ReturningToMinobeeways-TearAndTashaIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | Returning to Minobeeways - Tear and Tasha
Tasha had thanked Helena for her hospitality, while she had been fumbling at her purse, hesitating with removing the trump card for Minobeeways, and Helena, the gracious hostess that she was, upon seeing her guest's discomfort offered her the use of one of Ishtar's carriages to return her and Tear to Minobeeways. As they had stood in the drive in front of this carriage, Tasha smiled a relieved smile, "Thank you, Helena... Again." "You're welcome. Take care, both of you, and I'll see you later today." Helena squeezed Tasha's hands, smiled at Solitaire, then turned away. Amba bid them farewell as well. "I'm glad we had the opportunity to speak as we did," she said smiling. "I look forward to all of us spending more time together in Amber. We'll see you later," she said waving. Helena waved to them before disappearing back inside the doorway to Ishtarways. "Tear, are you ready?" Tasha asked before climbing in. Tear curtsied politely to Amba and Helena, bidding them both farewells. She hurried to follow Tasha to the carriage, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. And not to worry, Tasha. I'll take the blame. For everything." She climbed in and then offered her friend a hand up. Settling into her seat, Tear removed her grimoire from the folds of her clothing; even though it had obviously not been there a moment before. She opened the book carefully and said, "Mandor. Trump." Immediately, the book's pages began to flip by themselves until they came to a thin card. Her violet eyes flickered with worry. "I've never used one of these before," Tear admitted. "But no time like the present, I suppose." She set book aside and then held the card before her. It felt cool on her fingertips as she outlined Mandor's dignified features. The card remained inert - there was no response - which was not completely unknown to Tear. Tasha watched, though trying not to appear to be eavesdropping if the trump should connect to the Prime Minister. When it appeared that Tear was not connecting, she asked, "Is there a problem?" "He isn't allowing the contact," Tear said with an unfamiliar edge in her voice. After a moment, she set the card back in her book. "Fine then. He can rot for all I care." Tasha blinked with surprise. She turned and studied Tear with concern. The girl had been through a lot that day. Tasha offered a sympathetic smile. The venom in her words surprised Tear. As she snapped the book shut, the sound had a blessed finality to it. Despite herself, a smile began to form on her lips. It was as if a vast weight had lifted off her heart. Or, perhaps, it was the loosening of the chains around her throat she felt. Either way, the sensation felt quite liberating. A thought struck her and she opened the book again. "Vikund. Trump." Once again the book began filtering through its library of pages. Tasha looked at Tear inquiringly. "If the Master won't answer, perhaps his assistant will," Tear explained. And there was a pause while she waited to see if there was any response ... Tear suddenly shivered as the connection was made. A moment later, her features darkened with hurt and anger. She lifted her head defiantly, violet eyes flickering with a dark nimbus as she communicated with Vikund. Tasha, again, looked away. She watched out the window, as the flashes of scenery skittered past, sometimes resembling the greens of the forests outside Clearwater, and sometimes resembling nothing that was familiar at all. Yet, she was aware that Tear seemed upset, and wished there was something she could say in a polite way, to offer her support. Tear folded the Trump back into her book and tossed the tome aside. "Bastard," she muttered. "I call him once. Once in over a year and he tells me to call back later. Well fine. They can both rot. For all I know Vikund was in on this deception." She flexed her hands repeatedly, digging the nails into her palm. "Stupid, stupid, stupid." She sniffled quietly and stared out the window at the passing forests. The phantasmagoria of scenery and colors appeared to calm her, focus her. Finally, Tear's violet eyes glanced up at Tasha and a timid smile warmed her pale features. "How funny," she said. "You. A complete stranger really, risked more for me than anyone I've known half my life." Tear reached out and took Tasha's hand, knitting their fingers together. "How is it that I could find a dear friend. In someone I've never met before yesterday?" Tear paused suddenly, as if hearing someone's voice. She sighed deeply, "I'm sorry, Tasha. Someone's calling me." She leaned back in her seat and opened her mind to the sensation. As Tear became absorbed in her contact, Tasha became uncomfotrtably aware that they were drawing nearer and nearer to her home. The gates ... the front door ... and her mother waiting on the step. As Tear continued with her Trump contact, she went through a range of emotions; from crying to anger, sorrow to love. At one point, the air shimmered and began