the_lioness | (no subject)

(no subject)

"Grace might be a touch surly at first," Alanna warns Ingress as they walk down the long hallway toward her rooms. "I suspect that will change quickly enough."

At long last, Ingress has come to Tortall for her promised visit. After appropriate permission was obtained from Tom and Door and suitable clothing acquired, Alanna had brought Ingress and Megwyn through to the palace, though maneuvering the latter out to the courtyard had been an interesting challenge. Now Megwyn is enjoying the meadow in Sarge and Buri's care -- and Cloud's, though only Daine knows about that -- and Ingress is about to meet at least one of the triplets.

Secretly, Alanna is praying they get along. She has always wanted them to be friends.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"This is a little like Haven. I mean, it's different, but it feels the same."

Ingress looks around as they walk, wide-eyed and excited. She loves visiting new places and learning new things. Since she loves Alanna, she's sure she'll love Grace and the other triplets, too.

(Ingress is used to, and undaunted by, surly; her best friend is Mary Lennox.)

"Why might she be surly?"

Mary Lennox is precisely why Alanna hadn't bothered mentioning it until now or given Grace advance notice and a firm talking to about being nice. If Ingress can handle Mary, Alanna is confident she'll deal well with Grace.

As they walk she points at a portrait, one of only a few outside the official gallery.

"That's King Roald. He was king when I was a page," Alanna tells Ingress. "Oh, she's upset with me still. She isn't normally surly," she feels she should explain, "but lately any mention of where you're coming from sparks a snide comment or two."

Alanna looks up and down the hall, then bends to pretend to examine a coin on the ground. One she just surreptitiously dropped.

Voice low, she adds, "I don't mind you answering questions about Milliways, but it's a secret to everyone else here, except the few I've told you about -- the king and queen, Raoul, George. If you do talk about it, make sure no one can overhear. Agreed?"

Because it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for Ingress to share some of what she knows with Grace.

She leans in and whispers, "That's fine. In Haven, I don't talk about it at all. I pretend to be from a far away place called Rethwellan. It's easier for people to understand."

Ingress laughs. "It still doesn't explain my blue hair, but people just think I have a magical family."

Which is true enough.

Relaxing, Alanna smiles and straightens, slipping the coin into Ingress' hand on the way up.

"Ingress of Rethwellan it is."

With a nod, she continues walking.

"Do you like your dress?"

It's navy with silver trim. Alanna didn't consider the blue hair, but she thinks it looks well enough.

She spins around, letting the skirt billow. "I love it!"

She's always enjoyed dressing up, whether it be in Door's dresses, dress robes from Tom's world, or

"Oh, and I can be Ingress of the House of Arch, too. They have Houses like mine in Rethwellan."

Ingress likes that connection to home. She'll always be proud of being a Lady of the House of Arch.

"Noted," Alanna grins, seeing and appreciating that pride.

Eventually she leaves off smiling at Ingress to open the door to the rooms she shares with the rest of her family. She sweeps an arm forward, allowing Ingress to enter, and calls out for her daughter.

"Grace? Where are you?" Silence. "I've someone I want you to meet."

The room, a central living area, is lit up by afternoon sunshine and a low fire in the grate. The furnishings are more comfortable than grand, but still suited to the palace they are in, and tapestries hang on either side of the fireplace. In one corner is a desk covered in papers. In another, a table holding a tray of tea and tarts.

Grace must be here somewhere. Alanna narrows her eyes at one of the windows, the only one with the curtains drawn shut.

"You needn't shout," comes a young girl's voice from behind that curtain, as a small hand reaches out and slowly pushes it back.

She's perched on the window seat, feet hidden under her green velvet skirt. Grace moves the curtain a little more and peers out at the room, the sun behind her making it hard to see her expression and setting off her red hair. All the better to give the other girl a once over.

"I'm not deaf."

"Hi," Ingress says, looking round the room, her eyes sparkling blue and green with tiny flecks of gold. She turns her attention to Grace, squinting a little in the sunlight. She smiles hugely and waves. "I'm Ingress."

It will be said one day in Valdemar that the Herald Ingress can get along with even the stoniest of souls. We'll see how she does today in Tortall.

"There you are."

Alanna, who had been about to direct another inquiry toward Grace's chamber when she spoke up, turns back around and smiles.

"Yes, this is Ingress." Beat. "Lady Ingress of Rethwellan," she adds, "and the House of Arch."

Casually, she rests a hand on Ingress' shoulder.

Grace's eyes move from Ingress to her mother's hand, lightly touching the other girl's shoulder and telling Grace, quite clearly, that she is a friend and under their protection. Which raises the question why her mother feels it necessary to silently proclaim the fact.

It could, she supposes, be an unconscious gesture of affection, but this is court and she's gotten back in the habit of reading more into each word, each motion. Furthermore, she rather likes it.

Nothing is always what it seems, after all. Not even family.

"Hullo," she says to the girl -- Ingress -- with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. Swinging her legs out, Grace straightens her skirt and continues studying her. There are questions already forming a lengthy list in her head, but she, unlike her brother, is careful to ask them in order of importance. "Is this your first time at court?"

