Post by Alsivor on Sept 24, 2008 21:01:24 GMT -8
Aleda smiled over her shoulder at G'tet and Kalpeth as they became distant figures across the Bowl. Then it was face forward to return to camp. Her father would have things to say to her, she was sure and her mother would just give her that /look/ that she always did. But she had a ready enough story about further debriefings with the riders about the missing children and her mission for the Weyrleader. Her father could curse about Weyr business not being Caminar business all that he wanted to, but they owed the Weyr their courtesy at least for the sanctuary provided, so she did not think that he would utter those curses too loudly and would accept in the end her reasons for being out.
Of course it was entirely possible they'd all been /seen/ by someone last night. They had not been discreet, but Aleda had been a little too strung out by the events of the past twenty-four hours to care. Now though, now she had to find her resolve and face up to things back home. The morning was crisp and cold, full of the promise of winter and the snow on the peaks around the Weyr was heavy and white. Soon they would be leaving, or so she thought anyway, so it had been when she went back to the past, the Caminar not planning to stay through the winter.
She passed the first wagons, slipping between them and smiled, greeted some of the women out early doing a bit of washing in tubs out of doors. Some of the Caminar used the laundry rooms in the lower caverns, others preferred to avoid the Headwoman's wrath and prejudice. And old woman stood on the back of her wagon hanging socks out to dry on the line stretched between roof posts and Aleda beamed and wished her a very pleasant day in Noestacan. The woman smiled back and offered a traditional Caminar blessing in return. Ironically it was a fertility blessing and Aleda smirked to herself after she had passed the woman's wagon.
She would brew her tea and drink it when she got home. Though she liked G'tet well enough and knew he wanted children some day from past conversations, now was not the time to wind up carrying his baby. A shadow pulled away from the side of a wagon as she went by and a young man fell into step with her, earning a startled look from Aleda.
"Good morning, Aleda," the unfamiliar man said to her and the sabedoria blinked at him in confusion, utterly unable to place him. Something like hurt flashed in his eyes briefly and he looked away from her, cleared his throat and looked back, patience in his expression now. "Welcome back after your long time away. It's good to see you looking so lovely." His brown eyes swept over her gown briefly, something admiring but not predatory in his gaze. "I'd hoped you would come to see me, last night. I have missed you. Our walks. Our talks." He seemed to expect some response from her that she could not place. Who was he?
Then her mother's words of the day before slipped back into her mind and she tentatively spoke the name she had heard on Carolina's lips. "Jevro?" Her head tilted to the side curiously as she took him in. As men went he wasn't a bad looking specimen. Not as good looking as her own brother, who could claim all of the exotic handsomeness that made some Caminar legendary amongst the plantado, but still, pleasing to the eye. He was maybe an inch or two taller than she, compact of build, fit with the look of one who smiled and laughed often, mouth a little uneven but not unattractively so, expressive. His eyes were a shade lighter than her own but not Silvio's striking pale hazel, warm brown flecked with green, visible this close and from the angle of the morning light. His hair fell a little long, curling only slightly at he ends where it brushed against his collar, loose waves swept back from a broad forehead. Amusement colored his face now as she named him so hesitantly.
"You have forgotten me, Aleda," he said lightly almost teasingly, but with a faint note of regret in his voice. But Aleda only shook her head and without understanding quite why, reached out to rest her hand on his arm. "No, Jevro, please forgive me, it is a complicated thing to explain, but I have never met you until this moment. It has to do with the mission the Weyrleader sent me on. But, things have changed for me, as they have not for you. When I left, I did not know you, my father had not even come close to making any arrangement for me."
Jevro looked over at Aleda, face solemn now as he measured her words, measured her expression and took in the candor to be found in her eyes, in her tone of voice. "You have never met me, until now?" Astonishment certainly, but to her surprise, not disbelief in his voice. He trusted her word, just like that. There was also an undercurrent of compassion and of course, confusion as he tried to come to terms with what she was saying. At last, regret seeped into his face. "You do not remember the start of the Gather here. You do not remember me." He paused took a breath and corrected himself. "You do not know me."
