World of Pern
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2023/08/04 Hello loves! While I haven't been writing, I have been working on updating some issues that have been hanging around on the layout! The Character change box is now at the bottom of the page, beside the up/down arrows! Green and Gold dragon flight dates have been shifted to the bottom of the page, where the (useless!) discord widget was located. Where the dragon flights were in the header, is now replaced by a Monthly Event box! This will be updated at the start of each month, with a fun mini-event you can take part in, if you want to! Thistle!
2023/01/07 Welcome to the New Year! We are now ELEVEN years old! Thank you, all of you, for your love and writing! I am looking forward to spending another year with youall! In addition, a new Default colour scheme is in progress and will hopefully be available soon! All my love! ThistleProse
2022/07/29 Gold Malvayth and Bronze Xyxyth clutch is Hatching! Come and join the shenannigans 743.08.03 | NIGHT STALKERS HATCHING and bring the popcorn!
2022/05/11 Gold Malvayth has Flown, caught by Bronze Xyxyth of A'tay. Their Hatching will be PC, and take place in Telgar in August around the 20-22nd! Update your Candidate Applications and prepare for some fun!
2022/04/21 New default layout! I hope you enjoy it! If you find any bugs, please report them in the discord #bug-squishing channel!
05/JUL It’s Hatching time!! Come take part in the shenanigans here
30/JUN Gold Thallyath of Ista Weyr has laid a clutch! More information here
27/JUN A bluerider, and then a greenrider, are found dead. More information here
25/JUN The Touching is up! Take part here
30/MAY After the Touching, many Candidates found themselves preyed upon in the form of their food. More information here
18/MAY Another goldrider - Ameris of Benden - is attacked. More information here
05/MAY Multiple individuals are attacked whilest out of the Weyr! More information here
04/MAY Take a chance OOC and guess who you think the murderer is! You can win prizes! More information here
03/MAY Goldrider Cazan and her twin brother Cazelarias are attacked. More information here
24/APR Goldrider Ashara of Fort is murdered by two brownriders. More information here
12/APR Searchrider B’jin was attacked at Telgar Weyr, surffering a slash to his throat. While in Benden, bluerider B’dor is found dead in his weyr. More info here
05/APRMore attacks occurred today. More information here
03/APRMultiple individuals found their death this day; more information here and here
28/MAR Tragedy has struck again! Across all the Weyrs, multiple people - primarily dragonriders - have fallen ill after eating muffins. There have been multiple deaths, and others are in criticle condition. More information here
24/MAR Weyrwoman Ameris and her son, Rislan, poisoned! More information here
18/MAR Benden’s Weyrleader M’ris and his children have been poisoned! Resulting in sickness and death. More information here
18/MAROn 18.03.742 Bronzerider A’dris of Vyaniorth was found dead in his personal bathing pool. He appears to have drowned after drinking an excess of alcohol. Afterwards it was realized that Machiya of Gold Cameth from Telgar Weyr had disappeared. Having never arrived at her destination, it is suspected she had an accident between.
11/MAR Gold Racoth of Donmaline went between taking Bronze Beruth of T’rel with her shortly after she had been caught, due to T’rel strangling Donmaline. He did not survive. more info
25/FEB Congratulations and thank-you to Guest for taking on a moderator role! <3
14/FEB Stars Above PC Hatching Link
06/JAN :o new layout is a WiP. Please report bugs in Discord.
01/JAN Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!




Currently: Spring 03.745 al
Monthly Event
2024-February
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Welcome to the Month of Lovetm! This month's Monthly Event is all about Romance, whether it is asking someone out on a date, or getting sweaty between the sheets! Anything and everything counts, if it even looks sideways like it could be related to Valentine Day -- including lover's spats, or breaking up, Flights Wins (or Flight Losses!). Honestly, this month has a huge opportunity for interpertation, so go wild!



2023-December
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Ahh, the fresh snow, the crisp air, the naked trees... welcome to Winter! Or, just the Colder Months for those in the more Northern Weyrs, while Ista is just... not as hot. But it is time to enjoy the end of the Turn, so folks should get together, spend some time gossiping, and drinking Hot Chocolate (alcohol and marshmallows opional)... does Pern even have marshmallows????? (they do now!)



2023-November
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Feel like bitching? Wanna take part in a brawl? Or bet on someone? Take part in Brawls and Bitching this month! Boo-yeah!



2023-October
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Thistle flunked this month; You can still post until the end of November as a result <3
Experience, tell or hide from a Spooky Story!



2023-September
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The flu is running rampant, colds are clogging noses, and someone might have lost a limb?



2023-August
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Partake this month by going fishing... or anything that occurs while fishing, or dealing with fish!



