The Garden Party {mass thread}

[Guinivere Marcel]

The Garden Party

As fall begins and the rest of Faerie begins to cool down, the nobility comes to the beaches of the South Court to prolong their summer. The waves crash along the shore of the South Court as faerie nobility come to mingle and catch up with each other in a garden that shows the talent of the High Court’s florists and botanists.

Fairy lights twinkle in the hedges and light music floats through on an ocean breeze. Fountains run into waterfalls which run down into tide pools by the shore.

Delicate tea sets painted with gilded pastels clink as waiters move through the crowd of nobles, who stand at tall tables, nibbling at brightly colored teacakes. They seem to be enjoying themselves. But as the sun begins to set, and day turns to night, a layer of tension settles in the air. An entourage from the Undersea is present, as well as an entourage from the High Court. Nikolai Hugh-Sokolov and Jin-hwa Mei are both present and their presences are only contributing to the straining courtesies the Land and Sea must exchange with each other.


As emissaries run back and forth between groups, trying to save face for the sake of diplomacy, Julius Auyn stands in the shadows, waiting for his moment to strike, to cause chaos and discord between the two lands. The evening wears on, and negotiations are made over spiked cups of tea and lovers go off on trysts in the tide pools. A chain of change has started in Faerie, and it is time to decide whether one will pick a side to clash against, or be lost in the chaos.

Gemini Enigma ,Jin-Hwa Mei ,Adem Agni Yadav ,Bran Viola ,Calanthe Willowlace , Marcellus Yong ,@cheshire ,Sutton Elizabeth Bane ,

[Kaimana Aeri Mei]

Kaimana, at her very core, was a schemer. It was a bit of a... nasty word, but she supposed it fit well enough. There was little she did without cause. There were few people she sought out without cause. Guinivere Marcel was the one she had her eyes on now. A mortal High Queen, ruling over the land? She would have thought it absurd a century ago. Oh, how times change.

She wondered how this all would play out. She was quite certain she could outmaneuver this mortal queen. She had nearly three centuries of experience. This mortal couldn't have had close to that. She had watched greater queens fall. But, even then, she was certain she could use Marcel to her advantage. A naive, young queen... wasn't it Kaimana's duty to give this girl some aid? Surely she would appreciate a guiding hand while learning how to properly rule the land? Even then, she doubted it a bit. Based solely on the names that Marcel's subjects had assigned her... well, she didn't seem the type to take advice to heart. Even if it came from an experience ruler whom she could learn much from. A shame. Still, Kaimana could try. It would be best to test the waters with this young queen first. Their letter correspondence had been one thing: a face-to-face meeting would reveal so much more about the High Queen.


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Mentioned: Guinivere Marcel
Notes: Outfit

[Vĩnh Lý]

Vĩnh smiled absentmindedly as he closed his eyes to the crowd thronging about the coastline, a gentle sea breeze crawling from atop the ocean to his skin. The night would be busy. The spittle of the waves occasionally made its way to the shore, falling from the air like dead birds. Such a morbid simile, but in truth, there were plenty of fowl circling the outer rim of the gathering, making their own little parties in huddles atop lines holding fine silk banners, and atop the hands of the statues and fountains that marked the transition between land and sea. Perhaps they had come to watch the exchange themselves? The throne held with it the lifeblood of the faewild, and many of the attendants were seabirds who frequently crossed the thin line between the land courts and the undersea. This was certainly relevant to them. He expected much would be asked of him this evening. He was eyes, ears, and a voice, and such things needed to be placed appropriately lest someone fail their own attempts at formalities. Decorum would be essential, and Vĩnh was valuable in this regard, for if the queen gave him the appropriate order, deviation would be physically impossible.



Vĩnh stepped forward from the flock of attendants scattered about kaimanas feet. He could not remember what they were wearing. Their current uniform had been approved by Kaimana, and beyond this anything else about it was unnecessary for him to know, so it slipped his mind as soon as his fellows faded from his vision, now overtaken by the queen.



An initial bow, that even in its closure left his height beneath hers appropriately.



“Your majesty.”



His voice was soft and quiet, nearly a whisper.



“Would you like me to retrieve you anything?” 



