfuge ran so against his creation in fact, that the look of him came to resemble that of an old hound discovered at the end of a long brightening to have chewed up the master’s favorite slippers. And so he picked himself up and tread across the pillows to whisper conspiratorially in Palacrisis’ ear. ”It wasn’t three hundred see? I said so b’cause I didn’t want Fia to know they were getting rid of her cheap b’cause they thought she wasn’t worth their troubles. You won’t tell her that alright?” he asked before sitting himself back down, nodding adamantly and saying, ”Right.”

When tea, cookies and honey came, Edward snorted and rose up off the carpets, grasping the jar between two great paws while working at getting the stuff out amidst satisfied groans and grunts. Fia merely sipped her tea politely while Petri dumped no less and no more than six spoonfuls of sugar in his, three first with a definitive and dramatic pause in between, then three more and topped it off with enough cream to threaten it all spilling over the rim. Two cookies were meticulously placed by his knee. Then dropped a third cookie on top of his tea before lifting it carefully to his mouth while the Governor questioned Fia. Meanwhile, Edward had come up on all fours and was rolling the honey pot round the interior of the tent while trying to get at its contents.

For Fia’s part, the female sprite darted a look at the unaware male, appearing to choose her words carefully in contrast to Petri’s usual ways. Though even while speaking carefully, Fia seemed far more inclined to firm and immovable debate, as it was with female sprites in contrast to their males who’d never get anything accomplished without constant guidance for all their faffing about. ”I think…” she said pointedly and helpfully, ”only Carmelya or Phedos can change the laws.” ”Diana too,” Petri interjected before Fia shushed him. ”I’m a thing see?” she maintained stubbornly. ”I told him that. The rules say I belong to him and I’m supposed to do what he tells me…whenever I want to.”

”She never wants to,” Petri piped in, having come up from air after gulping down half his tea. ”She keeps moving my box of trading things to the spot near the window.”…”It looks better there Petri, I told you,” Fia maintained with an expression meant to end the debate of all debates before carrying on. ”He’s alright see. He could talk more for my taste and is always forgetting where he left his pipes but he doesn’t take up too much room in the hammock. And if I were to fly off, he’d need to get another one to make sure he didn’t forget himself and wander into the Blackbarch where his uncle Pratt went in and never came out because he was drunk on dandelion wine.” ”Daemonfae…don’t ever go into the Blackbarch,” came the commentary from the male again. ”Someone like that Tea’lea who’s always fluttering around,” Fia added with a set of her chin and a hard territorial gleam in her eyes before adding righteously and pointedly. ”And I heard that one arranges her tasks in fours instead of three. It’s shameful and everyone knows it.”

”Three is a very important number. Very important,” Petri emphasized solemnly and around a mouthful of cookie. ”Besides,” Fia explained then. ”they took my visa away when they caught me and everyone knows there’s only one.”

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Despite the fact that the bear was smearing honey all over his cushions and drapes and that he was certain that his tent would carry a definite ursine aroma for cycles Palacrisis was enjoying himself. Ever since he had first met Sharyina the queen of the faes in a tree outside Tearsfall all those eras ago, he had developed a deep affection for the fae race. He was an honoury member of the house Siannodel the only fae house in Alleria and his record of offering aid and succor to the faes was something he was proud of and now he had a real chance to do something for this delightful pair.

Keeping his face straight and putting his cup down on the only relatively honey free spot he could find to hand Palacrisis began to unravel a few misconceptions.

“Fia and Petri I think I should explain something to you, the law is handed down in principle by the gods but it is written by mankind and as such we can change the law if it fails to deliver the justice that it was designed for. The issue of slavery in Imperia is both badly understood and also exploited by these criminals but the law is clear.

He pulled the Articles of Imperium towards him and read from the tome like a priest intoning from holy rite.

ARTICLE 109

Abolition of Slavery

The dignity of the person, the inviolable rights which are inherent, the free development of the personal, respect for the law and the rights of others, are the foundation of political order and social peace, reserved to all citizens of the Allerian Empire. The norms relative to basic rights which are recognized by these articles shall be interpreted in conformity with the Sacred Three, and the grace of the Emperor. Accordingly, no citizen of the Allerian Empire, with full political rights, shall be denied his freedom from slavery or indenture.

He watched their faces as he read the law from the great book looking for the spark of understanding in their bright eyes.

“So any citizen of the empire is free from slavery and any persons who so enslave a citizen of the empire are committing a criminal act. The problem here is that once these criminals abduct a citizen and destroy their visa there becomes a legal doubt as to whether that person is any longer a citizen of the empire and as such the protection afforded by Article 109 is no longer available to that unfortunate person”

“So Fia if I were to authorize a new visa for you, you would become a proper citizen of the empire again and as such the bonds of slavery would no longer apply to you. Fae folk are truthful unless you are those dratted leprechauns so I will take your word that you were once a citizen and held a visa. What you should do is go and see the local Aedile and explain your problem and he will issue you with a new visa. However I think it would help if you were to have a letter from me to show to the Aedile and I will write you one before you leave.”

