It's Claire! It's been a bit, and i'm sorry! I was getting things settled in the move with Sherry, and then the Celliwig trials started and things are insane.
I was wondering if you were busy this afternoon? Maybe for a late lunch or early dinner?
[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.
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 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.]
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"?
[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.
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?
[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.
[ A new friend, but that made them no less eligible for some homemade chocolate truffles! Also included is a hand-stitched fleece scarf. It's very lightly perfumed...
A card comes with the package, reading; ]
"I hope you find these treats as sweet as the serendipity that brought us into each other's company, my lady. May the next year bring you glad tidings, and I hope to see more of you, then, as well!"
[ On the morning of the 21st, a package with a blue ribbon on top will be delivered to Rinea by way of an owl.
A pair of earrings and a bracelet is within, the primary stone being a pearly laboradite from the Lotus Pod Mountains. Along with these are a pouch of raw ores of the same stone, perhaps to be used for any alchemical purposes. In certain lighting, the gems shimmers with the visage of an aurora borealis.
Handwritten is the following:
Celestial lights are candles. Thy wealth of compassion and grace are the stars. Yuletidings. ]
[Labradorite... how lovely. Rinea admires the gift with a pang of nostalgic fondness. So kind, and the letter so meaningful-- and how long has it been since she was gifted jewelry?
A handful of days later, near the new year, Somnus will receive a package in return-- delivered by a simple flying child's toy enchanted with a bit of the stone, a cognitive mage's help, and Mari Lwyd's new gifts to totter its way to the labradorite's previous owner.
Inside the package is an elaborately designed cloak pin, glittering with a polished, cut gem from the labradorite ore. With it is a letter:
Should the new year see fit to hold us in Avalon, I am honored that it is with you.]
[ It has been days since his revival, and still he has not contacted the one other he had attacked while cursed by the Knights. Knowing that the longer he delays, the more difficult it will be and the more insincere he will seem-- he puts a quill to parchment.
She will receive the following letter, delivered by owl. ]
Lady Rinea,
You have my sincerest apologies.
Somnus Lucis Caelum
[ That is it. No explanation, for even if a curse absolves him, he should have been stronger in resisting it. No suggesting that they should meet again, for to someone he has frightened, she may not be ready, and any future contact should be her choice.
Rinea should never have been put through meeting him while he had been cursed. She deserves peace in her afterlife, not strife. Not combat. Not fright. ]
[Rinea reads the letter once, twice. The parchment wrinkles where she holds it too tightly.
So, he's alive. And sound of mind. She can let go of the guilt that wasn't hers to hold in the first place.
She tries not to-- the little owl is waiting patiently on her reply in order to return--but Rinea cries for a little while, out of relief and out of some emotions she cannot quite place.
Page 1 of 4