This was one of the only questions he could ask in this position. Whether he fetched refreshment or information was up to her entirely. Though Kaimana could certainly utilize her own abilities to identify poisoned liquid of whatever kind, it was far too banal for someone of her status. Vĩnh could utilize the same trick.

tags- Kaimana Aeri Mei,

[Gemini Enigma]

the garden party

[attr="class","box1"] Gemini stood with his heels in soil and his toes in sand and pointedly did not think about the crude blatancy of the symbolism, not to mention the slight prints he would likely be leaving. They would be deeper in the sand as well, which was practically more primitive still as metaphors went. So he pointedly did not consider that.  The waves were either lazy today or merely hiding their hand, slinking upwards before retreating in short order, and if Gemini knew anything about the Undersea fae he could guess which personification was the best fit. He watched them advance and recede, making no visible headway though he knew that the tide had to come in eventually.  Gemini didn't need to have seen his father's murder to know that peacekeeping events in Faerie were a farce. The flowers crawling over the ground and the tables were falsely perfumed. The courtiers' smiles told the only lies that their mouths could. The tide pools showed warped reflections. And anyone who could afford it had brought a taster to sample their tea.  As a matter of fact, given the time of serving as correlated to common poisons, the tasters and their respective nobles ought to be in the clear any moment now. Gemini looked towards the garden pavilion just in time to see the majority of the guests take nearly unanimous sips. His mouth twisted in something that could have passed for amusement.  But then again, wasn't he doing the same thing? Scouring the night for personal dangers? He'd already swept the crowd, keeping an eye out for a familiar stream of dark hair, the shimmer of a pale, sinuous limb. If he wanted to survive to kiss hands and mimic smiles over blossoms and teacakes, he had to survive Jin-hwa Mei. He had survived the fall, but that was only the beginning.  It wasn't flying that became a death sentence. It wasn't even falling. It was hitting the water that would stop his heart.  mentioned, or at least alluded to, but it's Gemini so who's surprised: Jin-Hwa Mei [newclass=.box1]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box1::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box1::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #091c3d;[/newclass]

Music Word count: 332 Outfit link

credit to Laura of Adox

[Calanthe Willowlace]

    The garden was stunning. Flowers of every shape, size, and color decorated every available surface, carefully arranged vases rested on the dining tables, flowers burst from the hedges, surrounded by twinkling lights, an explosion of color in every direction. Even the fae themselves indulged in floral decoration, covering hair, skin, and clothing alike in fragrant blossoms. Calanthe was no exception, ivy and yellow flowers woven across the top of her head like a crown, trailing down in thinner tendrils through the long braid that sat over her shoulder. Despite the tension in the air the garden was still abuzz with conversation, gossip slipping from mouth to mouth as easily as kisses. Calanthe slid through the crowd on her way to a seemingly-probably-maybe empty table in the corner of the garden, keeping one ear tuned to the conversations around her, listening for any interesting tidbits, although she had yet to pick up anything particularly useful. It didn't seem like the proper gossip had started yet, it seemed the fae needed a little more convincing yet to spill their secrets, whether that convincing would come in the form of a silver tongued conversationalist or alcohol remained to be seen.

[Amaris Silvershade]

the garden party

[attr="class","box1a"]Amaris did not want to be here. That was nearly the norm for her these days, but she needed to stay angry or else there was nothing left beyond a bone-deep weariness. And that was the last thing she needed.  She'd been on her own too long. It hadn't been long enough. It was her own fool fault because that was what she'd wanted, and where was she now? Swimming in a sea of the fae she hated most. Not able to tear the Gentry to shreds because that was what got her here in the first place. And now her captor, the damn sadist, was forcing her towards the High Queen.  "Hell no," Amaris hissed, digging in her heels. She stared at him, her eyes the electric blue of the sky around a lightning strike, narrowed, tense. "I didn't agree to this. You could barely say I agreed to be here at all. If you want me beheaded for treason, there are easier ways." She eyed the woman sideways. Mortal. That was the piece no one would shut up about. Somehow more substantial than the other attendees, shorter, round-eared. She left footprints in the thick soft earth. But Amaris didn't give a damn what species she was; she was wearing a crown that no one person, mortal or fae, needed or deserved. She sat on a fancy, occasionally bloodthirsty chair that imbued her with the power of avalanches, thorns, executions, starvation, justice, control. Too much of it. The fae should have been too wild to bend the knee to something like that. And yet here they were, parading in the wildflowers, jostling for a place at her elbow.  The only real parts of it were the parts they were making that way. The current heir had been scorned just months ago, the laughingstock of the Gentry and the castoff shame of Faerie, and here he was now with a crown of his own and a flock of admirers. The nobles took the people of Faerie for fools because they'd allow themselves to be made so.  And then there was the matter of Alaric, which possibly made her hate the High Queen still more.  She stole my kill.                                         Guinivere Marcel [newclass=.box1a]margin:0px auto; width:300px; height:425px; background: transparent; overflow:auto; padding:8px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box1a::-webkit-scrollbar]width:5px;[/newclass] [newclass=.box1a::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb]background: #4d221a;[/newclass]