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[G] [P] 733.10.30 | Kissing Cousins
4 PM | Kira

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The sound of shuffled papers filled the cramped Archives, laced with the gentle padding of feet on carpet and the occasional clearing of men's throats. The first floor was always the busiest, home to the rarer, finer books of the Lord's collection, and most frequented by highborn visitors. It was unusual to see commonfolk between the shelves, idly picking through literature they likely couldn't read, but the poor were not explicitly barred from the Library. Their presence was frowned upon by the majority of the educated staff, especially the elder Harper known as the Head Curator.

The ancient Masterharper disliked the lackwit drudges putting their grubby fingerprints in places they didn't belong, and vehemently denied them access to the Restoration Room on the third floor, wheezing that he'd give them a wicked whipping if he caught a single whiff of them near the protected area. How the decrepit librarian would lift a cane higher than his knees, no one knew. At the moment he was glaring half-blind between the shelves at one of his underlings, an Archivist he typically respected for his meticulous nature, who'd been completely distracted by some pet project the last sevenday and was neglecting his work. The Head Curator grumbled as he puttered away, making a note have words with the fluffy-haired man.

Warkhim sat in one of the plush chairs of the Archives, one eyebrow cocked up to his forehead as he lounged. Today is the seventh day, he thought blandly. Surely the little minx from the kitchen wouldn't stand him up. It would behoove her to arrive in a timely manner. He waited at his desk on the first floor, a sectioned off space hidden in a nook that was not quite a suitable doored room, but offered him a modicum of privacy with his guests.

The Senior Journeyman had much to tell little Kira after beginning his search for her bloodline in the commonborn section, half perusing the official records and half scouring through his personal annals. The other librarians found little value in keeping such scrupulous notes on the general populace, but Warkhim knew any information, even on the poor, was a useful tool if properly applied. He found her lowborn father, Moran, quickly using his alphabetical cross references, but her mother, Senski, was a different story. Tracking her family tree led the Archivist to a section of his blood lines he didn't truly expect to return to-- his own. It appeared Senski the drudge was directly descended from Nisseri of Telgar, the Wayward Daughter, they called her, who abandoned her post and privileges for love of a working man.

Well, fuck me, he thought, not for the first time that sevenday. It changed very little about his opinion of her as far as sex went: half of the Lord Holder's family had slept with or married distant relatives to keep the bloodline pure, and interbreeding was just as common with the minor Holders' families. It was all a giant royal cesspool, and Warkhim pursuing a kitchen drudge for a tumble in the sheets was really the least of Telgar's worries.

Still, he was less than pleased to discover that she was his second cousin (twice removed), and had been occupied for days trying to prove himself wrong. But as he sat skimming the records again he was certain: he never made errors and he was semi-related to Kira the drudge. Warkhim tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair, wondering how deterred from fucking him she'd be if he told her. He'd have to present the information delicately, stressing that they weren't properly related by Telgarian standards, and that their only connection was four to five generations back (depending on the subject's point of view. Warkhim was old enough to be her father, and it didn't bother him in the least.)

"Maybe it's enough," he sighed, leafing through the pages of their shared history.

Might have to LPC the Head Curator, lol.

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Kira hesitated at the entrance to the library. She had only rarely entered, rather intimidated by the Masterharper that overlooked the place. He was old, but still had a ferocious temper, and didn't care for drudges around there at all. At least this time she had a valid excuse... though she was less than excited about having to actually see Warkhim. He seemed a touch unsavory, and that made her disinclined to be in his company, but what could she do now?

She had promised that she would see him in a sevenday, and her time was up.

Kira stepped in, keeping her head down respectfully to the workers that looked at her. Some were friendlier than others, but the majority were more willing to throw her out on her ear rather than let her intrude someplace she obviously didn't belong. Kira's fingers twisted together. One of the friendlier librarians who had helped her out the last time she went in was behind a desk. She approached and stuttered out Warkhim's name, and was given directions to his little section.

Slipping through the stacks, Kira paused to pick up a small book of dragon lore as she made her way to his desk. It wouldn't hurt anything to borrow it, and it was on her favorite subject besides. Most found dragons terrifying, or looked down on them as useless. Kira dreamed of the freedom of a weyr and escaping the familial duties placed on her in the Hold. A small grin escaped her as she tried to imagine what Warkhim would think of her if he knew. His distaste for her chosen preference of working in the Infirmary had been fairly apparent. This would undoubtedly double his distaste.

She peered in the little corner that had been designated as his, and saw him at his desk. Kira stepped in, giving a small curtsy of respect. It wouldn't do to be caught doing anything less, not here, not when she held onto her privilege of being in the library with all her abilities. But Kira didn't feel like saying anything at the moment, either. She didn't really care about her heritage, but it had been a kind gesture of the man and it might be interesting. Who knew what the man had dug up on her ancestors? Sometimes there was something worthwhile knowing.

