IoM: Questions Better Left Unasked
Sep. 3rd, 2006 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreIoM has dominated the last five or so posts. Wow. ^^ I know I'll move on to something else eventually - this is one of the easiest things to write about when I feel uninspired. But I did promise ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kytha some IoM-themed amusement to distract her from being sick, so! Here you are.
. . .
Karstad Village went about its daily business under a perpetual pall of sand that deepened the desert twilight from crimson and purple to a kind of dusty gray that Raeger wasn't fond of. It brought sandstorms to mind, and miserable nights huddled within crumbling ruins or tall rock outcroppings in lieu of real shelter, because there was none of that left in Egypt. This village was beyond the border and technically in Artolian territory. That wasn't an encouraging prospect for her, when her face was surely on posters and missives all over the place - right next to Judas and Lawfer, under headings accusing them of murder.
The accusation was true enough, minus her own participation. They did go back to take care of Lombert, but the bit about the princess dying at their hands was insulting. She'd fought as hard as the others to save Jelanda, in spite of what a nuisance the girl could be.
Judas left her at the inn once they were settled, unpacked, and paid for, and Raeger took her evening meal alone as usual. The innkeep left a tray heaped with food, probably thinking her 'companion' would return hungry - lamb and eggplant spiced with cinnamon and things she didn't recognize, flatbread and thick yougurt dip, honey-drizzled sweetmeats, and a clay pitcher beaded with condensation that she went for immediately. It was tea thick with spices and cream they called 'chai' in the desert cities, so cold and packed with ice it was almost slush.
The quality of food in these places always surprised her; she remembered Artolian inns and their sparse offerings, and the ones in Gerabellum were even worse. Raeger wasn't obsessive about food, but after weeks of digging and searching in the desert, a feast like this was a luxury fit for royalty.
She ate twice her share, and told herself it was important to make it look like Judas ate. Who wanted nosy innkeepers asking about things like that when, right at that moment, there were probably at least two townspeople who would mysteriously disappear? She might be smart enough to put things together, and Raeger didn't want to be forced to hike all the way across the desert to Aragon from the Nile, if she and Judas got the urge to seek civilization. Karstad was convenient, and she tried not to think about how that sounded when the thought entered her mind.
After finishing her meal, she washed her hands and sat down on the bedstead with a small leather journal. Both her handwriting and his were cramped into the first few pages, covering them in barely recognizable script. The majority was Hieratic, which he'd deemed it practical for her to learn. She couldn't argue that, not really; not after nearly selling herself into slavery in Aragon thanks to her ignorance. Ah, but she didn't like thinking about that either! Next page.
She turned to a page somewhere in the middle, to a long list of hieroglyphs, which were easier to remember than the modern language. Osiris at the top, then Isis, and subtitles that she remembered were other names, but couldn't quite read. Selkhet, Bastet, Horus. She knew Set's name from the temple on the river.
He hadn't told her yet what they meant, or what they stood for. No more than what he'd already shared among the ruins, anyway. But it was enough to get lost in, trying to puzzle out each symbol based on its meaning, and trying to remember the pronunciations. Raeger forgot how empty the room was until the sound of the door closing roused her from study.
Judas was dusting himself off with motions more impatient than effective, and he eventually left off and simply dropped his coat by the door. His hair was damp, and he shook sand from it roughly. "Feel better?" he asked without preamble, not even bothering to look at her as he spoke.
"Yeah." She turned her eyes back to the journal. "Food helped. Guess I was just hungry."
"Me too." He dropped into a chair at the table, slouching down and letting his head fall back. "I guess."
Raeger tried to continue reading, but it was useless; with Judas present, there was no point in trying to puzzle things out. He'd probably roll his eyes at her if she got something wrong, and it just wouldn't be any fun. He was more tolerant out in the desert, she thought. Like the ruins and their inscriptions reminded him that he was no expert, that he was also still learning, and Raeger was just a little farther behind than he was.
"Can..." She closed the journal and left it on the quilt beside her leg. "Mind if I ask you something?"
He glanced at her and blinked a few times - his version of surprise, she'd learned after a while - and snatched a sweetmeat from the tray. "Fire away."