Sympathy creased Aleda's forehead and she slipped her hand under his elbow, gently slid her arm through his. "I am sorry, Jevro, but no, I do not." He laughed a little, the sound faintly edged with something that was not quite bitterness but could be that given time to fester. "The Aleda I knew would understand that as some sort of irony, or perhaps as something fitting. It has been the story of my life to some extent, that no sooner do I find something that makes me as happy, as you have since just before you left, it is taken from me." His far hand lifted and slowly dropped to cover hers warmly and his fingers lingered a little bit more than was strictly polite.
Aleda did not pull away from the touch, but neither did she encourage more. "I had hoped, Aleda, that by now I had won your heart and you would consent to my suit. But I think perhaps that it is all undone by -- whatever it is that has happened, that you have been doing since you went away. I can only ask that perhaps I be allowed the chance to start over." His voice thickened a little with emotion there and Aleda felt stricken and the notes of faint despair and regret in his tone.
"I -- I cannot promise you anything, Jevro. But it seems to me that that is only fair, I would only ask for a little time. A little time to -- get used to being back now. To being here amongst our people again after being -- away." She could not say 'so long away', because for her it was a matter of a single day while so many months had passed here. Again the loss of time, the vast ripples that their change to the past had caused made her head swim with the magnitude. One whack of Kalpeth's tail and the whole world had changed. This man's life had changed and she was responsible for that change, in part, and for his stoically managed pain now.
They had reached her family's group of wagons and they had to turn sideways to slip between Favio's wagon and the one shared by her sisters. Carolina was up and tending to the fire as klah and ceral bubbled over its flames. Aleda's mother looked up as the pair approached and though there was faint surprise on her face, she smiled brightly to see the two together. Some other mothers might scold at the implication that their daughter had been out all night with the young man seeking her hand, but Carolina was overjoyed and clearly relieved.
Aleda couldn't help but smirk a little at the ready excuse that Jevro had just provided her with. Far better for Favio and Carolina to think she was letting the man who would be her fiance have his way with her, than an entirely inappropriate greenrider who generally preferred men. A memory from the night before slipped through her mind, the feeling of G'tet's fingers as they'd laced with hers and tightened in the throes of passion and Aleda's breath caught in her throat. Carolina looked away suddenly, grinning to herself and stirred the cereal. For the first time in a while, Aleda felt a blush lift in her cheeks, but she only turned to Jevro and boldly leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for walking me back," she said in a voice meant to carry. Her father's head poked out of the door of the wagon, face half-shaven the other still bearing a skin of white foam. His eyes fastened on the company Aleda was keeping and he too blinked in surprise then /smiled/ very widely.
"Jevro, will you not stay for morning klah?" he invited. "I need to finish up," he gestured to his face, "but we would be glad to welcome you around our fire," he said hospitably. Jevro slid a brief sidelong glance towards Aleda, squeezed her hand again then gently disengaged his arm. "Thank you very much for inviting me, Favio. You honor me and my family with the offer, but I must refuse this morning. I only wanted to see Aleda safely home." He gave a half bow of his head then and shot Aleda a cover, semi-amused look. He was /covering/ for her!. She widened her eyes at him a little but smiled back. "Thank you, Jevro," she said very sincerely and rested her hand on his arm again for just a moment before he turned to go. Favio nodded just once and smiled again. "Another time perhaps. You are always welcome here." He favored Aleda with a pleased look and ducked back inside to finish his toilette.
Aleda moved to cross the fire circle to her wagon but her mother reached out to stay her with one hand, searching her daughter's face. Whatever she found there made her smile again and her regard was warm. "It is good to have you home, Aleda. Perhaps you will see to Milo later? He has been a little off since you left, got a bad knock on the head in a fight." This was news to Aleda and her brows lifted, her professional mien coming to the fore. "Certainly, Mama, I will go and wash up, change and have a look as soon as he is out after breakfast." Aleda started to move along again when Carolina cleared her throat and said lightly: "We will not expect you at dinner, though you may stay of course." The sabedoria dropped a look over her shoulder and smiled at her mother. "Thank you, Mama," she said softly and somewhere deep inside, something in her quailed at the deception she was perpetuating on her well-meaning parents.