With that, Kira gave a gentle smile towards him, and indicated that she was wondering if she could take the seat across from him. He seemed rather occupied with his books and scrolls. Perhaps even a bit irritated. She wondered what could have bothered the man, and if she was the cause of any of it. Even if she didn't care for Warkhim, Kira didn't want him to be upset with her.

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Warkhim's dark eyes shot up from his papers as Kira entered his study, narrowing for a split second in distaste as she bowed. It appeared the little drudge had snagged a novel, likely a picture book, during her sojourn. He quickly righted his face with a wide mouthed smile as she stood upright before he rose from his chair with a nod of his head. "Please, take a seat," he smoothly told her, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the desk.

"So good to see you again, Kira. You must have been quite busy with your duties to put me off so long, and I've got a great deal I've been waiting to tell you," he said offhandedly as he reorganized the scrolls, compendiums, and other assorted paperwork on his desk. Warkhim gathered his thoughts, still internally debating how best to approach his explanation of her heritage. He assumed she had next to no knowledge of her family tree, or how Telgar Family Tree worked in the first place, and that his duties as the Head Archivist included teaching the curious members of the unwashed masses as much as their tiny brains could struggle to contain. Really, I am too generous, he mentally sighed.

He cleared his throat, beginning in a professional, lecturing tone, "Now. What you see before you is the official Telgarian Family Tree, or the Telgar Blood Line, as some call it." He pointed to the Lord Holder, Derrigan of Telgar, whose name was dead center in the unfurled scroll. Though the sheer number of names and dates on the Blood Line would be overwhelming to the untrained eye, it was not nearly as detailed as his own private scroll. This one included only Derrigan's legitimate children and other kin, whereas Warkhim had taken extreme measures to capture all of the bastards and make reasonable guesses about their parentage in the rare cases when it was still debated. 

"This is Derrigan of Telgar, our resident Lord Holder, and the focal point of our discussion. You can see the commonalities between his name, his father's name, his father's father's name, and so on. The "erri", or "E-R-R-I", of the Holder's name has been passed down for generations as something akin to a status symbol." He spelled out the simple string of letters in a sharp staccato, still operating under the impression that Kira couldn't read. Leaning forward, Warkhim's long index finger dragged to his left, her right, as he pointed to his own name.

"You see here? This is me. Warkhim, son of Rilwarina of Telgar and Khimadav the trader." It took every ounce of his self-control not to sneer at his parents' names, the idiotic old fools that they were. "I cannot claim the "of Telgar" surname because my mother married a commoner." Though the displeasure did not register on Warkhim's face, he had still not forgiven Rilwarina for the costly transgression her love had afforded him. It was a cruel fate to be born just outside the nobles' circle, cursed forever to bow at the fringes of the higher class.  "But I'm close enough on the line to be Lord Derrigan's first cousin, once removed."

Peering up at her, he noticed her pretty face's proximity with a lascivious grin. Kira was a delightful little beastie to observe, though he could have done without her stutter and greasy day job. Before divulging all the succulent details of her claim to fame and family (and the even more delicious tidbits he'd found on her betrothed, Falon the healer-boy) he lightly asked, "But before we get to the nitty-gritty minutiae on your bloodline, I'm curious about that book you have. Tell me what it's about."

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Kira took the seat offered, missing the nasty look he gave at the sight of a book in her hands. The way he addressed her, however, got her hackles up a bit. He was calling her out for not having come see him sooner, and while she felt a bit guilty about that, she had still come! The agreement had been a sevenday, and anytime within that. She didn't owe him her time. Her fingers ran over the cover of the book, thinking that her day would be better spent reading it rather than being here. What did she care about her family tree? She was a drudge, and nothing he found would change that.

She had to fight back the urge to roll her eyes as Warkhim began to lecture. Her eyes scanned the names, following the complex chart up. There were a lot of people, and she was glad for the Harper's help navigating the relations. Kira leaned in closer, looking for her own name on the paper. Something about being a first cousin to the Lord Holder floated past her ears, but Kira couldn't honestly say that she cared all that much about what his lineage was. After all, it wasn't like she was related to the man - either Warkhim or the Lord Holder.

Before she could catch sight of it, Warkhim asked her an unexpected question. Her book? Kira grasped it tightly for a moment, debating whether to give it up to him. But it had been an innocent question, and what could she say? Kira slowly held it out for his perusal. It was sure to get some disapproval, probably earn her his scorn. The thought of that bothered her more than she could say. Kira didn't like to be judged as silly or incompetent, and he had already started down the path of assuming she was an idiot. Though... thinking on it, she couldn't really blame him. She could read and write fluently, and that was more than she could say about many of her counterparts.

"Dragons," she got out quietly, without a stutter interrupting the word. Stories and ballads about how they had saved Pern many times from Thread. Kira didn't think it was coming back soon, but the tales were terribly exciting, drawing her into her own imaginary world where Thread had already come, and she was one of the ones taking it out. The thought she had about her likelihood to ever be Searched was repressed, and Kira just gave him a vapid smile. It seemed like he thought she was a fool. She might as well let him continue to think it. No good ever came from making an enemy.

