vision

[calescent]

Kiri's up early the next morning, restless with various low-level simmering concerns, and wanders out of her room.

Comments

[free_flowing]

"Sure." He steps back from the door to let her through.

[calescent]

Kiri comes in, shuts the door, gets a ways into the room, checks for open windows, and when she's satisfied that the room is reasonably secure, says:

"Sarelle visited me just now and asked if I know why you broke those bones - and when I said yes, she wanted to know if you knew I knew, and if you'd registered an opinion on what to do with the information - and I again said yes, and then she said, 'You were friends with the vanished prince'. And then I didn't say anything much and she said that she's concluded the vanished prince must have had good reason to vanish and that she didn't wish to share that with anyone who didn't already know it."

[free_flowing]

"Where did she pull it from?" he wonders. "I never met her before."

[calescent]

"I didn't read her today but I did on the way here and the way her mind works is - really something else. I shouldn't be as surprised as I am that she's managed to come up with a guess out of a million little things."

[free_flowing]

"Okay. Fine. At least she said she's not gonna go talking to people about it. And she doesn't know who used to break my bones. Does she? There's no reasonable way she could know that, right?"

[calescent]

"She didn't mention it - but even I could probably make a decent guess from the facts we already know she has."

[free_flowing]

"There's a difference between a decent guess and knowing." He sighs. "But I should probably go chase down Ekador and ask him not to go talking about my skeleton, just in case anybody else ever starts guessing. That is a rumour I don't want to let get even a little bit started."

[calescent]

"Yeah, good plan. Just make it out to be about - privacy or something, not rumors."

[free_flowing]

"Yeah. I know."

[calescent]

"I'll keep you posted if Sarelle comes to me about anything else, I guess."

[free_flowing]

"Thanks."

[calescent]

"What're you going to do if it gets generally out despite our best efforts?"

[free_flowing]

"Depends how, and when, and to who, and what gets out. If it was anything about Father, I'd want to talk to Isten. If it was just rumours that I'm secretly a vanished prince—" he shrugs— "eh, rumours. I'd stick to my story unless there was a good reason not to. The story being, parents moved to Thiyec when I was a kid, I'm not sure which one of them was Lalindar but I don't think they were somebody's legitimate Lalindar child, and they died a while ago and I've made my peace with it. I haven't had to come up with details yet; people haven't been prying."

[calescent]

"Right - if you do produce details maybe send them to me, I haven't been keeping it secret that you let me read you."

[free_flowing]

"Sure. What do you want for breakfast?"

[calescent]

"Heh. Do you have the fixings for panbread and strawberries?"

[free_flowing]

"Yep!"

He hugs her, thinking cheerfully about panbread and strawberries.

[calescent]

"That would be awesome."

Hugs.

[free_flowing]

Hugs!

Off he goes to make breakfast.

[calescent]

Mmm, breakfast.

[pyrophyte]

A slightly disheveled Ekador wanders into the vicinity of the kitchen shortly after Loel starts cooking, and peers at the incipient breakfast.

[calescent]

"Morning."

[pyrophyte]

"Good morning," he yawns.

[free_flowing]

"Hey," Loel says amicably. "I was gonna talk to you, actually. Kinda-sorta important thing. Is now a good time, or should I wait until you've had breakfast?"

[pyrophyte]

"Mm?" He blinks. "No, go on. I am more awake than I may seem."