She looked down at her hands and wished she had another pastry, or something to focus on besides what his reaction might be. Because most of her knowledge of Egypt came from him, and what he told her or was forced to reveal, he didn't always like the things she wanted to ask - especially when her questions would remind him of a disaster like the temple of Sutekh. "What does it mean to be a Child of Isis?"
The silence was profound the moment her voice gave way to it. It felt like forever, but in reality he only took a few breaths to reply, "Just that your family or clan are dedicated to her, usually."
"Was yours? Dedicated, I mean." Raeger looked up again cautiously, trying not to lift her head and let him know. But he wasn't looking in her direction. He was staring at the plate of sweets, and though he reached for another one, he didn't eat it immediately.
"My mother served in Her temple before she married." He popped the sweet into his mouth and chewed a little too long. "We were all annointed when we were born, so any of us could be asked to serve. I was supposed to go, but my brother and I were waylaid on our way there."
Raeger blurted out the first thing that came to mind - "You had a brother?" - before snapping her mouth shut and realizing that he probably wouldn't want to talk about that.
But the glance he cast her way that time was amused, and he lifted a brow. "I hear that's pretty common. Don't you have a sister?"
"Yeah..." And what was Elaine doing? Sometimes Raeger wondered, but often she didn't have time to think about it. Or she told herself there was no time, because there were moments when she found herself missing her sister's spoiled behavior and childish insults. That wouldn't last if she actually went home, perhaps, but emotion never took things like that into account.
"Get some sleep," Judas said, cutting into her contemplation. "The sand should settle by tomorrow morning, and you'll want to get into the bath house early if you're gonna go at all."
"Right." Raeger slid off the bed and stuffed the journal back into her pack. She didn't know how long they would stay in Karstad, but it probably wouldn't be long enough that she could afford to waste a good night of sleep. The mattress was a cushion stuffed so thickly it was almost hard, but it was softer than stone, and the quilt was warmer than her cloak. That, too, felt like luxury, and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
. . .
Word: gloomy
Time: didn't keep track, but it was longer than 15 minutes. :P
kytha some IoM-themed amusement to distract her from being sick, so! Here you are.. . .
Karstad Village went about its daily business under a perpetual pall of sand that deepened the desert twilight from crimson and purple to a kind of dusty gray that Raeger wasn't fond of. It brought sandstorms to mind, and miserable nights huddled within crumbling ruins or tall rock outcroppings in lieu of real shelter, because there was none of that left in Egypt. This village was beyond the border and technically in Artolian territory. That wasn't an encouraging prospect for her, when her face was surely on posters and missives all over the place - right next to Judas and Lawfer, under headings accusing them of murder.
The accusation was true enough, minus her own participation. They did go back to take care of Lombert, but the bit about the princess dying at their hands was insulting. She'd fought as hard as the others to save Jelanda, in spite of what a nuisance the girl could be.
Judas left her at the inn once they were settled, unpacked, and paid for, and Raeger took her evening meal alone as usual. The innkeep left a tray heaped with food, probably thinking her 'companion' would return hungry - lamb and eggplant spiced with cinnamon and things she didn't recognize, flatbread and thick yougurt dip, honey-drizzled sweetmeats, and a clay pitcher beaded with condensation that she went for immediately. It was tea thick with spices and cream they called 'chai' in the desert cities, so cold and packed with ice it was almost slush.
The quality of food in these places always surprised her; she remembered Artolian inns and their sparse offerings, and the ones in Gerabellum were even worse. Raeger wasn't obsessive about food, but after weeks of digging and searching in the desert, a feast like this was a luxury fit for royalty.
She ate twice her share, and told herself it was important to make it look like Judas ate. Who wanted nosy innkeepers asking about things like that when, right at that moment, there were probably at least two townspeople who would mysteriously disappear? She might be smart enough to put things together, and Raeger didn't want to be forced to hike all the way across the desert to Aragon from the Nile, if she and Judas got the urge to seek civilization. Karstad was convenient, and she tried not to think about how that sounded when the thought entered her mind.