to ripple like mercury. A man's hand reached out of nothingness, linking fingers with Tear for a moment. But whatever was said, she pulled away. The contact eventually faded and Tear sighed wretchedly. "I'm sorry," she whispered, but whether she were speaking to Tasha or someone, it was difficult to tell. The carriage was very nearly at the door. "Oh look, there's my house. We're almost there," Tasha frowned, and was still wondering if her mother would give her a hard time about taking Tear to see the Logrus, even though Tear already promised that she would run interference, taking the blame on herself. Tasha wasn't sure that would work, though. She would be glad to be heading to Amber that afternoon, if only to avoid any punishment her mother might deem appropriate for her disobedience. "Everything is going to be fine, Tasha," Tear said, sniffling. She brushed off her wet cheeks on the plain blouse and steadied herself. The book disappeared under her arm. With a silent nod, she appeared to come to some unspoken conclusion. When the carriage finally pulled up, she nodded to Tasha. "Just follow my lead," she said with an odd reassurance. Tasha's blue eyes held a look of uncertainty, but she nodded. When she saw her mother standing on the step in front of the open doorway, she felt a cold shiver of dread go up her spine. Tear stepped down from the coach and immediately bolted over to Tabitha. She wrapped her small arms around the woman's waist, hugging her fiercely. "Oh thank you, thank you, Lady Tabitha. For everything that you've done for me. If I'd only known sooner!" Tasha gaped at Tear's demonstration, but quickly recovered and followed Tear, though quite a bit more slowly. She hung back, uncertainly, like a dog expecting to be kicked, yet hoping to receive a scratch on the head instead. Tasha was thus far enough away to see her mother's full response. As the carriage drew up, she was looking angry - and angry as Tasha had ever seen her. As Tear climbed out, she stiffened - and there was a strange, mask-like quality to her face. As Tear approached, she seemed to recoil, and as the Baroness embraced her, Tasha could see - as Tear could not - the involuntary expression of repugnance there. Lady Tabitha had always, Tasha knew, disliked being touched. But this went far, far beyond that. What was it about Tear that Lady Tabitha found so revolting? Tasha watched the interaction as one would watch actors in a play, trying to guess the motivation behind the characters. Tasha was fascinated. If Tear had the power to upset, perhaps even frighten, her mother, then Tear was certainly someone Tasha wanted to get to know even better. Perhaps it was something Tear could even teach her. Tasha approached with a bit more confidence. Tear did not remain entirely ignorant, feeling the woman's body tighten beneath her. But, for the first time that she could recall, she didn't care. Normally, she would be upset or hurt, but her heart remained indifferent to Tabitha's unease and antipathy. Let the woman be afraid of you, a voice whispered in her mind; its ichorous purr buttressing her sudden resolve. Let her cringe, let her recoil… let her suffer. A mischievous smile crept over Tear's face, feeling so perfect, so comfortable on her lips. She stepped back and boldly stared up at the woman, violet eyes glimmering like polished amethyst. "I've been informed that we will be leaving shortly. So much to do. So little time. I guess we should busy ourselves with getting Tasha prepared for her stay in Amber." Her gaze never left the Tabitha's face as she spoke to her companion. "Right, Tasha?" "Yes, we mustn't keep Helena and Amba waiting," Tasha answered. Then smiled, watching intently, "Oh and they are coming by here at the turning of orangesky so we can all leave together." Tabitha was quite still, staring at Tasha. The expression of repulsion at Tear's embrace had not so much faded as that it had been masked by the polite social mask that Lady Tabitha had rigidly schooled her face to wear on all social occasions. But there was something else too. Her eyes, as she gazed at Tasha, were inexpressibly sad. "You had best prepare then," she said quietly. "You wouldn't want to keep your friends waiting." "Yes, of course not," Tasha responded, as she hurried up the steps. She was very confused by her mother's reaction. Hadn't it been her mother's wish that Tasha go to Amber? Hadn't she been planning this? The more Tasha had thought about it, the more she was convinced that this had been her mother's scheme all along. Yet, why now was she looking as if Tasha were about to go to her death? No, it must be something else. Perhaps her mother was sad for another reason... Something unrelated to her leaving Minobeeways in the company of two of Chaos's finest young ladies. Everyone had heard of Amba and Helena, at least if they followed the sport of Sword-Dancing, which Tasha knew the House of Minobee indeed followed. Tear rolled on the balls of her feet, waiting patiently. She'd caught the interchange between mother and daughter; the alteration in Lady