She hastened her pace up the steps of her wagon and threw the door open, shut it behind her. Silvio was in her bed again and she snorted softly under her breath, then put the latch down across the door and moved to her press to pull out practical clothes for the day. "Silvio. Get up. I'm home and I want my bed back. Please tell me I don't need to launder the sheets again, hmm?" His sleep-tousled head came up, showing sleep-hazed eyes and Silvio focused slowly on his sister. "Huh? What? Oh, no, no they are fine. Fresh last night." And she saw his brain catch up with the rest of him, the goofy smile that split his face as he likely remembered the night before. Her eyes rolled ceilingward as she briskly went about the business of changing, not shy in front of her brother. "You have it very bad, brother mine." He sighed deeply and nodded. "I do. I have to figure something out, Aleda." Silvio scrubbed at his face and pushed the covers back, slid out of bed. Aleda noted absently that he'd been sleeping naked as he bent to pick up his clothes from the floor and dress. Boys. So messy.
"Jevro walked me home this morning," she noted casually as she poured water from the pitcher into the basin to wash her hand and face. "I will need you to tell me everything you know about him. Because of the changes, he knows me, remembers me, but I have no knowledge of him. He is a perfect stranger and yet, supposedly I have been walking out with him for the last little while before we left." Silvio sucked his breath in and stared at his sister for a moment, pants on, but not buttoned, shirt half on over his head. Hastily he finished the motion that drew the shirt down his chest and fastened up buttons on his waistband then padded over to his sister while she washed. "Sure, I can do my best. I am not close with him, though we know his family."
For the next few minutes, Silvio recounted the history of Jevro's family and theirs, how Aleda had known Jevro as a friend at least, off and on for turns since their families often met up on the road, since Jevro's father traded in the fibers that Favio most often used to make his fabrics. Things had not become serious though until this summer gathering, when Favio had started talks with Jevro's father, Varon. Aleda listened quietly, dabbing her face off with a towel and picked up the basin to empty into the bucket by the door, set it back down on the stand and refilled it from the pitcher, gesturing for Silvio to go ahead.
Silvio ran his hand over his jaw thoughtfully, decided against a shave and plunged his hands into the water for a hasty washup. "So, I have known him much of my life and we are at least friends, but I have not turned aside his suit as swiftly as I have others that father has tried to arrange." She recapped some of what Silvio had just said and he nodded a few times. "Papa is only waiting for you to say that you would like him to make the arrangement firm." Aleda nodded and chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Tell me about /him/ though, what is he like? What does he like? What have I been like with him?"
Silvio felt sympathy for his sister. She had no idea about the fondness that had seemed to grow up between her and Jevro. Did not remember him. He felt deep relief that his own life had remained so unchanged, that he and Genet seemed unaffected for the most part. So he told her about Jevro and how he was unlike so many others that her father had tried to set her up with. There seemed to be some honest connection with her old friend: they enjoyed each other's company, laughed often. Jevro was never pushy, polite, with a good sense of humor.
Aleda listened again as she made the bed, tidied a few things up about the wagon. When Silvio finished, she took a deep breath and hung up that last bundle of herbs, then turned to face her brother. "I still do not really remember him, though something almost seems to be shaping in my mind, like a whisper, something I forgot and is only just coming back. It's so strange to have someone come to you and say that they know you so well, that you have meant something to each other." She sighed softly and smoothed her hands down her skirts. "Let's go have breakfast. I can smell the cereal and Mama will want to have it taken care of as soon as possible. I'm to see to Milo today as well and I have rounds to make amongst the wagons to see those who were under my care before I left." Beat. "I never intended to leave them for so long." She squared her shoulders and shook her braided hair back, smiled at her brother. "And I will cover for you tonight so you may see your Genet." That brought a bright beaming smile to Silvio's face as he bent to lace up his shoes and Aleda opened the door and slipped out to join their family for breakfast.
