{"id":1675,"date":"2014-07-07T09:21:16","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T23:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/?p=1675"},"modified":"2014-07-07T09:21:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T23:21:16","slug":"remembrance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/?p=1675","title":{"rendered":"Remembrance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hmm, Kingfisher Circles the Pond. Yes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Merasi\u00ebl mentally followed each maneuver that he went through, alternatively placing a name to the ones she had been working on and mentally noting the ones she had seen but not yet received a name. It wasn\u2019t too difficult, the man was devoted to his art. He practiced every day without fail, and by this point, she figured that she had seen all of his moves\u2014<\/p>\n

Hmph,<\/em> she thought. Haven\u2019t seen that one before. I\u2019ll have to ask him about it later.<\/em><\/p>\n

Merasi\u00ebl continued to watch quietly, her arms folded across her waist as she rested against the bulwark of the ship. Around her, the activity on the Gleaming Endeavor continued as though Gabriel wasn\u2019t practicing only a few feet away from them. She came to the conclusion that they were just used to it by now. He has such a gift,<\/em> she mused. Grace, precision, speed\u2026it\u2019s a pity these traits are wrapped in skin that will wither and fade in a few years. That is, if death doesn\u2019t wait for old age to claim him. But then again, isn\u2019t that true for all of them? They all look so much older than they did in the Crusades. But how many years ago was that? Seven? Ten? When we part next for another span of years, will that be the last I see them?<\/em><\/p>\n

She shivered, shaking away the dark, unwelcome thoughts, and returned her focus to the sunlight flashing off the blade. One, twist of the blade. Two, arc upward to the neck. Three, The Boar Rushes Downhill.<\/p>\n

One, two, three.<\/p>\n

Merasi\u00ebl lost herself in the rhythm of each attack and defense, and thoughts of the past came rushing to the surface, unbidden.<\/p>\n

One, two, three.<\/p>\n

One, two, th–<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014ree. One, two, and three. And one, and two, and–no, no, a thousand times NO!\u201d<\/p>\n

Merasi\u00ebl turned away from her partner, a sour expression on her face. \u201cWhat is the problem now?\u201d she growled.<\/p>\n

A balding, poufy man pulled a small handkerchief from a coat pocket and mopped his head. The already soaked scrap of fabric did little to dry the sweat from his brow. He then pinched his nose in frustration and answered slowly through gritted teeth, \u201cYou are trying to lead. Again! You are the female, you must follow your partner in the Mazurka!\u201d He wrung out the cloth, his jowls flapping as he continued to complain, \u201cMy Lord Tereus, you have asked too much of this old man. I should be guiding the young nobility to their futures, teaching young ladies how to woo the young lords and teaching young lords how to woo the young ladies, not trying to turn a mule into a fine mare! Phah!\u201d He flung his hands up into the air, helplessly. \u201cI thought elves were supposed to be graceful!\u201d He opened his mouth to speak further, only to be cut short by a knife that appeared distressingly close to his neck.<\/p>\n

Merasi\u00ebl spoke from behind his right ear, her voice deadly and quiet. \u201cI am graceful where it counts, instructor mine.\u201d She tilted the edge of her knife into the pale flesh of his throat to emphasize her point. When he made a strangled noise, she released him, and then shoved him to his knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tire of this, Tereus,\u201d Merasi\u00ebl grated. \u201cWhy must I go through this farce? Let me just knife the old man and be done with it.\u201d The instructor squeaked from his kneeling position and Merasi\u00ebl growled down at him, \u201cNot you. You will regrettably continue living.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Tereus approached Merasi\u00ebl and grasped her by the shoulders. His grip was stronger than one would expect from a middle-aged noble. Merasi\u00ebl flinched, but resisted the urge to pull away from his touch. \u201cThe old man has information that we need. You must get close enough to him to retrieve it. When we have what we need, we will allow you to end his life.\u201d He sighed. \u201cThe feast is tonight and you are out of time. Just\u2026don\u2019t let the boy talk you into a dance and you\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Merasi\u00ebl sheathed her blade and stepped around him to gather her things. \u201cI still would prefer my method, but have it your way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before she could leave, Tereus spoke once more. \u201cOh, and you may be there a while before we are ready for you to strike. You\u2019ll need this.\u201d He tossed a pouch at her, which she caught with one hand. She gave the contents a sniff, and made a face at the pungent odor.<\/p>\n

\u201cVenena sterilitatis,\u201d he intoned blandly. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t do at all for you to wind up bearing another heir for House Bonet, my dear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hmm, Kingfisher Circles the Pond. Yes. Merasi\u00ebl mentally followed each maneuver that he went through, alternatively placing a name to the ones she had been working on and mentally noting the ones she had seen but not yet received a name. It wasn\u2019t too difficult, the man was devoted to his art. He practiced every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-banestorm","category-bs_pcs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1675"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1681,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1675\/revisions\/1681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}