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rainbowfic2022-09-06 08:56 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2022-09-06 08:56 pm
Entry tags:
White Opal #13 [Starfall]
Name: Open and Above Board
Story: Starfall
Colors: White Opal #13 (castles in the sky)
Supplies and Styles:
Word Count: 1245
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Notes: 1337; Starfall Manor. Aimon Merner, Tannis Kellen, Camecia Tolling, Arin Teykal. (Now I’m trying to get back to a bit more of a chronological order, at least to start with, and this follows on fairly quickly from the very first piece I wrote for this canon.)
Summary: Aimon arrives at Starfall Manor and unmasks himself.
Aimon wasn’t sure what he had expected from Starfall Manor, but as he finally reached the end of the upward mountain path, his first sight of the building caused him to blink in surprise.
Building, singular, was not entirely correct. The main body of it was one long, low stone and brick manor typical of others he’d seen passing through Northern District, but it had several disparate additions built onto it or nearby – a large tower towards the east that had the same sort of indomitable granite look as Bardon Fort; a more recent, softer-styled hall at the west end, and another block at the front, joined to the main building by a covered passageway. That had evidently been carefully built to match the Manor, but it had three storeys rather than two, and wasn’t quite the same colour or shape of brick or stone. It felt like the outward expression of an academic’s jumbled study, of the sort he suspected was bound to lurk within.
Aimon headed down the paved path to the entrance, grateful to be on flatter ground again. He stopped at the main doors, where, after he glance around, he pulled on the bell, then stepped back; waiting with hat, coat, and case in hand.
A woman pulled back both doors, leaving him plenty of space to make an entrance.
“Hello,” she said. “Come in, come in. You must be the High Council Inspector. They sent word from the village that you were on you way up. I’m Cam Tolling – in charge of what we call the Pathwalkers.”
Aimon smiled. “Imai Tolling,” he said, and then halted, worried that wasn’t quite right if she was in charge of a section. She didn’t object; she merely ushered him further inside so she could close the doors behind him.
“Then I’ve been warned about you,” Aimon added, more at ease.
She raised her eyebrows. She was a pleasant-faced light-skinned woman with an easy smile, probably in her early fifties, with floating grey hair pulled back into a loose tail. “About me?”
“Well, the Paths,” he said with a quick grin. “But I hope you’re not dangerous as well.”
She laughed. “They do say it rubs off on you. Anyway, I imagine you want to see our Head?”
“If you would,” he said. “Merner is the name, by the way. Aimon Merner.”
Cam nodded. “Along here!” She led him briskly around a corner, towards the more modern wing he’d seen on his way in, and then down another, longer corridor, past what she called the Great West Hall, until they came to a door at the end.
“She’s expecting you,” Cam told him and gestured towards the door. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Aimon watched her leave. He turned to face the door, and just as he’d raised his hand to knock on it, someone inside called out, “Come in!”
He entered, still with his baggage in hand, and approached the woman at the desk, feeling suddenly more like a schoolboy about to be scolded by the head teacher than a visiting High Governor’s official.
Tannis Kellen rose to greet him. She was probably around the same age as Cam Tolling. Her movements were brisk, brown hair falling to her shoulders hardly touched by grey, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if she was the older of the two. She smiled and moved forward, holding out her hand. “Imai Merner, I presume? We’ve been expecting you any day now for a week. I’m glad to see you made it safely. Quite a trek from Portcallan, I know.”
“Er, yes. Thank you,” he said, and managed to stop himself from apologising for being late, when he wasn’t.
She sat back down at the desk and he took the vacant chair opposite. She pulled out a letter – Aimon recognised the busy, slanted handwriting of his immediate superior in the Department – holding it further and closer, the better to read it. Then she lowered it and looked at him from over the top of it. The guilty schoolboy feeling increased. “Staying down in the village, yes?”
“I find it’s usually best,” he said. “Although if I do feel the need to work late –”
She didn’t bother to let him finish. She put down the letter and said, “Naturally. We made a guest room available in case. It will be at your disposal while you’re here.”
“Thank you.”
Tannis nodded, and rose. “In that case, I may as well take you to Arin – Arin Teykal, our accounts-keeper, that is. He will show you where everything is and take you through to the library. We’ve arranged for you to have one of the small studies there – our Librarian Leaira Modelen will look after you if you need anything further.”