Music Word count: 370 Notes: 

credit to Laura of Adox + SeaJem

[Guinivere Marcel]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Lost"]

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Gemini Enigma

274 Words

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These days I think I owe my life [break]







To flowers left here by my mother

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Guinivere faced Kaimana evenly. The Undersea Queen had not addressed her, not yet. Gemini had not addressed her either. No one had approached her. She was left alone, a startling bot of poison on a world of normal flowers. Or that was so they saw her. She didn't know if everything she heard was true. But she knew how they looked at her. She could see it now.

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She had commanded the Undersea Queen's daughter. She had commanded her and locked her in a room in the High Court unceremoniously before letting her go on her way. That girl had tried to kill her heir. Kaimana knew it. Guinivere knew it. They would have to address it eventually. 

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Eventually was not know. Now, a woman with deep red hair was facing her, a deep hatred simmering in her eyes. She was accompanied by a knight. That did not really make Guinivere feel any safer. She had fired the previous head of guard after Gemini's duel. Now her force was depleted. this knight was not one of hers. 

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"Sir," she aid. "Who do I have the honor of addressing?" Perhaps she wasn't being addressed, and everyone would go back to leaving her alone. She'd like that just as well. 




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[Nyra Charlotte Enigma]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Lost"]

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@ Bran Viola

752 Words

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 A feather might be [break]



a ton of bricks

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Nyra hated ceremony to a degree that was uncharacteristic for the fae. The garden party was lovely, but it was still ceremony. Her hair was braided tightly around her flower crown, too tightly. Rhea had a matching flower crown to adorn her head, and even that was not enough to make this really worth it. She wanted to go back home. She wanted to work on her armor. She was looking around for Gemini, wondering if he might at least have something interesting to discuss, when she saw Bran.


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She froze for a moment, tilting her head. She was sure it was wrong. There was no reason for him to be here. He had been shifty and confusing about who he worked for, but she was sure he was some sort of knight. Presumably one of the Queen's assassins. She didn't see a good reason to ask.


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She had expected the gentry to be here, the council, the ambassadors. She had not expected him. She started running calculations in her mind. She was always like this.

Something didn't add up so she built up a whiteboard in her mind. She scrawled until it made sense. He was an enduring mystery, one that kept unravelling. She scrunched her nose. 


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Gemini was forgotten. This was a mystery to solve.



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[Jin-Hwa Mei]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Lost"]

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@ Gemini Enigma , Calanthe Willowlace , Hai Mei , Cassie Eloise Enigma

245 Words

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Watermarked [break]



By your ancestry

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Jin-Hwa tilted her head back, surveying the scene, trying to settle into these dainty carved chairs and failing. She had settled herself under a gazebo, surrounded by those she might have considered her court, flowers spilling over the roof in varying shades of white and blue. Tiny little things, they were, shaped like stars. It was too early for galaxies.
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She knew her mother saw it. She knew that her mother would notice that Jin-Hwa was here, with Hai, and Cassie, and a girl from the north. She knew that her mother would see that as a declaration. There was a time when that would have made her afraid. That time was gone.

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"Calanthe." she said. That was the Northern girl's name, wasn't it? "What do you make of the partygoers?" 
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It was a probing question. The girl's sister was here somewhere. Calanthe's half-sister. Enigma sister. Jin-Hwa's lip curled.
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She had cut a dragon’s heart out of its chest. Its blood was on her hands, and now by blood spilled she was as much dragon as she was fae. Those were the rules of inheritance, weren’t they?
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Her mother would deny it. She would call her daughter unprepared and naive. But it was not even the death of the dragon that made Jin-Hwa feel assured in this uncomfortable chair. It was the prince who was standing by the High Queen, who had not looked at her once. It was the poison arching in the air. She could have killed him. She might have killed him. She saw it in his face when he stood up.



