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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 12:01:05 GMT -8
"Really fabulous, considering it was not his main craft..." Salina smiled again and turned slightly at the other man's call. Oh, really, this was ridiculous. She couldn't do this, couldn't accept some charm as J'fel put it. Really. She should just tell him no, that they'd move on. But it was all so pretty...
"I suppose," she murmured. "Though perhaps the charm may not be found." She followed the light hold that the Weyrleader put on her, stepping closer to the cart once more. She'd never known her will to be so easily swayed...She considered the jewelry and glanced up at the man who so easily manipulated her, lips pursed and eyes considering.
She gave him just a quick, impish little grin, absolutely delighted before she turned to Duarte, voice firm. She was sticking to this little plan now quite resolutely. "Do you have a ring like that one," she pointed to the small band she'd considered before, "with a little touch of...charm to it?" She slated a look over at J'fel, shaking her head in dubious confusion. If he wanted to buy her some charm, she'd let him.
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 12:47:59 GMT -8
"Well, that would be a shame," said J'fel, watching the girl as she moved beneath his touch toward the jeweler's cart. Once Salina stopped, he unhanded her and took one more step to flank her quite closely, his chest almost to the back of her shoulder. Ostensibly, he took this position to watch from nearly the same perspective that she did the selection process; ostensibly, his interest was in what he might be about to buy.
Jordeth's haughty sniff was quite dry in his rider's mind. You should have searched her, at this rate.[/i]
"Of course. We have no shortage of charm here," riffed Duarte, all too willing to take up the mode in which his buyers were speaking, if that would keep them likely to buy. He glanced briefly at the ring Salina had before considered, then leaned over to take up from farther over on the table a flat, velvet-lined tray containing more rings. Here there were braided rings of copper and gold, silver filigree rings, thick rings with tiny jewels and dainty rings sporting enormous gems. From among them all the jeweler's deft dark fingertips plucked out a small ring made of two tones of gold, each a gleaming cord twined like vine with its counterpart. Where the vines were farthest apart, in one of the tiny gaps between metals, a small sapphire rested like a droplet of ocean blue.
"There; this even has a charm of its own," Duarte murmured, setting the tray down atop one of the others before looking up. The Caminar man must have taken the grin on the weyrleader's face for permission, for next he held the dainty ring out to Salina: "Let us see it on your hand."
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 13:00:22 GMT -8
Salina ignored the position J'fel took up beside her, though she felt that twitch of nervousness as he looked over her shoulder at her selection, that twitch of nervousness that someone-someone she didn't know very well-stood so close to her. If there was anything underlying that, she hid it well.
The Candidate watched the jeweler carefully, watching as he took up a different tray from farther down his table. There was such a wide assortment of little baubles nestled comfortably within the velvet that her smile bloomed wide. She was like most females and was utterly delighted and enchanted by the jewelry before her.
She watched as Duarte plucked out a ring from the ocean of the others and eyes went wide. It was so pretty. It looked like braid, with the two different hues of gold that twisted and entwined together. The glint of sapphire made the lust knife into her heart. Much as a woman could look over a man, or a man a woman, so she wanted the delicate piece. She smiled at the Caminar and reached out to take the ring.
She slipped it onto a finger daintily, easily letting the ring slide to where hand met finger. Head then tilted slightly as she considered it before turning to J'fel, entire self alight with her pleasure. She looked different, much different than the usual solemn girl she was. It was as if the sun had come out as her smiled stretched wide, her eyes gleaming.
"What do you think?"
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 13:29:18 GMT -8
Duarte's work, he knew, was almost done. He had only now to wait for the weyrleader to find his pockets. Until then, the Caminar trader would observe, and as he observed, reflect upon the price he'd ask that young man to pay for this bauble, the candidate's good luck charm. Perhaps he could settle his son's spirits if he sold a few of the younger jeweler's works at a tidy gain before the gather was done.