Her eyes went back to the scroll. "S-so. What ab-bout my bloodl-l-line?" Getting the attention away from her personal hobbies and interests and back onto something she was sure would interest the Harper more. He seemed like he knew something about it and wanted to share... sort of. He had dragged his heels by asking about the book, but what more could they say on that subject? Her eyes scanned it again, finally alighting on her name. There. And her siblings, as well. And her mother and father above them. Her father's line didn't seem to have anything interesting to it, though, and that made her frown. Then why did he not just come out and say that she was common stock? Not that she didn't already know that....

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Not missing Kira's sudden defensiveness about her book, Warkhim licked his lips in delight. She tensed apprehensively, clearly concerned with his judgment (as she should be) and told him, miraculously without a stutter, that the novel's topic was dragons. The archivist clenched his teeth, but kept any other outward sign of displeasure from his visage. Idiot girl daydreaming about those fucking flying lizards, he internally seethed. Warkhim bitterly remembered his days as an Apprentice at the Harper Hall in Fort, when he was a younger man near Kira's current age, and how the riders strutted about the Hall and Hold like they owned everything around them. He recalled how they looked down upon those who didn't Impress, as if having a winged reptile between their legs made them better somehow, and how their terrible beasts could penetrate a person's mind with their voices, regardless of invitation. And now look, he thought. A convenient little disease gave them exactly what they deserved: exile.

Warkhim had been mentally raped, as he liked to think of it, by more than one talkative dragon when he was an Apprentice, especially hating the forced interactions with the smaller green females. They were obviously less intelligent than the others, though he couldn't claim to enjoy any of them, regardless of intellect, and were more likely to Impress to women and pansy, dick-loving men. Disgusting, he grimaced. I would at least have the decency to Impress a bronze and fuck the Queens. Though he'd never stood to Impress, and never had a desire to, Warkhim was solidly convinced he would have been a powerful, hyper-intelligent bronzerider if things had been different.

"Ah, dragons. A tragic tale, theirs," he said, eyelids lowering respectfully. He steered clear of further discussion, intent on not giving his unfavorable opinions away. The typical Telgarian attitude toward dragons had been generally friendlier than his, although the Holders had no issue banishing them to rot in the South for their own protection. He veered the conversation back to the family tree at Kira's request, happy to divert her from gushing over daydreams of dead dragons.

"Well, I had an interesting time trying to track you down in the first place. It was no issue finding your father's family," he pointed to Moran on the bloodline, "but your mother," he slid his nail over to Senski, "was a touch problematic." Twisting in his seat, Warkhim reached down to retrieve a hefty bound volume from his desk drawer (one of nearly forty, if his memory served him) that chronicled the lives of Derrigan of Telgar's ancestors. It was a halfway decent record, though it didn't include nearly enough of the dirtier scandals as far as Warkhim was concerned, of the Holders' history. "It took a bit of digging for me to find Senski's line, and the reason is this: she is loosely descended from Errichrom of Telgar, and I was not looking in my own family tree."

"It seems she is the great-granddaughter of Nisseri of Telgar, the Wayward Daughter, as they called her," he gestured to the book on the desk. "Which means, though you cannot claim a title, you are technically one of Derrigan of Telgar's second cousins, twice removed." Guiding her back to the official bloodline, he dragged his finger down to Nisseri of Telgar, "If this continued tracking Nisseri's lowborn relations, you'd eventually appear about four generations down." 

With a strained smile, he lightly added, "That means you and I are very distantly related. You would be my third cousin, once removed."     

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Kira was glad to move the book back to the safety of her lap when he went back to her bloodline like she had hoped. This was an uncomfortable topic no matter who she would speak of it with... if she ever felt like sharing it with anybody. Not even Falon knew about how she wished to be a Rider. That this man came uncomfortably close to finding it out - even if it was simply by having seen the book she read - made Kira want to disappear and never show her face to him again.

Though she was doubting he would let her go that easily. Warkhim seemed determined to ferret her out, if his feelings towards her prolonged wait to see him and even when he had wanted to speak to her in the kitchens was any indication.

However, Kira was willing to listen when he talked about her family line. Yes, yes, she knew that about her father. Common stock, she could have told him that! So what about her mother? "Ah." It was the only sound she could get out. His little revelation actually made her thoughts about it disperse for a few moments, leaving her slightly stunned. Okay, perhaps not entirely common stock.

She took a few moments to process what he had said even further. Not-so-common stock that was distantly related to Warkhim. Kira looked him over more carefully. The thought made her shudder a bit, to be truthful. Warkhim was a tad distasteful to her (though she had little to base her feelings on beyond his stolen wine, and that was terribly tenuous in terms of things to dislike someone for, and the bit of leering was not unusual with men either), and the thought that they shared any blood made her pray to Rukbat that whatever ill-nature he had gotten had been purged from her own body with her commoner ancestors' lines. Her one bit of happiness was knowing that they were only distantly related. Very. Distantly.