Tabitha's expression, in particular. For a moment, she almost felt guilty about bullying the woman as she had. But the moment passed quickly and was forgotten. She followed Tasha into the house, still struggling with the oddly fitting outfit she had. Once out of earshot from the Lady of the House, Tear drew up beside her friend and matched her pace. "See? That wasn't too terrible. I think I'm beginning to enjoy being a Pariah. It has its advantages." Tasha giggled. How could anyone be afraid of Tear? She had misread her mother, that was all there was to it. As she led the way to her bedroom, possibly for the last time, she gave Tear's hand a friendly squeeze of excitement. "Well, shall we see if everything is in order?" She pushed open the bedroom door and gasped as she beheld the cases and trunks lined along the wall. All of her personal items were gone. It was as if she had never been there. "Yes, I guess they are!" Her voice echoed disconcertingly. Tear released Tasha's hand and slid her arm around the young woman's waist. "It'll be okay," she said reassuringly. "Change is the most difficult thing a person can go through, but also the most important and exciting. You'll always have your home here. And your family. You can visit during the session breaks." Tasha hugged Tear back and frowned, "I feel like a stranger among my own family. I didn't grow up with them, Tear. My older siblings have lived less years than I did in the Shadow that I grew up in, so they are all... Younger than I. My parents... Are virtually strangers as well. I don't... I don't see myself coming 'home' during breaks. "For better or worse, Amber will be my new home." Tear smiled softly and brushed her friend's hair back to show off her face. "Yes. And we'll make sure it truly is a home in every regard, yes?" "I didn't know. About your parents. It must have been hard growing up in Shadow. But soon, you'll have roots. And a new family. It may not replace the old. But you'll have. Connections." A faint sigh hissed over Tear's white teeth. She too would be going through some changes once she returned to Amber. So much had happened that she could hardly get her mind around the future ramifications. At least she would have some company. "I think we can fit all of this into the guest house," she said, trying not to dwell on the turmoil to come. "I just hope you can get along with Tanstaafl. Or rather. I hope you won't want to strangle him. He's going to be propositioning you constantly. He has a weakness for pretty women." At that Tasha smiled, "Oh, he sounds so interesting! I can hardly wait to meet him and your other... friend," She smiled warmly. Tear found a place to sit on the floor, folding her legs up under her. "That's a word for Tan, alright. He's rude, crude, and utterly adorable. Be prepared to scratch him constantly. As for Vikund…" Her voice trails off and she sighs. "I have a feeling. We just broke up. If we were even together to begin with. We'll see. Love can be so. Confusing." "Oh, I am sorry, I mean.. I thought... Maybe he is just really, really busy and you caught him at a really bad time? I'm sure it will all be straightened out once you get back and can talk to him face to face." Tasha looked at Tear with a wistful smile, "Not that I know much about Love... Mother hasn't even let me meet any of the men in Chaos. She seemed to think I needed to devote my time to study. I had so much I needed to learn! But I guess that is all done with now... I'll be meeting lots of people in Amber." Tear blushed brightly, but smiled. "Oh. No harm done. And you're probably right. It's just. Well. He's Mandor's assistant. So, that makes things complicated now. What with Mandor. Lying to me for the last ten years. It makes me. Wonder." She shrugged her thin shoulders. She matched Tasha's wistful smile. "I was much the same. Study, study, study. And then Vikund appeared last year. I'd never thought of having. A boyfriend. But he was understanding about my studies. And was there when I needed him. I'm sure you'll find someone like that. Five Corners is full of them. And the university. You'll be very popular, I assure you. You're so pretty. And nice. You'll be courted day and night." Tear picked some lint from her knee. "Since everything is prepared. Did you want to go outside to wait for them? Or whatever you need to get ready. On the inside, I mean." She touched her heart and offered Tasha an understanding smile. "I know it's a big change." Tasha looked around the room one last time and took a deep breath, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She smiled at Tear. There seemed to be a wyvern overhead, coming in for a rather flashy landing. Of Tabitha Minobee, there was no sign. Hearing the commotion, Tear stood up and then ran to the window. "A wyvern! I've never seen one this close. We have them in Amber. But only in the Scar, really. Not exactly a place for a young lady. Oh! That looks like our friends." She rushed over and took Tasha's hand. "Looks like the adventure has begun." EOT
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