Of course it was entirely possible they'd all been /seen/ by someone last night. They had not been discreet, but Aleda had been a little too strung out by the events of the past twenty-four hours to care. Now though, now she had to find her resolve and face up to things back home. The morning was crisp and cold, full of the promise of winter and the snow on the peaks around the Weyr was heavy and white. Soon they would be leaving, or so she thought anyway, so it had been when she went back to the past, the Caminar not planning to stay through the winter.
She passed the first wagons, slipping between them and smiled, greeted some of the women out early doing a bit of washing in tubs out of doors. Some of the Caminar used the laundry rooms in the lower caverns, others preferred to avoid the Headwoman's wrath and prejudice. And old woman stood on the back of her wagon hanging socks out to dry on the line stretched between roof posts and Aleda beamed and wished her a very pleasant day in Noestacan. The woman smiled back and offered a traditional Caminar blessing in return. Ironically it was a fertility blessing and Aleda smirked to herself after she had passed the woman's wagon.
She would brew her tea and drink it when she got home. Though she liked G'tet well enough and knew he wanted children some day from past conversations, now was not the time to wind up carrying his baby. A shadow pulled away from the side of a wagon as she went by and a young man fell into step with her, earning a startled look from Aleda.
"Good morning, Aleda," the unfamiliar man said to her and the sabedoria blinked at him in confusion, utterly unable to place him. Something like hurt flashed in his eyes briefly and he looked away from her, cleared his throat and looked back, patience in his expression now. "Welcome back after your long time away. It's good to see you looking so lovely." His brown eyes swept over her gown briefly, something admiring but not predatory in his gaze. "I'd hoped you would come to see me, last night. I have missed you. Our walks. Our talks." He seemed to expect some response from her that she could not place. Who was he?
Then her mother's words of the day before slipped back into her mind and she tentatively spoke the name she had heard on Carolina's lips. "Jevro?" Her head tilted to the side curiously as she took him in. As men went he wasn't a bad looking specimen. Not as good looking as her own brother, who could claim all of the exotic handsomeness that made some Caminar legendary amongst the plantado, but still, pleasing to the eye. He was maybe an inch or two taller than she, compact of build, fit with the look of one who smiled and laughed often, mouth a little uneven but not unattractively so, expressive. His eyes were a shade lighter than her own but not Silvio's striking pale hazel, warm brown flecked with green, visible this close and from the angle of the morning light. His hair fell a little long, curling only slightly at he ends where it brushed against his collar, loose waves swept back from a broad forehead. Amusement colored his face now as she named him so hesitantly.
"You have forgotten me, Aleda," he said lightly almost teasingly, but with a faint note of regret in his voice. But Aleda only shook her head and without understanding quite why, reached out to rest her hand on his arm. "No, Jevro, please forgive me, it is a complicated thing to explain, but I have never met you until this moment. It has to do with the mission the Weyrleader sent me on. But, things have changed for me, as they have not for you. When I left, I did not know you, my father had not even come close to making any arrangement for me."
Jevro looked over at Aleda, face solemn now as he measured her words, measured her expression and took in the candor to be found in her eyes, in her tone of voice. "You have never met me, until now?" Astonishment certainly, but to her surprise, not disbelief in his voice. He trusted her word, just like that. There was also an undercurrent of compassion and of course, confusion as he tried to come to terms with what she was saying. At last, regret seeped into his face. "You do not remember the start of the Gather here. You do not remember me." He paused took a breath and corrected himself. "You do not know me."