“I see you have everything very well organised,” he said as he stood. “Imor Kellen, there is one more thing – two things, in fact.”
She hung back and waited for him to continue.
Aimon had to rummage around in the various pockets of the bulky coat he now regretted removing. After a few more seconds that felt like long minutes, he fished out the sealed paper. “I was instructed to give you this by the High Governor.”
“Well, that can’t be good,” she commented, taking it from him. “But thank you.”
Aimon coughed. “The other thing is that he also tasked me with writing a more general report while I was here – on your current projects, staff, and so on. I’ll need to talk to quite a few people. It’s why the assignment is for so long. I wasn’t sure if you had been told.”
“No, I hadn’t.” Tannis looked back at him rather oddly and then her mouth twitched. “If only all spies would knock on my door and announce their presence first. Life would be so much easier.”
Aimon started. “Imor Kellen, I am not – that is to say, I don’t know what the High Governor’s purpose is, but I was never asked to work in secret.”
“No, no,” she said, but laughter lurked in her sharp gaze. “Never mind, young man, I shan’t hold it against you. I don’t suppose it’ll make you popular here, though. Or certainly not in the right way.”
He gave a minute shrug. “You don’t become Inspector of Accounts for the High Governor’s Office to make friends.” He grinned. “Or, as you say – not the right sort!”
“I suppose not,” she said. “And the High Governor sent you alone? No assistant?”
“So you see.” Properly speaking, he should have had an assistant, but the assignment’s length had merely been extended to allow him the time he needed instead. His time was evidently expendable, or at least cheaper than the alternative. His department’s expertise was budgeting.
“Very well. Let’s take you to Arin before he finds some flimsy excuse to come down here himself. He won’t have missed your arrival, that I do know.”
Tannis patted his arm and then led him back down the same corridor Cam Tolling had brought him up. Her pace was brisk enough that even he with his considerably longer legs had to work to keep up. Just short of the main entrance, she turned sharply into a corner office.
“Arin,” she said, to the man hurrying over to greet them, “this is Aimon Merner, visiting Inspector of Accounts – and the least stealthy spy I’ve ever come across.”
It was going to be a very long winter.
Story: Starfall
Colors: White Opal #13 (castles in the sky)
Supplies and Styles:
Word Count: 1245
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Notes: 1337; Starfall Manor. Aimon Merner, Tannis Kellen, Camecia Tolling, Arin Teykal. (Now I’m trying to get back to a bit more of a chronological order, at least to start with, and this follows on fairly quickly from the very first piece I wrote for this canon.)
Summary: Aimon arrives at Starfall Manor and unmasks himself.
Aimon wasn’t sure what he had expected from Starfall Manor, but as he finally reached the end of the upward mountain path, his first sight of the building caused him to blink in surprise.
Building, singular, was not entirely correct. The main body of it was one long, low stone and brick manor typical of others he’d seen passing through Northern District, but it had several disparate additions built onto it or nearby – a large tower towards the east that had the same sort of indomitable granite look as Bardon Fort; a more recent, softer-styled hall at the west end, and another block at the front, joined to the main building by a covered passageway. That had evidently been carefully built to match the Manor, but it had three storeys rather than two, and wasn’t quite the same colour or shape of brick or stone. It felt like the outward expression of an academic’s jumbled study, of the sort he suspected was bound to lurk within.
Aimon headed down the paved path to the entrance, grateful to be on flatter ground again. He stopped at the main doors, where, after he glance around, he pulled on the bell, then stepped back; waiting with hat, coat, and case in hand.
A woman pulled back both doors, leaving him plenty of space to make an entrance.
“Hello,” she said. “Come in, come in. You must be the High Council Inspector. They sent word from the village that you were on you way up. I’m Cam Tolling – in charge of what we call the Pathwalkers.”
Aimon smiled. “Imai Tolling,” he said, and then halted, worried that wasn’t quite right if she was in charge of a section. She didn’t object; she merely ushered him further inside so she could close the doors behind him.
“Then I’ve been warned about you,” Aimon added, more at ease.
She raised her eyebrows. She was a pleasant-faced light-skinned woman with an easy smile, probably in her early fifties, with floating grey hair pulled back into a loose tail. “About me?”