Kira raised her eyes to him and gave a brief smile. "S-so distant, doesn-n't matter much what mother-r's line is. Thank y-you for your time. In-nteresting." Her few words were intended to let him know that she didn't really care what her relation to the current Lord Holder was. After all, she wasn't a Noble and would never be. She would simply scrub pots for the rest of her life and that was that. But he had taken effort to track her down, and that was a kind (if completely wasteful) thing to do. Kira briefly wondered why he cared that much... or even at all... about what her lineage was, but that thought flew from her mind quickly.

Fingering the book, she stood, giving a respectful nod and small curtsey to the Harper, aware of his rank above her more than ever. Warkhim was barely removed from the line, and a Harper to boot! And she didn't really want to be around him regardless. "I w-will s-s-see you again, I'm sure," she murmured, prepared to leave, book clutched in her hands. Kira was ready to go back to the Harper who worked here, who was vaguely sympathetic and would let her borrow it without much fuss (though a stern warning or two was often given, regardless of the immaculate condition she brought all the books back in), and leave. What else did she need to know?

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Interesting? Fucking interesting is all I get for wasting my time on this bitch's family tree? Warkhim stared open-mouthed at the brunette in his study, fingers splayed wide atop the desk. If he'd told anyone else in Telgar, literally anyone else, they'd be shitting themselves at the prospect of being distantly related to the Lord Holder. Not two months earlier some moronic trollop in a gaudy dress she couldn't afford had come to Derrigan claiming she was a great-niece of his, and Warkhim knew for a fact that her bloodline was even more tenuous and lowborn than Kira's.

He licked his lips. "Your reaction to this news is underwhelming, Kira. Perhaps you don't fully understand the magnitude of the situation. With a husband of well-bred stock, you and your children would regain the Telgarian title. With some good planning and breeding, your grandchildren could be heirs to the Telgarian family." Warkhim gracefully neglected to mention that it would likely take several hundred deaths in the current family, and a woman with more social ambitions than Kira actually possessed to make that plausibly happen. She seemed to lack any desire to use her mother's ancestors to her benefit, and the Archivist slowly began to wonder if she wasn't as intelligent as he initially hoped. After glancing again at book, Warkhim though, What a waste. This one can actually read. So many squandered advantages. That Kira had no motivation to improve her standing in life was a huge disappointment to Warkhim. He briefly considered that she might need more heavy-handed guidance, and lightly added, "Were you to marry lesser cousin or nephew, or even a Lord of the minor holds, it would mean wealth and respect for your family. Moran would never have to work another day in his life, nor your siblings unless they chose to pursue a craft."

Suddenly she rose, curtseying (poorly) before stuttering a weak goodbye. She'd only just arrived, and Kira was already trying to sneak away. What a fool! Little ingrate! Warkhim had given her life-changing news served up on a silver platter, followed by explicit directions to claim a seat of power, and the drudge was scurrying away like none of it had happened!

"Oh no, Kira. Sit down." He jerked his long index finger down to the desk with a thump, brown eyes staring penetratingly into her skull. "I have much more to tell you." Warkhim had played nicely, he'd been polite and helpful and hadn't once diminished her pathetic existence. But the time for niceties was over, and Kira was long overdue to learn her place. Or, at least, learn of the other places her beloved fiancee had been.

"When you told me about Falon, the name piqued my curiosity, and I recalled that I'd come across him more than once in my studies." Deftly sweeping away the Telgarian blood line scrolls and associated encyclopedia to their respective drawers, Warkhim sniffed delicately. He rifled through the bookshelves behind him, pulling out one of the lowborn annals and flipping to a well-inked page. He pointed to Falon's line with a knowing smile, and chuckled, "You didn't tell me he was a father." Lowering his voice, he wickedly murmured, "He has a little girl named Faellin. She's three or so now." 

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Kira was unnerved by the way he looked at her when she said she was going to go. He had been astounded by her lack of care about her bloodline (how likely was she to ever marry even a cousin or nephew?), but the drudge didn't much care about his reaction. She didn't really like him! But there was something else. She paused, waiting for him to find what he wanted to tell her in his books.

It took a few moments for the news to sink in, and suddenly she heard a ringing in her ears. "What?!" Kira gasped, sinking back down into the chair. Her hands were trembling so badly that she almost couldn't hold the book. Falon, a father? HER Falon? There had to be some mistake. She leaned over to look and read it for herself, a whimper escaping when she saw it was true. How could it be? Kira wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. She couldn't, though. She was trapped here, in the library, because if she left then she would risk seeing Falon and right now Kira simply couldn't manage that. He had promised her! He had sworn that children weren't that important, that they could wait a bit before starting a family, try to move past her fears about it all. Had it all been a lie?