Sympathy creased Aleda's forehead and she slipped her hand under his elbow, gently slid her arm through his. "I am sorry, Jevro, but no, I do not." He laughed a little, the sound faintly edged with something that was not quite bitterness but could be that given time to fester. "The Aleda I knew would understand that as some sort of irony, or perhaps as something fitting. It has been the story of my life to some extent, that no sooner do I find something that makes me as happy, as you have since just before you left, it is taken from me." His far hand lifted and slowly dropped to cover hers warmly and his fingers lingered a little bit more than was strictly polite.
Aleda did not pull away from the touch, but neither did she encourage more. "I had hoped, Aleda, that by now I had won your heart and you would consent to my suit. But I think perhaps that it is all undone by -- whatever it is that has happened, that you have been doing since you went away. I can only ask that perhaps I be allowed the chance to start over." His voice thickened a little with emotion there and Aleda felt stricken and the notes of faint despair and regret in his tone.
"I -- I cannot promise you anything, Jevro. But it seems to me that that is only fair, I would only ask for a little time. A little time to -- get used to being back now. To being here amongst our people again after being -- away." She could not say 'so long away', because for her it was a matter of a single day while so many months had passed here. Again the loss of time, the vast ripples that their change to the past had caused made her head swim with the magnitude. One whack of Kalpeth's tail and the whole world had changed. This man's life had changed and she was responsible for that change, in part, and for his stoically managed pain now.
They had reached her family's group of wagons and they had to turn sideways to slip between Favio's wagon and the one shared by her sisters. Carolina was up and tending to the fire as klah and ceral bubbled over its flames. Aleda's mother looked up as the pair approached and though there was faint surprise on her face, she smiled brightly to see the two together. Some other mothers might scold at the implication that their daughter had been out all night with the young man seeking her hand, but Carolina was overjoyed and clearly relieved.
Aleda couldn't help but smirk a little at the ready excuse that Jevro had just provided her with. Far better for Favio and Carolina to think she was letting the man who would be her fiance have his way with her, than an entirely inappropriate greenrider who generally preferred men. A memory from the night before slipped through her mind, the feeling of G'tet's fingers as they'd laced with hers and tightened in the throes of passion and Aleda's breath caught in her throat. Carolina looked away suddenly, grinning to herself and stirred the cereal. For the first time in a while, Aleda felt a blush lift in her cheeks, but she only turned to Jevro and boldly leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Thank you for walking me back," she said in a voice meant to carry. Her father's head poked out of the door of the wagon, face half-shaven the other still bearing a skin of white foam. His eyes fastened on the company Aleda was keeping and he too blinked in surprise then /smiled/ very widely.
"Jevro, will you not stay for morning klah?" he invited. "I need to finish up," he gestured to his face, "but we would be glad to welcome you around our fire," he said hospitably. Jevro slid a brief sidelong glance towards Aleda, squeezed her hand again then gently disengaged his arm. "Thank you very much for inviting me, Favio. You honor me and my family with the offer, but I must refuse this morning. I only wanted to see Aleda safely home." He gave a half bow of his head then and shot Aleda a cover, semi-amused look. He was /covering/ for her!. She widened her eyes at him a little but smiled back. "Thank you, Jevro," she said very sincerely and rested her hand on his arm again for just a moment before he turned to go. Favio nodded just once and smiled again. "Another time perhaps. You are always welcome here." He favored Aleda with a pleased look and ducked back inside to finish his toilette.
Aleda moved to cross the fire circle to her wagon but her mother reached out to stay her with one hand, searching her daughter's face. Whatever she found there made her smile again and her regard was warm. "It is good to have you home, Aleda. Perhaps you will see to Milo later? He has been a little off since you left, got a bad knock on the head in a fight." This was news to Aleda and her brows lifted, her professional mien coming to the fore. "Certainly, Mama, I will go and wash up, change and have a look as soon as he is out after breakfast." Aleda started to move along again when Carolina cleared her throat and said lightly: "We will not expect you at dinner, though you may stay of course." The sabedoria dropped a look over her shoulder and smiled at her mother. "Thank you, Mama," she said softly and somewhere deep inside, something in her quailed at the deception she was perpetuating on her well-meaning parents.