“But letter or not as far as I am concerned Fia you are now and again a full citizen of the empire of Alleria!”

He clapped his sticky hands and Meyra came in turning up her nose at the smell of bear in the close confines of the tent.

Bring me three glasses of wine would you please we have a toast to drink.

Once the ruby sweet wine was delivered Pala spoke again his voice full of soft sympathy “You two seem to have a relationship which is less like slave and master and more like husband and wife but I may be wrong on that score. Perhaps Petri does need someone to look after him, maybe Fia you hold Petri in some affection. This is something that no governor can rule over it is a decision you must take together but you can discuss your future together now on equal terms not a slave and master but two free sprites.”

“Of course you can also choose to ignore me and carry on as you are now again this is for you to decide but if you will raise your glasses I will give you a toast”

“To freedom for all”

[Petri]

The governor’s explanation of how the laws worked brought a perplexed expression to the faces of both sprites. More so the male given that the whole of his time on Telath had been spent in the forests of Silrosia rather than any more worldly environment such as had been Fia’s experience. A creature completely in tune with nature and its laws and magics, it puzzled him that the gods should let imperfect creatures decide what was just and what was not. And true to his nature, he piped up while up on his knees and peering down at the articles of Imperium. ”Why would the gods let people write the laws when they could write them themselves and tell us so? Aren’t they afraid people will mess it up?”

Fia, shaking her head indulgently and knowing for herself there was no use arguing with Petri’s particular brand of logic, frowned thoughtfully when the explanation came from the Governor. ”You mean that I’m not supposed to be a slave even if someone took my visa? And that you can give me a new one?” she asked to clarify while Petri around another mouthful of cookie chimed in ”I told you so. And fae don’t lie,” he added adamantly. ”Except for dark fae,” Fia corrected him. ”Right. And gnomes too. I thought the Aedile sells houses?” he asked then, mind switching direction on a whim.

And knowing it, Fia ignored him. ”And that means I still don’t have to leave if I don’t want to, if you write a letter?” she added pointedly for clarification. ”We’re mates see,” Petri interjected while dropping another cookie into his tea; while Edward found himself a large pillow in a far corner to sprawl out on and went back to snoring. ”You can put it in the letter then, that I don’t have to fly away,” she added while sitting back and seeming satisfied, though this equal terms thing was bound to remain a point of contention.

Still, both grinned wide while picking up their wine, both managing them with a two handed hold, Petri ending up with a ruby moustache in the process after dropping yet another cookie on top, then added as an afterthought. ”Does that mean she can’t boss me anymore?”

”No,” Fia maintained with a sweet smile leveled Palacrisis’ way.

[Palacrisis D Jones]

He chuckled as the two sprites wrangled over bossing rights under their new regime of mutual freedom and sipped his wine to cover his chortles up. Setting the glass down before him, he leaned forward.

“Petri it is not for me to second guess the gods motives, the gods direct and we follow but my friend I think the gods have a sense of humour. It is true that law could be etched on tablets of stone in a moment by the god but I think they rather enjoy watching us struggle along on our own. Making our mistakes and trying to work out what they want. Think of it as a game, the gods are the players, they are the ones who know all the rules and we poor mortals are merely pieces on a huge game board, we have some small free will but in the end it is the gods that move us around the board of life. So sometimes if we make mistakes and misinterpret the will of the gods then that just makes their never ending game that little bit more enjoyable. Oh don’t listen to me Petri sometimes I just like the sound of my own voice”

He grinned broadly enjoying their company and then turned to Fia “ No Fia you can do want you want without any one taking your liberty away from you, stay or go it is your choice, but…” and he chuckled again “too much bossing about of Petri might not be the best idea, he is free to stay or go as well!”

The bell was rung and Meyra came back in sniffing the air “Meyra lets do a letter for our friends…. ..Let me think” and he began to dictate

30th Imperos, Summer of Era XIII

To whom it may concern

Let it be known that by my hand and my will the bearer of this letter the sprite Fia is a free citizen of the empire and should be afforded all protection under the law. Let this document signed by my hand act as a temporary Imperial Visa until such time that a full visa may be prepared by an official so authorized to prepare such documents [Aedile].

This letter offers all rights, freedoms and responsibilities as afforded to a full citizen of the Empire of Alleria and is binding upon such persons who have the authority to inspect such documents.

Let it be known that the sprite Fia is a person of good character and that the circumstances of the loss of her previous Imperial Visa are known to me. Thus should any cost be incurred in the issuing of a new Imperial Visa these costs will be defrayed by my office.

Palacrisis D Jones [Imperial Governor to the Province of Arakmat]

Meyra went away and in a honey free environment prepared a full draft copy on the finest parchment which she brought back for signature; Palacrisis took the great seal of Arakmat and stamped the letter firmly below his signature, rolled the letter up and handed it across to Fia.

“Fia and Petri thank you for coming to see me this slave trade will stop it may take me a long time but I am determined upon it. I have not pressed you for more details of the people places and times involved in this trade you can tell me more or simply leave but if you do ever think that you want to help me come and see me again. Two sprites with your abilities could play a role in the finishing of this vile trade.