Edited 2010-04-11 15:15 (UTC)

Ingress nods. "It's my first time at this court. I quite like it. I'm happy Sir Alanna invited me. The House of Arch, where I live, hasn't a proper court."

For this, Ingress is thankful. Since the summer the noble girls from Haven's palace court picked on her, she's known that every court - even nice ones like Queen Amy's in Ambergelder - has its unsavory or vexing sides. Ingress figures it's no different here. Maybe Grace has discovered that kind of thing, too. It would make Ingress surly, too.

"I like your window seat. That must be a perfect place for reading."

"The best I've found, here."

Glancing behind her, Grace nods. A moment later she lets the curtain fall into place, hiding the window seat -- and the book, which had been her true aim -- from view.

"The sun," she says by way of an explanation, blinking appropriately. Then, "I like your hair."

It's honest. Grace might not dislike the unsavory and vexing sides of court life, certainly not the way her mother does, but she rarely gives a compliment that isn't meant or quite obviously issued in jest.

The corner of Alanna's mouth tilts up.

"I always have, too."

Meaning she has known Ingress for quite a while. She waits, watching them both closely, to see what develops from that.

"Thank you. It's very different than anyone else's, but I love it being this color."

She glances around again, taking in more of the room now that the sun glare is gone.

"What do you like to do for fun? Do you like to play games? Or ride horses?"

"Different means you stand out from the rest," she nods approvingly.

House of Arch.

Realization arrives like the slow, warm spring breezes at Olau that set the new leaves to rustling high in the trees until the sound seems to fill the forest. Grace turns a long look on her mother and then smiles at Ingress. It's genuine and bright with renewed interest, her chin lifted in a way that sometimes makes Thom sigh with apprehension.

"Horses aren't so bad, but I like games better." Beat. "Especially when I beat my brothers. What's your favorite?"

Something many people don't realize is that Ingress doesn't have many playmates. Not for games or running about on a regular basis. It's not that she's lonely; she lives in a physical place that makes that kind of thing challenging. The House of Arch is not exactly in the middle of a neighborhood with a doorbell that can be rung.

Even when her brother was still alive, he was much older than she. Ingress has nearly always played by herself, except for the brief time Gavroche was young enough for games. Unless, that is, she sought out friends at Milliways, or children from Marble Arch families visited.

She spends a lot of time riding with Megwyn, and she has her studies, both academic and weapons. When she was smaller, she filled her playtime with dress up and building with blocks. When she does have friends to play with, however, she knows a few things to do.

"I like hide and seek best," she says. She's very good with it, what with being able to open into a wall to hide. "And I like card games, too. Especially Exploding Snap, but I didn't bring a deck with me."

The moment Grace puts it together is obvious to Alanna, because she'd been looking for it. Pride wars with concern when that truth flashes in Grace's eyes, but she meets them and gives the girl a slight nod.

The House of Arch had been a part of their lengthy explanation about Milliways, albeit a small one. Alanna had said that Tom and Door and their family could be trusted. Others couldn't and in case the triplets made it back without her, she wanted to be clear on that fact.

"No explosions, please," Alanna puts in, a bit more relaxed. She hadn't brought Ingress here to give Grace someone else to pepper with questions, but she doesn't think Ingress would mind a few, if it comes to that.

Exploding Snap sounds brilliant.

"I like hide and seek best, too."

Grace smiles prettily and moves away from the window, all her focus on Ingress.

"And I know lots of card games," she smirks, eyes gleaming. "Want to go play?"

"Oh, yes, let's. Shall we stay in these rooms? Or do you go elsewhere?"

She glances at Alanna, her eyes sparkling again with excitement and curiosity.

Also glancing at her mother, Grace hazards, "We can go anywhere. I know my way as well as Roald or Kally."

Beat.

"And we learned a tracking spell so none of us would get lost."

Not unwillingly, anyway.

First, Alanna nods to Grace.

Cautiously.

There's an entire world's worth of warning in the gesture.

"This floor and the next. You know where not to go." Her eyes narrow slightly. "The dungeons included."

Then, to Ingress, "Are you sure?"

Ingress cocks her head. Why would Alanna ask that? They're going to have a brilliant time. Grace isn't grumpy at all.

"Oh, yes," she says. "I think we'll have lots of fun."

She grins at Grace.

Because Alanna doesn't want Ingress to feel abandoned, which is also why she adds, "Very well, then I can't help but agree. I'll be right here, should you need me."

To illustrate, she plops down in a chair and stretches out her legs, one dirty boot crossed over the other, eyes slipping closed as she smiles.

Grace frowns at the dirty scuff marks on the otherwise clean rug and sighs. One day she'll have her own rooms and insist everyone either clean or remove their shoes before entering.

"She can't sit still so long as that," she whispers to Ingress, grinning fiercely. She nods to the door, sweeps her skirts up above her ankles. "Let's go, then. I know just what to show you."

Another look at Ingress' hair.

"Is it a spell?"

Ingress follows Grace, looking over her shoulder to wave to Alanna before they go through the door.

"My hair? I'm not sure. Tom thinks so, but he doesn't know how to take it off. The Lady Delirium made it blue one day to cheer me up, and that's how it's been since."

Sometimes it's fun to go through doors the proper way.

"What's your tracking spell? Can you do lots of magic?"