Closing her eyes to try and compose herself, Kira breathed deeply. She had to do something.

....But what?

She couldn't marry Falon now. Not when she knew this about him. Could she? "Who els-se would have m-me?" Kira asked quietly, her eyes going to Warkhim's. "S-say what you wan-nt about marrying higher, but n-none of them-m would be so foolish as-s to m-marry a stutt-tering drudge." She was flawed. She could read, she wanted an education desperately, and she stuttered. Nothing about her was marriageable material. A man who had a by-blow was the most that she could hope for, when all was said and done.

And to top it off, Kira didn't want to marry. Not a single fiber in her desired it, because marriage meant sex, and sex meant... She cut herself off there. There was no use lingering on those thoughts. But she had to, eventually, because if she didn't, she would be an outcast. Her time was running out to put it off. What choices did she have? Warkhim seemed to have an opinion on what she should do, but Kira wasn't about to accept it without a challenge. Child or no, Falon at least treated her decently, and that was more than she could say about half the men she had ever met.

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#9
The shocked inhale from across the desk was utterly delightful to Warkhim, and he pursed his lips in what he hoped passed for a sympathetic frown instead of a showcase of his inner glee. She didn't know about her manwhore, he mentally whispered, eyebrow arching in thought. And now she's shaking of all things. Little trollop doesn't know mouth from asshole. Part of him was astounded by her surprise- it had been turns since he'd come across a woman of her age so completely oblivious to the ways of men. Most females simply assumed their bedmates been around the Hold a time or two, and they had probably fucked with the finest a bit themselves. Her innocence would have been endearing if Warkhim were capable of those emotions. As it was, he was rather aroused by her distressed.

"What do you mean, 'who else would have me?'" he murmured, lacing his long fingers atop his desk. "There are two misconceptions I need clarification on, Kira. Firstly, why have you suddenly broken off your engagement? It just seems a bit reactionary, you know. Is Falon's bastard the problem, or is it simply the fact that he's known another woman?" Warkhim veered around the more gruesome details of that topic, not to spare her, but because he was certain she'd try to leave again if he were too callous or inappropriate. Drudges had no sense of humor, particularly when it came to infidelity.

"Secondly, you are highly eligible for a lowborn girl, especially now that you know your connection to the family line." He didn't know how else to spell it out for her, assuming she could spell, but continued, "As I mentioned earlier, some planning on your part would not go awry if you really want to buckle down and find a higher station in the world. And, of course, I would be more than willing to help you, dear cousin." He narrowed his eyes, unsmiling, and waited for her response. It would be exceedingly unwise for the petite brunette to refuse his offer, or even diminish his generosity. He was genuinely, if sleazily, offering to help, and hadn't even responded to her comment about the stutter!

For whatever reason, Warkhim enjoyed what little time he'd spent with Kira, though he found her something of an enigma teetering on the line of true intelligence and social blundering. Perhaps it was because of her ineptitude that he felt the need to guide her, permanently sealing her into his debt. He had no qualms keeping her as a little pet, especially if she climbed the Telgarian ladder with him behind the scenes.

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Written By: ZZZ Archived
#10
Kira listened as he questioned her and laid out exactly why she was eligible for a marriage of power. Her mind was still reeling from the news, though. Her beloved... But wasn't she just being silly for not having assumed that he would have a child somewhere? He was of an age and position to have a few. Perhaps she should simply feel grateful that there was only one... One sired when she was only on the verge of being old enough for marriage! It didn't stop her heart from aching, though.

It took a few moments after he had stopped speaking for her to say anything, her fingers worrying the wood of the chair which she sat in. "Marriage... Is-sn't off. Not... I jus-st-t..." Kira was caught by the man's expectant gaze. His look wasn't kind, simply patient, waiting for her to follow his lead. She swallowed. How could Kira explain that her deepest fear was the act between a man and a woman, that it was the child that terrified her but she was also terrified of the idea of him having touched another, fathered a child, and knowing that if he had one it cemented knowing that he would want more from her?

Her gaze slipped over and sought the exit from the archives. It was hidden behind the stacks, but Kira knew exactly where it was and she wished she had the courage to run for it. What he was offering was simply... Her stomach twisted. If Kimora had heard it, if her father had, she knew exactly what they would say. Kira was trapped. The way that Warkhim informed her of Falon after she brushed off his revelation of her bloodlines made her afraid that he would continue to upset her if she turned this away. And Warkhim had let her know exactly how she could gain power with such delight! He wanted her to agree, didn't he?

And so would her family.

She closed her eyes once more before meeting Warkhim's look with a weak smile of her own. "Doesn't matter wh-hy I'm callin-ng it off-f. F-family would be s-s-so proud of me for mak-king a better match. And I can-N't do it without y-your help, of-f course." She couldn't even fathom how to make a better match. But... If she was sucessful... Then her family would be proud, wouldn't they?