After finishing her meal, she washed her hands and sat down on the bedstead with a small leather journal. Both her handwriting and his were cramped into the first few pages, covering them in barely recognizable script. The majority was Hieratic, which he'd deemed it practical for her to learn. She couldn't argue that, not really; not after nearly selling herself into slavery in Aragon thanks to her ignorance. Ah, but she didn't like thinking about that either! Next page.
She turned to a page somewhere in the middle, to a long list of hieroglyphs, which were easier to remember than the modern language. Osiris at the top, then Isis, and subtitles that she remembered were other names, but couldn't quite read. Selkhet, Bastet, Horus. She knew Set's name from the temple on the river.
He hadn't told her yet what they meant, or what they stood for. No more than what he'd already shared among the ruins, anyway. But it was enough to get lost in, trying to puzzle out each symbol based on its meaning, and trying to remember the pronunciations. Raeger forgot how empty the room was until the sound of the door closing roused her from study.
Judas was dusting himself off with motions more impatient than effective, and he eventually left off and simply dropped his coat by the door. His hair was damp, and he shook sand from it roughly. "Feel better?" he asked without preamble, not even bothering to look at her as he spoke.
"Yeah." She turned her eyes back to the journal. "Food helped. Guess I was just hungry."
"Me too." He dropped into a chair at the table, slouching down and letting his head fall back. "I guess."
Raeger tried to continue reading, but it was useless; with Judas present, there was no point in trying to puzzle things out. He'd probably roll his eyes at her if she got something wrong, and it just wouldn't be any fun. He was more tolerant out in the desert, she thought. Like the ruins and their inscriptions reminded him that he was no expert, that he was also still learning, and Raeger was just a little farther behind than he was.
"Can..." She closed the journal and left it on the quilt beside her leg. "Mind if I ask you something?"
He glanced at her and blinked a few times - his version of surprise, she'd learned after a while - and snatched a sweetmeat from the tray. "Fire away."
She looked down at her hands and wished she had another pastry, or something to focus on besides what his reaction might be. Because most of her knowledge of Egypt came from him, and what he told her or was forced to reveal, he didn't always like the things she wanted to ask - especially when her questions would remind him of a disaster like the temple of Sutekh. "What does it mean to be a Child of Isis?"
The silence was profound the moment her voice gave way to it. It felt like forever, but in reality he only took a few breaths to reply, "Just that your family or clan are dedicated to her, usually."
"Was yours? Dedicated, I mean." Raeger looked up again cautiously, trying not to lift her head and let him know. But he wasn't looking in her direction. He was staring at the plate of sweets, and though he reached for another one, he didn't eat it immediately.
"My mother served in Her temple before she married." He popped the sweet into his mouth and chewed a little too long. "We were all annointed when we were born, so any of us could be asked to serve. I was supposed to go, but my brother and I were waylaid on our way there."
Raeger blurted out the first thing that came to mind - "You had a brother?" - before snapping her mouth shut and realizing that he probably wouldn't want to talk about that.
But the glance he cast her way that time was amused, and he lifted a brow. "I hear that's pretty common. Don't you have a sister?"
"Yeah..." And what was Elaine doing? Sometimes Raeger wondered, but often she didn't have time to think about it. Or she told herself there was no time, because there were moments when she found herself missing her sister's spoiled behavior and childish insults. That wouldn't last if she actually went home, perhaps, but emotion never took things like that into account.
"Get some sleep," Judas said, cutting into her contemplation. "The sand should settle by tomorrow morning, and you'll want to get into the bath house early if you're gonna go at all."
"Right." Raeger slid off the bed and stuffed the journal back into her pack. She didn't know how long they would stay in Karstad, but it probably wouldn't be long enough that she could afford to waste a good night of sleep. The mattress was a cushion stuffed so thickly it was almost hard, but it was softer than stone, and the quilt was warmer than her cloak. That, too, felt like luxury, and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
. . .
Word: gloomy
Time: didn't keep track, but it was longer than 15 minutes. :P
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Date: 2006-09-04 07:02 pm (UTC)Glad you liked it. XD