J'fel, for his part, was either having trouble focusing on the ring, or not bothering to try. It was Salina's smile he was really looking at, though as he stepped back a little to give her room to turn and show off the borrowed bauble in, his blue gaze did flick now and again to the sapphire that twinkled in the setting of twined gold.
"Looks lucky," said the boy weyrleader, voice so low it barely reached past whispering; such quiet roughness made his words sound lusty. "And lovely, on you." Now his hand came up, fingers bent to try to catch hers over his that he might pull her hand closer, for a better look at that ring.
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 13:40:40 GMT -8
Salina flushed, glancing down and back up. "Yes, I suppose it does," she said, trying to maintain decorum and not notice how the weyrleader was watching her, how his voice sounded. She bit at her lip and let her hand lay over his, the sapphire flashing as the firelight danced over it.
"It is very nice. Really, though, I think it's much too nice for me. Maybe a necklace would be better?" She babbled. "It's so pretty...But so nice. But I don't want to empty your pockets, J'fel, I think you'd like to get something for yourself too, right?" Shards. Since when did she ramble? She didn't ramble. Ever. Well, this was a happy mess.
She ignored their small audience, really only the Caminar jeweler who watched with such greedy eyes. Shards. She smiled again, fighting her serenity into place. "I won't take your marks. Not for something so small."
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 14:33:12 GMT -8
As his gesture had promised, J'fel brought the candidate's hand closer; as expected, the weyrleader gave the ring a much more thorough inspection. But he kept holding Salina's hand even after his gaze had slid back up to her face, smirking crookedly with brows akimbo as the young woman spoke, and spoke more, and kept speaking.
"You needn't take them," said J'fel after a moment, his breath warm across the young woman's knuckles. "That's his job." He meant Duarte, though the bronzerider hardly tipped his head toward the stallkeeper to make this clear.
It was not a long distance from the weyrleader's lips to those fingers; he would have only to bend his head to press a kiss to that raised, beringed hand. But the weyrleader's head did not bend, and the kiss did not come. It remained latent, a promise threatened delightfully in the depths of ocean eyes.
"But of course I would have you be content with whatever your charm turns out to be," said J'fel, and released Salina's hand. "Have you something else in mind?"
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 14:45:56 GMT -8
Salina fought her usual calm demeanor into place, even if it was thin and slipping and sliding atrociously. She inhaled deeply, feeling the oxygen clear her mind from the babbling induced by the bronzerider's effective flirting.
She watched him, eyes hooked to his like a tunnelsnake to a wherry, the grey going slightly misty as she viewed the promise he hid. She kept her breathing regular, her heart still, and it was by far a mammoth force of effort.
She smiled, the regret lancing through her, as he released her hand. She turned back to the cart, grateful for the chance to collect herself. She looked over the wares and then shrugged, looking back at J'fel, a slight smile on her pale face.
"What other charm do you think I would like?"
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 15:08:24 GMT -8
When Salina turned her gaze back to him, J'fel was closer; he'd stepped near again as she gathered herself, looking over the wares offered there. The young man's mouth now held a much smaller smile, though it was no less intense for its intimacy. "Well," he murmured, the word drawn long, though the clicking of the track of his mind had not slowed at all. "I have some ideas."
Duarte was watching the bronzerider, however it might seem that his eyes were lowered and his attention on the tray of rings from which he'd plucked the one now resident on Salina's finger. So it was that the jeweler was so quick to see it when the weyrleader's hand slipped into his pocket.
The young man bowed his head, hair tangling forward along his temple, and pretended to look at the mark-pieces that were cradled in his palm. Salina, however, could probably still feel the glint of his attention through the corners of his eyes. In a moment he turned his hand over to hide the marks there and held this loose fist out toward the trader; of course Duarte's palm was ready to accept the rider's bid, and the offer was made without words so the lady would not know the value placed upon her adornment. Proper.
Less proper was J'fel's leaning closer to Salina, as though he might murmur for her ear alone. And he did murmur, and his tone was sultry, deep and purring, as rich with promise as those large, hooded eyes.