“Well, the Paths,” he said with a quick grin. “But I hope you’re not dangerous as well.”
She laughed. “They do say it rubs off on you. Anyway, I imagine you want to see our Head?”
“If you would,” he said. “Merner is the name, by the way. Aimon Merner.”
Cam nodded. “Along here!” She led him briskly around a corner, towards the more modern wing he’d seen on his way in, and then down another, longer corridor, past what she called the Great West Hall, until they came to a door at the end.
“She’s expecting you,” Cam told him and gestured towards the door. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Aimon watched her leave. He turned to face the door, and just as he’d raised his hand to knock on it, someone inside called out, “Come in!”
He entered, still with his baggage in hand, and approached the woman at the desk, feeling suddenly more like a schoolboy about to be scolded by the head teacher than a visiting High Governor’s official.
Tannis Kellen rose to greet him. She was probably around the same age as Cam Tolling. Her movements were brisk, brown hair falling to her shoulders hardly touched by grey, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if she was the older of the two. She smiled and moved forward, holding out her hand. “Imai Merner, I presume? We’ve been expecting you any day now for a week. I’m glad to see you made it safely. Quite a trek from Portcallan, I know.”
“Er, yes. Thank you,” he said, and managed to stop himself from apologising for being late, when he wasn’t.
She sat back down at the desk and he took the vacant chair opposite. She pulled out a letter – Aimon recognised the busy, slanted handwriting of his immediate superior in the Department – holding it further and closer, the better to read it. Then she lowered it and looked at him from over the top of it. The guilty schoolboy feeling increased. “Staying down in the village, yes?”
“I find it’s usually best,” he said. “Although if I do feel the need to work late –”
She didn’t bother to let him finish. She put down the letter and said, “Naturally. We made a guest room available in case. It will be at your disposal while you’re here.”
“Thank you.”
Tannis nodded, and rose. “In that case, I may as well take you to Arin – Arin Teykal, our accounts-keeper, that is. He will show you where everything is and take you through to the library. We’ve arranged for you to have one of the small studies there – our Librarian Leaira Modelen will look after you if you need anything further.”
“I see you have everything very well organised,” he said as he stood. “Imor Kellen, there is one more thing – two things, in fact.”
She hung back and waited for him to continue.
Aimon had to rummage around in the various pockets of the bulky coat he now regretted removing. After a few more seconds that felt like long minutes, he fished out the sealed paper. “I was instructed to give you this by the High Governor.”
“Well, that can’t be good,” she commented, taking it from him. “But thank you.”
Aimon coughed. “The other thing is that he also tasked me with writing a more general report while I was here – on your current projects, staff, and so on. I’ll need to talk to quite a few people. It’s why the assignment is for so long. I wasn’t sure if you had been told.”
“No, I hadn’t.” Tannis looked back at him rather oddly and then her mouth twitched. “If only all spies would knock on my door and announce their presence first. Life would be so much easier.”
Aimon started. “Imor Kellen, I am not – that is to say, I don’t know what the High Governor’s purpose is, but I was never asked to work in secret.”
“No, no,” she said, but laughter lurked in her sharp gaze. “Never mind, young man, I shan’t hold it against you. I don’t suppose it’ll make you popular here, though. Or certainly not in the right way.”
He gave a minute shrug. “You don’t become Inspector of Accounts for the High Governor’s Office to make friends.” He grinned. “Or, as you say – not the right sort!”
“I suppose not,” she said. “And the High Governor sent you alone? No assistant?”
“So you see.” Properly speaking, he should have had an assistant, but the assignment’s length had merely been extended to allow him the time he needed instead. His time was evidently expendable, or at least cheaper than the alternative. His department’s expertise was budgeting.
“Very well. Let’s take you to Arin before he finds some flimsy excuse to come down here himself. He won’t have missed your arrival, that I do know.”
Tannis patted his arm and then led him back down the same corridor Cam Tolling had brought him up. Her pace was brisk enough that even he with his considerably longer legs had to work to keep up. Just short of the main entrance, she turned sharply into a corner office.
“Arin,” she said, to the man hurrying over to greet them, “this is Aimon Merner, visiting Inspector of Accounts – and the least stealthy spy I’ve ever come across.”
It was going to be a very long winter.