Our World

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 17th September 2006

Characters: Thalia, Kiomo
Description: Kiomo comes across Thalia in her garden and offers his friendship
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 13, day 8 of Turn 3

The garden was coming along nicely; nice enough, now, to justify
spending a little time there simply enjoying it and not worrying
about the ugly scars that were barren flower beds. Thalia had
persuaded Penryn to bring a wooden bench out for her, and was
currently sitting and idly picking out phrases of music on her gitar.
Aslian had just been swept off by his wet nurse to be fed and changed
before he was tucked down for a nap, and Thalia missed him already.
Even if he wasn't much for music...

"I'm not sure which is lovelier - the flowers, the music, or the
instrumentalist," Kiomo said with a friendly smile as he walked down
the garden path. "I heard you playing and thought I'd listen in a
bit."

"Oh!" Thalia struck an off-chord in surprise. "You startled me,
Kiomo. I had no idea that I wasn't alone!"

"But Lady Thalia, you are _never_ alone as long as you have a song in
your heart," Kiomo said, clutching at his chest dramatically. "Or so
some sappy harper once spewed."

Thalia hid her smile with the back of her hand. "Who ever said that
has never spent nights staring at their ceiling in the dark, hmm?"

"I always figured they spent every night staring at their ceiling in
the dark and were trying to convince themselves they didn't mind," he
chuckled. "And how about you, Thalia? Been memorizing the cracks in
the ceiling?"

"Of course not. _My_ bed has a canopy."

"All right then," he chuckled, "the folds in your fabric."

Belatedly she realized that he'd omitted her title, and she wasn't
sure if she minded or not. It felt surprisingly- intimate. As was his
question, so she arched her eyebrows and tossed it back at him. "What
do you think?"

"Hmmmm..." he said with an amused gleam in his eye. "I'd say you do
just because you like the gorgeous fabric we picked out together."

"Then you know my vanity far too well." Thalia smiled, then changed
the subject. "So what brings you to my little corner of the Hold,
hmm?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said as he slid onto the seat next to her. "I
guess I just wanted to see what you have been up to. You've been
making yourself a bit scarce around the Hold as of late."

"Oh. Have I?" Thalia turned back to her gitar, seeking solace in its
strings. Penryn's revelation was still raw, and her own action
afterwards an embarrassment. She didn't think she could look him in
the eye, and didn't want to chance it.

"Yes, you have," Kiomo nodded. He studied her thoughtfully.
Penryn's recent announcement had not gone unnoticed. Could that be
part of the problem? He knew they had been close... "Is there
anything bothering you?"

"Not really." She smiled, a little sheepish, and retreated into a
lie. "I just received some letters from my mother and sister, though.
Perhaps I'm a little homesick."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said gently. "No bad news I hope."

"Oh no! Nothing bad. But my siblings are growing up so quickly...
it's been a turn since I've seen them." Thalia sighed and picked out
a minor chord. "We used to be quite close... do you have any
siblings?"

"Too many to count." And probably more that he would never know
about, knowing his father. "Are you the oldest?"

"Yes. You, I believe, are a middle son, are you not?"

"Fifth son," he clarified. "Close to middle. How many of you are
there?"

"Only three - but you are a _fifth_ son?" Her eyes went wide,
thinking of Kiomo's poor mother who had given birth to them all. The
poor woman! "How many sisters do you have? And brothers, in total?"

"Oh shards, you want me to count?" Kiomo ticked them off on his
fingers. "Nine brothers and seven sisters. Eleven are full blooded,
and five half siblings."

"My goodness! No wonder you left." She was quiet a moment. "You must
miss them."

He shrugged a shoulder as he ran a finger along the smooth wooden
neck of her gitar. "Some of them, I suppose. There were too many of
us to really know them all well."

"That's a shame. Family is important. I wish..." She trailed off,
but there was no room in her world for might have been's. Things
might have been different if Aswic hadn't been murdered. Things might
have been different if he'd actually loved her, instead of viewing
her as a necessity. Things might have been different if they'd been
married longer, if they'd had the chance to get to know each other
better... **Would things have been different if Penryn hadn't decided
to marry Rialine?**

"What do you wish, Thalia?" he asked, his voice full of gentle
encouragement. "You and I... we come from the same world. You can
talk to me, you know."

Thalia smiled, somewhat bitterly. "It doesn't matter what I wish. You
and I, we're from the same world. You understand it."

"That doesn't mean you can't _tell_ me what you wish, Thalia." Kiomo
reached over and took her hand to cradle it in between his. "You
need someone to talk to, and I am a good listener. Let me offer you
what encouragement and comfort I can, as a friend."

Shards... she couldn't help but get lost in his dark eyes, even if
she wished that they were blue. His hand was warm against her own and
she felt herself flush. "You first..."

"All right. There is a young woman I care about. I care for her
very much. I hope some day we can be together, but... The way things
are now... It may take some time before that can happen." He shook
his head and looked down at their hands sadly. "I just wish... We
were free."

She nodded understandingly, and wished that she was daring enough to
ask him who the young woman in question was. Perhaps she was the
reason that he'd left his home Hold... "Then I offer my sympathies to
you both. You're right, that we are from the same world..."

"And you?" he asked, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. "Will you
tell me your wish now?"

"I- wish I was home." She smiled, a little sheepishly - even if it
was not her _first_ wish, she still wished it. And it wouldn't be
fair to Penryn otherwise... "Silly, isn't it? I've been here for a
turn, and Eastern Point Hold is still where I think of when I say
'home'."

"Well, nothing says you can't marry someone from home," he said
gently. "Your son's claim is secure, and there are plenty of people
here would protect him with their lives."

"There _is_ no one for me to marry at home, and anyway, I wouldn't
leave Garnet Valley Hold." No matter what Kiomo said, Thalia didn't
_feel_ that her son's claim was secure.

"What _are_ you going to do, Thalia? Have you thought about that?"
Kiomo asked quietly. "Do you hope to marry Lord Ishek? Or Lord
Alrog?"

"That would be for the best, wouldn't it," Thalia said quietly. They
were both good men, and Ishek was rapidly becoming a friend. She
loved how confident he was in business, and how inept he was
socially, but she didn't love _him_. She smiled. "The problem, Holder
Kiomo, is that I read _far_ too many harper romances for my own good.
And, from the sounds of it, so do you!"

"I've never read one of those books in my life, but I see your
point." He nodded with a chuckle. "Well, be patient, Thalia.
Perhaps another opportunity will present itself. Maybe one a bit
more to your liking."

"Perhaps." She picked out another minor chord, then stilled the
singing strings with the flat of her hand. The whisper of wind
through the leaves and blossoms around them sounded soothingly
private. "Or perhaps I'll be the widowed Lady instead, and sit out
here all day and play music to please myself. Or you. What would you
like to hear?"

"How about something happy? Something that promises of brighter
days?"

Her lips twisted into a wry smile. "Are you _sure_ that you don't
read harper novels?"

"I am sure," he grinned. "But you just might convince me to start."

Last updated on the October 1st 2006

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Our World