If indeed Fia and Petri had finished Pala would lead them out into the fresh air and order that the tent be cleaned of honey and bear not an easy task but well he was the governor!

[Petri]

The male sprite pondered the Governor’s theory in an extraordinarily rare moment of silence, turning it over in his busy mind and considering it from every angle. ”A game?” he repeated as if trying it on for size, then moving on to the particular angle that suited his disposition better. ”A sense of humor,” he concluded with an almost comical solemn expression transforming his childlike face. ”That would explain baboons see?” This delivered matter of factly before gulping down his wine.

Fia, worldly as she was, was somewhat harder to convince and even while watching Palacrisis write out his letter, her expression remained somewhat skeptical. On two counts. ”So I don’t have to fly away,” she repeated not so much for the Governor’s benefit or her own, but for Petri’s. ”He doesn’t mind much,” she then concluded with a challenging shot aimed at the male, and a sheepish expression crept across Petri’s face as if confirming it on a level he wasn’t even aware of, while he otherwise shook his head in an effort to deny it. ”Trade him Petri for his letter,” the female said then and given the challenge of working out a fair trade, the male set himself to busily sorting through the contents of his satchel again while Fia went on. After all, a sprite’s way of thinking had it that one good deed deserved another and it was a notion hardly worth trying to talk such a creature out of. ”It was the Palace of Diversions see, where I was taken after I was captured. Maybe the rocks from the sky destroyed it, but we were there before the rocks came and didn’t go back since…" ”They crushed my beads too,” Petri piped up while holding aloft a small blue stone, eyeing it critically and then dropping it back into his sack. ”The guards wanted me to pay to go into the city and when I tried to make a good trade to pay them…They don’t know a good trade see,” he explained with a sorrowful shake of his head while returning his attention to his search.

”We can help you if you want to make them stop,” she added then with a thin set of her lips, eyes flashing with temper over what they’d put her through. ”If you want us to you can come to the Restwood to find us. We’ll know you’re there and find you in the forest,” she added while taking the letter and slipping it neatly into the depths of Petri’s bag. Likely it was no lofty claim, even considering the size of the Restwood. In a forest full of fae folk, word traveled fast. Through it all, Petri had meticulously considered every item in his bag before grinning and pulling out a large marble, clear and shot through with silver ribbon. Handing it over almost reverently he said, ”It’s a very good trade,” he concluded while both sprites picked themselves up from the pillows. For Edward’s part, having abandoned his honey pot in a corner and muzzle now sticky, the uncommonly large bear hauled himself up with a grown and ambled towards the exit of the tent as the sprites strolled alongside Palacrisis. Then when stepping outside, both grinned for having been mutually satisfied with the results of their visit, though the issue of who’s the boss would most likely continue. ”Vedui tu,” Petri said then to both Palacrisis and his daughter, and Edward having already ambled off, both sprites took their leave as well.

ooc: thanks for letting the threesome pester the Governor. Palacrisis is a great sport! =o)

[Palacrisis D Jones]

Off on their travels again

30th Ioannes era XIII

Time moves slowly in the world of the elves and a sojourn in the Tawnleaf although most pleasant was not going to get the potatoes cooked for pracenda. He had shown his face pressed some flesh and seen the wonders of Silrosia. Word had reached him that Kallick his dorin step son had gone to Arakmat of his own volition and set up some form of contact with the ex governor of the province now thane of Arakmat.

Pala had nodded in approval of the move but worried as any responsible parent might when a youth took chances. Arakmat was a dangerous province and youngsters do have a habit of finding trouble even where it did not exist before.

But tranquillity has to come to an end for short lived humans and the journey back to Imperia was imperative, of all the cities in the province the ramshackle den of iniquity deserved and was going to get his fullest attention! Thus it was the tent was packed away the camp site carefully cleared of all evidence of human occupation and the governor’s party set off on its travels again, this time repeating the journey in reverse to Imperia.

They rode slowly away in silence, Pala had a great deal on his mind and needed to organise his thoughts.

…..The note to Nell had prompted an unexpected reply, Pala had done some hard thinking and then penned his candidature which was winging its way to the Herald but now the reality of his decision was beginning to take root in his mind. The rite of the aethercrown was probably the single most serious gamble of his life. There was no way to prepare himself because the rite was an unknown country, what it involved and the after effects of interaction with the goddess Diana were just too unknown to even speculate upon.

Could he sit upon the throne and rule the empire an absolute monarch whose word was law and armies jumped when he sneezed? Could he become the guardian of history and lead the empire forward into a new age of reason and enlightenment? Was he up to the task of holding men’s lives in his hand ordering them to their death in service to the empire? The simple fact was he did not know, he suspected that their were depths of moral fibre within him that he had yet to discover but was that sufficient to rule?

It perplexed him, yet some one had once told him. “To play in the biggest game you have to risk the highest stakes” simple advice but there was no doubt that his candidature was in the biggest game in town. He might win and he might lose, the game was on and he could be sitting on the thrown of the empire o