"Let's see what this one brings you, first."
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 15:17:06 GMT -8
Breath froze as Salina looked at J'fel, taking quick note of their close proximity. Eyes looked mist as his words invaded her mind and then she was smiling, a slow curl of lips as her head tilted just slightly to the side, watching him as she watched her, a considering look to the thoughts that gleamed evident within irises.
Even when he took a handful of marks from his hands, she could still feel J'fel's attention upon her. Mouth twisted, very much amused, as she watched him hand over the marks. She didn't care what her little good luck charm had cost now. He didn't seem to care either.
She listened to his whisper, lips parted slightly as heart gave a little jump in her chest. His tone was full of dark nights and secrets, the words proprietary had anyone heard them. But together...
She made herself pout slightly, pulling back just the tiniest bit so he could catch sight of the look on her face. She sighed, head shaking. "But we only looked at the one," she murmured. "However pretty and however much it fits. Wouldn't it be better for the selection?"
She sighed again, eyes downcast, looking at the present she'd been bought and then back at the man leaning so close towards her. "It is so pretty, J'fel. How can I thank you?" Her lips curled just slightly, eyes once more on his handsome face.
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 15:56:14 GMT -8
"Two," corrected J'fel a bit smokily, unknowingly saving Duarte the trouble of saving his sale by persuading the lady they'd done shopping enough.
The jeweler was, anyway, busy putting those marks away in his cashbox. Evidently the weyrleader's bid had been adequate in quantity to purchase not just the ring, but freedom from haggling as well, and the hint had not been lost on the trader.
"You needn't," said the rider upon noting, peripherally, that his offer had been accepted, and slipped his hand beneath Salina's newly adorned one. Then he turned, opening out his other arm to offer her a path away from the cart into the press of the gather. "Think of it as I mean it: a charm for luck, a sign of my faith in you."
Jordeth's amusement would not wait any longer. Do you even know what's coming out of your mouth?[/i] he asked his rider, who replied distractably but in good spirits, Only partly, but I do know it'll pay off handsomely. Hush.
But the bronze could not bring himself to hush. Much as he might like to support this endeavor, it was he who'd brought them this far and he'd not have J'fel step them even a handspan backward.
Aderes might like to think you have a keen eye for candidates, my rider, but I doubt she would want to believe you conspire to replace her.
It might have seemed a little abrupt, how J'fel's fingers tightened just the smallest bit upon Salina's, almost as if he wished to fix her to the spot even though a second before he'd offered her the way back into the aisle between the gather stalls.
And then he turned to her, and let go of her hand again.
"You'll tell me," said J'fel, his voice still quiet but suddenly more important than it was intimate, "if you hear anything I should know?"
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 16:11:34 GMT -8
Salina laughed softly, giving in to the correction. "Fine, two, but really only one with any real curiousity and consideration to buy." She glanced down at the ring again, not knowing that another delighted smile was painted vividly across her face. She'd never had anything quite so fine...It was just beautiful. She glanced back up at him, smile in place.
"All right. A good luck charm. A charm of faith. However you'd like to put it." She followed his leap, teeth sinking into her lip once more. This was rather a very rapid change of course, wasn't it?
She glanced around the Gather, cautiously pleased to see so many Telgari and Caminar in one place, and in such high spirits. Could it really be possible? For the people of Pern and the Caminar to get along? Surely it wasn't the Caminar who were stealing children. They'd not want to, not with their beliefs and customs.
Salina sighed, about to turn and mention her thoughts to J'fel when she felt his fingers tighten about hers. A quick frown puckered at her brow as she turned to him even as he did to her, releasing her hand. She inhaled and the confusion was gone from her face-the serene and solem mask was back.