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Hurt me again. She was assured, now, because she was sure of one thing. She would.



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[Talia Avedon]

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Gemini Enigma , Nikolai Hugh-Sokolov

287 Words

Music

Outfit

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Brokeness is a work of art [break]

Is this my masterpiece?

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Talia did not, for once, hesitate. She had hesitated a million other times, hesitated when it really mattered and hesitated when it didn't matter at all. She couldn't help it. She blamed herself, always, endlessly, and she was always trying to mitigate damage she wasn't causing.
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But this was a party. It was not her first. It was her fourth. She still had no manners and this dress fit her in a way she was not used to, but she was not hesitating anymore. Someone usually died at these parties, and only once had it been her fault.
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She saw Nikolai. She had known he would be here. But that wasn't the point, not really. The point was to speak with the High Queen about the portfolio she had sent in. The point was to make connections and trade smiles. She would sip tea and ignore the East Court delegation altogether. It would not be hard. There were plenty of people here. She walked up to the High Court, but the Queen was speaking. She glanced at the crown prince, tucking her hands behind her back. 
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"It's nice to meet you," she said, dipping her head, forgetting how to address him, but afraid of ignoring him. She felt like a butterfly, hovering at the edge of conversation. She also didn't want to leave now.
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She really should have hesitated.









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[Bran Viola]

Guinevere Marcel and Kaimana Mei seemed to circle each other in the shallow waves, each daring the other to draw into the center of the board for tonights plat principal. Just move closer. For what the faewild sees as a dirt mannequin you behave like the gentry! Bran winced. Faerie were the only prey that ran from him by mere inches at a time. They’d have to speak, eventually. Every moment they didn’t was more time the hunter was, quite uncharacteristically, in the open.



Already, little archipelagos of torn petals were eddying atop the water, groups of fae forming cliques built from who they found most palatable, sometimes in bearing, other times in flesh. The undersea princess seemed to have surrounded herself with a small whirling circle of land fae. Bran smirked. Suppose you’ve deigned to come up for air. 

She’d have to. There was no way to avoid it. The moment she’d been locked in the high court, rumor had spread like a pestilence, filth that bred even in the obscure spaces from which the family partook of half full glasses over the faewild political climate. As to be expected, the secondary dreg of that duel, Gemini Marvel Enigma, transposed himself between land and sea, a languid, tragic oil painting. Bran could imagine him passing poison and self pity across his tongue like it was wine. Self righteous masochist. 



The wolfsbane dissident was approaching the high queen. he'd seen her fight once and hadn’t been particularly impressed. If this new clique had met by blade rather than banquet, he was certain Guinevere could take her without issue. Perhaps she was getting rusty, though. Had the throne caused her skill to atrophy? Bran was curious if he could take her this way, but if the order came through he’d have to call on Lucio. He already knew he could kill her with his assistance, and there was no reason to take risks simply for brans pride, poorly disguised as professional curiosity.


Bran palmed the looking glass again. He’d need to keep waiting. He turned about and retreated, further from view, into the shadow of a great magnolia, its dark fabric worn with holes from the lights strung about its boughs.

Tags-Nyra Charlotte Enigma,
Mentioned-Guinivere Marcel,Kaimana Aeri Mei,Gemini Enigma,Amaris Silvershade,Jin-Hwa Mei,

[Kaimana Aeri Mei]

Kaimana's gaze flicked away from Marcel, and to Vinh. Her lovely little spy. Vinh was far more useful than some of her own blood, which was both a joy and a shame. If only her children were as loyally determined. She ran her fingers absently down some of the stonework on a garden bench. The surface was far too devoted to their arts. Perhaps that was how Vinh had so easily been able to gather his information on them. It was almost endearing, how stupid they were. Almost. Instead, it was just... pathetic. 

"Vinh." She greeted, regarding him with a slight smile on her lips. Her sisters had always said her smile was far too akin to that of a viper's to be pleasant or charming. But even snakes could charm and deceive. After all, who had all the power and influence? Certainly not them, dead or scattered as they were.

She waved her hand, as if bored. "I do not require anything specific, but anything you see that you believe would strike my fancy would do." A subtle, veiled request for information. This place was surely brimming with it. All the land dwellers, with their loose tongues. Sure, they would be on edge with Kaimana here. But she knew that gossip and information would travel regardless. 