She hastened her pace up the steps of her wagon and threw the door open, shut it behind her. Silvio was in her bed again and she snorted softly under her breath, then put the latch down across the door and moved to her press to pull out practical clothes for the day. "Silvio. Get up. I'm home and I want my bed back. Please tell me I don't need to launder the sheets again, hmm?" His sleep-tousled head came up, showing sleep-hazed eyes and Silvio focused slowly on his sister. "Huh? What? Oh, no, no they are fine. Fresh last night." And she saw his brain catch up with the rest of him, the goofy smile that split his face as he likely remembered the night before. Her eyes rolled ceilingward as she briskly went about the business of changing, not shy in front of her brother. "You have it very bad, brother mine." He sighed deeply and nodded. "I do. I have to figure something out, Aleda." Silvio scrubbed at his face and pushed the covers back, slid out of bed. Aleda noted absently that he'd been sleeping naked as he bent to pick up his clothes from the floor and dress. Boys. So messy.
"Jevro walked me home this morning," she noted casually as she poured water from the pitcher into the basin to wash her hand and face. "I will need you to tell me everything you know about him. Because of the changes, he knows me, remembers me, but I have no knowledge of him. He is a perfect stranger and yet, supposedly I have been walking out with him for the last little while before we left." Silvio sucked his breath in and stared at his sister for a moment, pants on, but not buttoned, shirt half on over his head. Hastily he finished the motion that drew the shirt down his chest and fastened up buttons on his waistband then padded over to his sister while she washed. "Sure, I can do my best. I am not close with him, though we know his family."
For the next few minutes, Silvio recounted the history of Jevro's family and theirs, how Aleda had known Jevro as a friend at least, off and on for turns since their families often met up on the road, since Jevro's father traded in the fibers that Favio most often used to make his fabrics. Things had not become serious though until this summer gathering, when Favio had started talks with Jevro's father, Varon. Aleda listened quietly, dabbing her face off with a towel and picked up the basin to empty into the bucket by the door, set it back down on the stand and refilled it from the pitcher, gesturing for Silvio to go ahead.
Silvio ran his hand over his jaw thoughtfully, decided against a shave and plunged his hands into the water for a hasty washup. "So, I have known him much of my life and we are at least friends, but I have not turned aside his suit as swiftly as I have others that father has tried to arrange." She recapped some of what Silvio had just said and he nodded a few times. "Papa is only waiting for you to say that you would like him to make the arrangement firm." Aleda nodded and chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Tell me about /him/ though, what is he like? What does he like? What have I been like with him?"
Silvio felt sympathy for his sister. She had no idea about the fondness that had seemed to grow up between her and Jevro. Did not remember him. He felt deep relief that his own life had remained so unchanged, that he and Genet seemed unaffected for the most part. So he told her about Jevro and how he was unlike so many others that her father had tried to set her up with. There seemed to be some honest connection with her old friend: they enjoyed each other's company, laughed often. Jevro was never pushy, polite, with a good sense of humor.
Aleda listened again as she made the bed, tidied a few things up about the wagon. When Silvio finished, she took a deep breath and hung up that last bundle of herbs, then turned to face her brother. "I still do not really remember him, though something almost seems to be shaping in my mind, like a whisper, something I forgot and is only just coming back. It's so strange to have someone come to you and say that they know you so well, that you have meant something to each other." She sighed softly and smoothed her hands down her skirts. "Let's go have breakfast. I can smell the cereal and Mama will want to have it taken care of as soon as possible. I'm to see to Milo today as well and I have rounds to make amongst the wagons to see those who were under my care before I left." Beat. "I never intended to leave them for so long." She squared her shoulders and shook her braided hair back, smiled at her brother. "And I will cover for you tonight so you may see your Genet." That brought a bright beaming smile to Silvio's face as he bent to lace up his shoes and Aleda opened the door and slipped out to join their family for breakfast.