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Written By: ZZZ Archived
#11
"Ah, now you've left me rather confused, dear Kira," Warkhim drawled. Her waffling between commitment to Falon and a desire to improve her own standing was entertaining at least, and the tall man thoughtfully placed his chin on his knuckles. When her gaze flickered to the Library's exit he suppressed a miserly frown. "Perhaps you should confront Falon directly before bringing this up with your family, just to work out a few kinks. It sounds like you haven't entirely settled on decided on a plan of action."

Though she conceded the necessity of his assistance (stumbling on every damn word) Warkhim considered the ramifications of his sponsorship. From his brief stint of spying on Falon, the healer boy seemed decidedly harmless, but a man scorned could become violent, deadly even, under the right circumstances. On top of that, he had no knowledge of Kira's father, Moran, and that could prove to be an equally crippling misstep. More research was required.

Warkhim blinked twice and smiled, an awkward baring of his teeth, before saying, "I would be happy to facilitate a discussion between Falon and yourself, should you require it, but let's keep your family out of it for a little while longer." Reorganizing the papers on his desk, the archivist briefly tidied the wooden surface before laying his laced fingers atop the lowborn's family tree.

"In the meantime, you can answer me two puzzling questions. One: what aspect of Falon's previous relationship is the most insurmountable to you?" He had a hunch it was the perception of his infidelity more than the resultant child, but women were strange, simple-minded creatures when it came to secrets. "Two: if you really are committed to moving forward with a superior marriage, what are you hoping to accomplish?" The little drudge didn't strike him as purely power-hungry, but he could see her working hard for money. All women were whores for the right price and, though he didn't verbalize it, Warkhim would have an easier time making her a mistress than a proper lady wife.

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#12
Kira's knuckles whitened as Warkhim suggested she tell Falon. Yes, she would have to do that. She lowered her head in silent agreement with it, but lifted her face a few moments later as he suggested facilitating a talk between them. "No. I can-n do it m-my-yself. Won't say-y a thing to the f-family yet." Her words were hollow.

His further questions made her feel sick, though. He had to know the answers if he was going to be able to help her. Kira's hands clenched together. "The child." It barely came out at above a whisper. "I don-n't w-want..." For a moment she trailed off, then started again. "I know-w mos-s-st men have them at his-s age, b-but he promised he didn't... Could w-wait for me to be r-ready. And he lied." Her eyes were focused on Warkhim's hands in front of her. "I'll have to bear-r for an-nyone I marr-ry. Would rather do it f-f-for someone that didn-n't lie to m-me about it." It was complicated, and she didn't expect Warkhim to understand. "Don't car-re if they hav-ve bas-stards. Don't expect to tr-rus-st them to begin with."

Kira moved to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, a bit that had escaped her tight braid. "As for marrying... I jus-st wan-nt my family to be pr-round of-f me. There's al-lready s-so much wrong with m-me, it's amazing a Cr-rafter as-sked for me to begin-n w-with. But to marr-ry som-meone higher than-n that..." She lifted her eyes to his, and they were shining with tears that she could let herself shed. "They m-might res-spect me jus-st a bit since I would br-ring them honor that way-y."

Kira couldn't even imagine Kimora being kind to her or giving her grudging respect for making such a match, but that didn't stop her from wanting it desperately. She was constantly at war with herself over the desire to run as far as she could from her family and forgetting all about them and madly wanting their approval. Approval always won out since there was no possible way to disappear. It wasn't just Kimora, though. Moran... Moran was good at making his disapproval of his under daughter known.

"If-f they ev-ven thought that I had a chanc-ce at s-something better, they would hate m-me f-f-for not taking it."

Hate her, hit her, beat her for her sheer stupidity in turning it down. The thought of it made the drudge pale. Moran could content himself with a crafter after some time, but if Kimora... No. Kira would never know the end of her sisters fury.

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Written By: ZZZ Archived
#13
It was completely unsurprising that Kira refused Warkhim's offer to assist with informing her betrothed that the engagement was irrevocably off, but it came as something of a shock to the Archivist that the reasoning behind her sudden change of heart had nothing to do with the man himself: it was the child. Warkhim slouched to one side of his chair, idly glancing at his fingernails but intently listening as Kira explained (in that atrocious stutter) her feelings about the current situation.

"It is possible," he began, casually arching at eyebrow, "that Falon promised to wait until you were ready to bear more children with him. From my perspective, he never promised that he wasn't ready at some point prior, or that he didn't want to be a father, but was simply patient enough to wait for your consent. Little Faellin appears to be a white lie of omission, nothing more. Beside that, maybe he's content with just one brat scampering around the Hold."