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Mentioned:Vĩnh Lý
Notes: Outfit

[Hai Mei]

Hai knew her mother was here.

How could she not? Her mother's presence loomed over the party like a shroud. In some way, she wished her mother hadn't come. She knew she must have been a dreadful daughter to think something like that. She was her mother, after all. Even if she was a terrifying, bloodthirsty mother, she was her mother nonetheless. Had it been motherhood that made a monster of her? Or had she been one long before? Hai could not ask anyone that forbidden question, because everyone pretended that Queen Kaimana was no more monster than anyone else. Maybe she wasn't. Maybe Hai was just a horrible daughter for even thinking it.

She sat in her dainty, pretty chair with practiced poise and elegance, legs crossed, hands in her lap. The gazebo that shielded them from the sun was beautifully crafted. She was sure she'd find Marcellus admiring it at some point, if he was here. She sort of hoped he was. She hadn't seen him in quite a while. Hai herself admired the flowers, gentle dragging her fingertips across the closest one.

She snapped out of her reverie at Jin-Hwa's voice. Not directed at her, but it still made her turn towards her sister.  A girl named Cassie, and another named Calanthe were with her and Jin-Hwa, Calanthe being the one her sister had spoken to. Those were their names, right? She felt a little odd, sat with them. Still, she stayed. She chose to stick near Jin-Hwa. For all their differences, she still felt safer by her sister's side than her mother's. 


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Tagged: Jin-Hwa Mei
Mentioned(?): Calanthe Willowlace Cassie Eloise Enigma
Notes: dress, shoes, nails, hair

[Nikolai Hugh-Sokolov]

    Nikolai did not want to be at this party. But unfortunately, it was such a gathering that required his presence, due to the unfortunate situation with the Undersea. Fairy lights twinkled as he arrived awkwardly, the other advisors and nobility of the East Court dispersing around him, going to find food, drink, and possibly a courtier or two to spend the night with. He took a breath. He needed to focus. Best to scope out the place and make a plan. A plan of escape, preferably. Water gurgled from the fountains and the chatter of the gentry buzzed in his ears, as the young duke made his way to the drinks table, smiling amicably at the sprite who served him. He turned away before she could try to say anything to him.

    So far he’d seen the entourage from the Undersea surrounding a woman who had to be the Queen. High Queen Guinivere was not far away, standing with her entourage, looking as if she feared the moment she’d speak with the other Queen. Nikolai didn’t blame her. The Undersea Queen made Her Majesty look like a little girl. His gaze scanned the rest of the crowd. He recognized a few faces. Old lovers, mainly. He let himself look past them. There was only one person he was looking for. And he found her, standing by the Queen’s Heir. She was like a butterfly, resplendent in her glittering dress. How he wanted to go over to her, and take her from this place where neither of them belonged. He stayed planted in his corner, watching, avoiding. A pretty blonde girl stood next to him, seeming to be doing the same thing he was. Nikolai extended his drink to her in salute. “I see I’ve found a kindred spirit at this party.” He let the mask of joviality slip over his face. Purely platonic, nothing more. “Who are you, and who is it that you are searching for?”

TAGS: Talia Avedon , Nyra Charlotte Enigma

★fai

If no one else will save me, I must save myself.

[Nyra Charlotte Enigma]

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Lost"]

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@ Luca Oleander , Nikolai Hugh-Sokolov , Bran Viola

246 Words

Nyra did just steal his champagne, yes

Outfit

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 A feather might be [break]



a ton of bricks

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Nyra turned to look at the boy who addressed her, a boy to glittering and golden to be anything but East Court. He was holding a glass towards her, almost in greeting. She smiled and took the glass. "Thank you," she said politely. [break][break]

"I was going to speak to my cousin," she said, nodding at Gemini. "But someone else addressed him. I do not know her." She shrugged, still scanning for Bran, not seeing anything. "And one of my friends vanished."  [break][break]

She did not know if Bran was a friend, or if anyone else knew him at all. He said he was just another mortal. She thought he was lying, but she had precious little experience with the subject. [break][break]

"I also seem to have lost my deer." Really, Nyra was losing an abundance of things today. Rhea had wandered off, flower crown and all, to interrupt some conversation or another. Perhaps she wanted some tea. Or she just wanted to listen. She liked to sit while Nyra talked, ears flicking not-quite in time, tail twitching too methodically. Nyra did not really worry about her. She was very clever.[break][break]

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