A rapid change of course indeed...she thought glumly to herself before she was nodding in answer to the question he asked. "Yes, of course. I doubt I'd stumble across any pertinent information, but I would of course share any I learned with my weyrleader." A wall was up, snapping into place, turning them into weyrleader and candidate once more, rather than a girl and a boy flirting harmlessly.
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 16:24:06 GMT -8
J'fel had, it seemed, little more respect for walls than he had for the marks he'd spent to buy the young woman's - flirtation? Confidence? Services as a spy, however unlikely they might be? "I would be most grateful," he replied, not quite as flirtatious as before but hardly formal, either - and then the young weyrleader stepped back from her, as though readied to enter the crowd again.
But he didn't. "One more thing," he said instead, and regained with a half-step the space he'd put between them. One hand came up to gesture Salina near, so that he might convey this 'one more' thing in a softer voice, a voice made sweet by a pass of tongue across pretty lips.
He could feel Jordeth's disapproval, and got a bit of a thrill out of being so defiant. Candidate or not, she was willing. I'll have her be willing again when candidacy's past, he boasted to the bronze, but from the dragon there was no reply. No matter. He had words to say to Salina, and faith that she'd hear them.
"I do think it'll bring you luck," said J'fel, quite quietly, ignoring the jeweler behind his jewels just as well as the jeweler in turn ignored the plantado who were no longer his customers, now.
The weyrleader smiled and lifted a coy brow. "If it does, come tell me about it."
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 20:02:04 GMT -8
"Of course," the candidate murmured once more, a bit put out by this rather sudden change of events. All had been so well and then this. She didn't fool herself thinking that she was alone in a bronzerider's charms but it had been so nice to be noticed, to be flirted with and flirt back. Still, the dragon was out of the egg now and there was nothing to be done about it.
She had turned from him, expecting him to leave but he was calling her back. "One more thing." She turned, inquisitive, only to lean in further to this sudden confidence, urged so by the hand that he raised. A brow rose in intrigue at his words, at this sudden turnabout. again.
She was laughing softly, shaking her sunny hair as grey eyes rolled towards the dark sky, alight with good humor and laughter once more. "Oh, I shall. Though you'll be able to see all, my weyrleader. There's not much privacy on the Sands." She chuckled, head shaking once more.
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Post by Omnia Munda on Jun 17, 2008 20:32:03 GMT -8
J'fel had to restrain himself from grinning too wide. Wouldn't do for the girl to think he'd devour her on the spot.
"No, certainly not," purred the young weyrleader, still closed in on the grey-eyed girl; that those eyes rolled skyward troubled him even less than the wall had done. In fact he reached up toward her face with a sudden hand like he might cup her cheek and by so doing capture her gaze - but the gesture halted with just inches between skin and skin, and slowly, with another lick of his lips, J'fel drew his hand back into place by his side.
But one brow raised high in a knowing arch, and promise was lit in his eyes. He hadn't touched her like so, not now, but the thought would not be forgotten.
"Not on the sands," agreed J'fel, voice held low and pressed deep. "But there's privacy enough in my weyr."
His piece said, he stood back from her and with a twitch of fingertips to his temple saluted the candidate. "See you when the dragons hum."
And then J'fel really did depart, the swell of the crowd opening and then closing its maw around his retreat.
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Post by Xinnai on Jun 17, 2008 20:50:42 GMT -8
Salina blinked, quite literally trapped by the swelling crowd and J'fel's hand as the weyrleader reached out, as if to touch her cheek, his eyes warm and his voice purring. She watched, those grey eyes wide in her face before his hand fell and he licked his lips.
She relaxed inwardly, not even knowing she'd tensed up. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she was so excited. She tried not to gulp as she swallowed, watching him as he watched her, that promise lingering there.
And then he spoke again and her hands curled into fists before the smile curled at her mouth, making her feel pretty, feel bold. It was inviting, sinuous. "True..." She nodded at his salute, the contortment of her lips turning to pleasure as she said her goodbyes. She watched his back disappear before she was slipping into the crowds as well. She did have to still look for something of her own to buy...
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