silvergarden | Avalon Inbox

[Whoa! this is the first time Rinea has gotten a text sent directly to her, as opposed to a reply on the network.]

Dearest Claire,

Thank you so kindly for the letter! I am pleased to hear from you again. Do not worry yourself one bit for any absence at all; goodness knows enough happens here in Avalon. I am simply happy to hear you are well.

[Not hearing from people for long stretches of time was fairly normal back home, at least if anyone did any sort of traveling whatsoever. Avalon is certainly quite different in that manner!]

I would of course be honored to take you up on your offer! Please let me know what time and location you would care to meet, and I will arrive posthaste.

Your friend,
Rinea

[is.... is "posthaste" even used as a saying these days??? It doesn't make much sense with how fast letters are sent, but aaaagh.... after fussing over it for a minute, Rinea decides to send the message regardless. Claire will understand what she means, or at least be nice about it if she doesn't. IT'S FINE!!!!!!]

[Oh heck! Why is she so formal?! Did I mess up? is Claire's first thought, but then after thinking, she realizes Rinea and IM etiquette are probably a few hundred years out of sync.]

I'm glad to hear it, Rinea.

Please meet me at 4pm in the square near the Newcomer's Inn. I'll be there, and we can decide where we would like to eat from there.

Friend Claire,

Thank you for the specification! That sounds like a wonderful arrangement.
I dearly look forward to seeing you very soon!

Sincerely,
Rinea

[Sure enough, Rinea will be at the Inn on the dot, dressed lightly with an umbrella for the unpredictably wet June weather. The cheer on her face makes it very clear that Claire was right on the money with the IM etiquette being the issue, and not any grievance.]

Claire!

[Claire doesn't bother with another reply. She just expects to see Rinea, knowing her punctuality, and...well...there she is. When Claire walks into view, she grins widely, waving and trotting the rest of the way. She's in her usual red jacket over jeans and a t-shirt emblazoned with an angel holding a microphone, and her biggest smile.]

Hey you. It's good to see you again.

[She reaches out to pull her friend into a quick hug, unless she's stopped.]

How've you been?

[Rinea hasn't been hugged in a very long time! She accepts it with a surprised little laugh, cherishing the sensation.]

I have been quite well! All things considered, of course. [The few trials she saw were a fucken mess... but she isn't hurt!]

And yourself? [Rinea links their arms together, ready to walk.] It sounds as if you have been kept quite busy...

[Claire will do it again, all she has to do is let that be known.]

I'm alright. Definitely busy. Moving, you know. Then the trials. And...some other stuff.

[She starts walking, taking the lead, letting her arm rotate to pull Rinea into close orbit. Shoulder-bump time.]

King Arthur made me a knight, recently. Which was a little overwhelming, but it was nice. Validating.

Oh, my! A knight! [Rinea should really watch where she's going, but she's surprised enough to look right at Claire with wonder.]

Was there a ceremony? [And Rinea missed it?!?!?!?!] Knightage is such a thing of pomp and circumstance, back home!

Edited (html lol) 2021-06-05 15:51 (UTC)

[Claire, ever watchful, tightens her hold on Rinea's arm just in case. Smiling, she shakes her head.]

Nothing huge and formal. Just an audience, and he said some stuff, and I said some things. It felt like the right thing to do.

[Laughing, and maybe offering a sheepish smile...]

I don't know much about knighthood, honestly. What does it mean for you in Rigel?

Rigelian knightage... [Rinea's gaze drifts to the scenery again as she contemplates how to summarize the concept. Compared to Zofia, Rigel's military was much more integrated into life there.] Knighthood is both a great honor and an expectation for noble sons. It was also granted very rarely to commoners for great deeds of service to the country. But... I know only of one such man who rose to status in that manner, and he was granted knighthood by the late Emperor himself.

[Calling Emperor Rudolf the "late" emperor feels a bit strange... but it's true.]

The code of conduct is perhaps the more relevant part. Knights of Rigel are celebrated for their power, but chivalry was also core to the ideal of a knight. To behave with dignity and respect for all... To protect those with less strength... They are the face of the country and should act accordingly.

Even so... not every knight followed these very closely.

[Rinea smiles ruefully. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and all that. Lord Duma's influence probably didn't help, either. But that's Rigel, and this is Avalon.]

But Claire will not have any trouble with that, I hope!

[That's about what she expected in an answer, really. Rigel, from her hazy memories, definitely struck her as the kind of place that honored knights, and held them up but also was probably a bit of a stickler for ceremony.

Her mouth twitches into a broad grin and she laughs at the final part.]

Oh, I don't know. I'm a scoundrel through and through.

[She's putting on an accent, for that. Pretending to sound roguish.]

[Rinea laughs too, covering her mouth with a hand.]

Claire! [she admonishes, though it's clearly just a joke.]

Speaking on that, however... Do you have a title, now? [Her smile still has a jovial tilt to it-- she knows Claire will probably ask NOT to be addressed this way-- but still, she wants to know.] Shall I call you Lady Claire? Or is it "Dame"?

Edited (html lol) 2021-06-12 21:28 (UTC)

It's true!

[Laughing, Claire pulls Rinea's arm closer her, just jostling the two of them as they walk. She's definitely some sort of rapscallion, in her own mind.]

And yeah, it's Dame, but don't call me that. It doesn't feel right. Dame Redfield...it's kind of a mouthful.

[Too much of one!]

Why, I think Dame Redfield sounds lovely! [Half of that is probably just Rinea being used to such name conventions back home, but. Still!]

But even so... [Rinea's expression drops the teasing edge, leaving just her sincerity.] I take pleasure in calling you just Claire, all the same.

And I appreciate that.

[She dips her head, a sincerely appreciative look on her face.]

Titles and such are just not a part of my country's culture. We deliberately got rid of kings and stuff.

Truly? [This is the first Rinea has heard about other worlds like that! Since Avalon itself has a king (even if its nobility system is odd), the concept hadn't really crossed her mind.

Rinea is quiet for a moment. She doesn't want to insult Claire with ignorance, so it takes her some time to formulate the question properly.]

Then... how is your country run? You mentioned being in a city, once before. What is the family governing it like?

Truly.

[Oh. Right. Rigel isn't exactly a Christian Democracy or whatever America calls itself in ye olden times. Claire lets Rinea get her question out...nodding.]

So. Governing isn't done by family lines, or hereditary things. We don't have nobility. Instead, people elect a council to govern. So, like, the people choose who represents them on this council.

The person at the head of state is called the President, and then there is a body of representatives called Congress that help run the nation. Our nation is divided into States. 50 of them. Think...provinces? Each State has a Governor, and each city within a State has a Mayor. The Mayor more or less runs day to day things in the city, the Governor helps support all the Mayors, and the National Government...the President and Congress...help support all the Governors.

[This is a lot to take in, and Rinea falls silent again as she puzzles it over. A lot of the terms fly over her head...

But still, she can grasp this much:]

So your country is run not by people born to be there, but by people who wish to be there. That must be very nice.

That's right. It's not something you're born into. It's something that you choose.

[At least, that's the idea. Claire is a little too young and removed from politics to have thought much about the American political caste.]

It's worked for the last couple hundred years, which says something.

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