What woman wanted to wait to bear children? They were a female's best chance at climbing the ranks at Telgar, particularly if one managed to get herself pregnant by a powerful member of Derrigan's family. Bastards were valuable commodities despite their frequent appearances in the blood line, and more than one had dragged his mother up from the dreary depths in a show of gratitude for ensuring a half-pedigree birth. Most of the lowborn women acted as slightly better advisers, as much as a woman could be, at least, than the airheaded bluebloods too mummified by lace and silk to formulate a weighty thought.

As far as her trust issues and blatant, if justified, lack of confidence went, Warkhim found that subject far more interesting to address. He shrugged at Kira, saying, "It would only bring them as much honor as you chose to give them in return. Gift them with nothing they don't deserve, and it sounds like they deserve very little of your generosity."

Warkhim sneered, heaving a sigh at the thought of disrespectful families, though if there was a smidgen of sympathy evident on his face, it was purely accidental. He frequently concluded that he should have finished smothering his brother all those turns ago, and rid himself of his parents while he was at it. Kira may have been a small step up from the dirt under his feet, but even he could understand a meddling family bent on ruining her life. It seemed they were all designed to be a perpetual thorn in one's side.

"Let them hate you then. You'll be happier without them, especially if you decide against Falon and choose someone of a higher station. Once you're wed, you can leave them in the cesspools of Telgar for all it will matter to you." Warkhim snarled, "Remember, Kira, you don't owe them a fucking thing. This is your life, and we can make it whatever you want it to be."

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#14
Kira glanced between Warkhim and her fingers, clenched tightly together. His words weren't much of a consolation. She still couldn't trust him when it came to things like this. He had hidden a child from her! A child! When he had no reason to hide it from her... Except for it having been born out of wedlock, and knowing how she had been frightened of child's and childbirth. The drudge supposed that it was possible he had done it to spare her, but that made it all the worse when she found out.

Her gaze tilted up towards the Harper once more when he said that she didn't owe her family anything. She didn't? A frown creased her brow. That was news to her. According to them, she owed them everything. And in a way, she did. Kimora had been the one to take care of them when their mother had died, and her father had always been caring, if distant and traditional. How could she simply turn her back on them?

Kira gave a soft sigh. She had a lot to think about. There was no way she could make a good, decent, informed decision about her life when her emotions were like this. When her heart beat as painfully as it did.

"I... I..." She made a start, but then halted, unsure of what she was going to say to Warkhim. After a few more moments, Kira made another attempt. "I un-nders-s-stand, and I thin-nk.... That I should w-wait a bit bef-fore deciding anything. Today has-s been too ev-eventful to make any good decisions ab-bout anything. Pleas-se, I appreciate ev-very-thing you have done, but... I need to thin-nk."

She stood, pale and shaken, only wanting to run from the library and disappear. But Kira made herself give the man a curtsy for his kindness. When she turned tail, Kira was able to leave the library with a stiff spine and measured steps. They probably betrayed how much she wanted to run to anyone else, but that mattered little to her. What mattered to her was that she hadn't run when she wanted to.

But the moment she was out of sight and able to, Kira did. Straight back home and to her room, where she could curl beneath her furs and hide away from the world for a time.

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Written By: ZZZ Archived
#15
Kira stood, looking particularly distressed and overtly overwhelmed, and stuttered a strained goodbye. At least this time she had the decency to express gratitude for Warkhim's interest in her situation. Not every Harper at Telgar would bother with a no-name drudge and her grating speech impediment. Though Warkhim's own motives had been a touch more physically charged at the start, that had abruptly changed when he fully realized their relation. Granted, there were a slew of high-born Telgarians married to their cousins, and at least one instance in the last century in which half-siblings had married, blessedly without procreating.

He arched a brow at Kira and drawled, "I think that is a wise decision."

Even he wouldn't expect a small-minded woman to be capable of making a life-altering decision on the fly, particularly one as heavily-weighed with emotion as Kira seemed to be. It was clear her infatuation with Falon still clouded her logic, if she had any logic in the first place, but the Archivist would do his best to guide her to a more amenable husband of a higher station. No one could say he was unkind to his cousin and, even barring the positive boost to his reputation his graciousness would afford him, Kira would owe him for his numerous favors. He'd be certain to remind her who first extended a helping hand in her direction.

He nodded again as she left, watching hawkishly as she disappeared between the stacks. Warkhim stood to his full height, looming over his desk, the scattered scrolls, and bookmarked tomes, and his dark eyes settled on the novel Kira had picked from the stacks laying forgotten on the wooden surface. Lifting the book of dragon lore he smirked at the topic, thinking it was rather predictable of the lowborn (well, mostly lowborn) girl to dream of an era long passed, one full of draconic wonders now thankfully extinct.

Still, he'd have to return her moronic book, and that meant a trip to her father's home above the leatherworking shop. "I'll be seeing you, Kira," he muttered, slipping the novel into his top drawer.

End of thread! I'll add it to the Thread Concluded list.

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