Cutscene: Sins of the Father

It isn't unusual for Caeles Miranore to receive strange callers from time to time. As Archivist and Lorekeeper of Ylvaliel, people sometimes come from far and wide in order to research in the halls of the library or to request his expertise on any number of historical matters. It is something he takes great pride in.

Today, however, there is a rather unusual visitor. A red-headed human woman with bronzed skin and elaborate tattoos. Her arrival had caused the usually stoic Archivist to pale and quickly usher her inside. It's almost as if he doesn't want to be seen with this stranger. A few moments later, Caeles' wife could be seen departing from the residence, her expression a mix of sadness and uncertainty that suggests something may very well be quite wrong in the Miranore household.

Then, the raised voices start...

"You know, I expected as much from you. We both knew that 'I love you, forever' was a lie the moment that it left your lips." The unfamiliar voice can be heard through the walls. "I could forgive that. It breaks my fucking heart, but we both knew it would happen sooner or later."

"But /THIS/." There is a slamming sound. "This I can't fucking forgive. How /dare/ you Caeles. You made me a promise and I can tell you, I've seen how well you kept it. I've seen how much you took a beautiful, wild flower and tried to cage it in glass. You /LIED/ to me."

There is a silence that follows, and then the voice of the Archivist, sounding regretful in a way that his daughter may never have heard before. "I did not wish to lose her. I failed. I lost her, just as I lost you."

The shadow moves silently through the halls, bare feet making no sound, following a well learned path that avoided the squeaky floorboards of the old house. The departure of Caeles' current wife was noticed, and the shadow's facial expression darkened. The rising voices did nothing to improve the young woman's mood, the thundercloud almost palpable as it trailed along behind her.

Any of the servants who observed her now made an effort to be out of her way. Caeleil was direct. Blunt. Where one would expect deft thrusts and delicate slices, the young woman was a sledgehammer. A pretty one, with fair skin and auburn hair, dressed in a green blouse and brown pants done in a male style. But quick to get to the point.

The doors are thrown open. A new thing, perhaps surprising the older man. More surprising is the naked anger on her face, as she stalks into the room, the little thundercloud trailing in behind her. Her green eyes lock onto the other woman's for a moment, her measure being taken, the runes noted, before she eyes her father. "Well, father. Do go on."

The sound of the doors being thrown open cause two distinct reactions. Caeles turns towards the door, his hand moving towards a book which is strapped to his side with leather bindings. However, the sight of his daughter causes his fingers to never reach the book. Instead, they drop to his side, the sleeves of his robe nearly covering the digits entirely.

"I have taught you better than to so rudely interrupt a private meeting." Where his voice had that emotion a moment before, it is now cool and lacking any inflection to imply his previous state. The only tell is the slight tension in his brows, though that could be more for Caeliel's interruption than for anything else.

The red-haired woman, however, has a more dramatic response. As the door slams, one hand draws a sword while the other swings a shield from her back, as if she were readying for an attack. Of course, she doesn't know the half-sil girl before her, nor does she immediately identify any similarities. Caeliel does not look much like her father, at least not at a glance.

"You said there wasn't anyone that would bother us... Another lie, Caeles?" The woman doesn't lower her weapons, at least not initially, her eyes on the girl.

"That was my understanding." Caeles sighs to himself, as if he were being indulgant of Caeliel's attitude. "This does not concern you, Caeliel. You're dismissed." He waves a hand.

The red-headed woman laughs then, "Caeliel?" She looks between the two, then laughs in a way that sounds almost sad, "So that's who you are..." A flick of amber eyes looks towards Caeles. "You really were so full of yourself that you named her after /you/." Her sword is tucked back into the sheath. "I'd almost feel bad for your wife, if it weren't for the fact that she chose you. We're all fools, aren't we?"

"Father, how private do you expect it to be when everyone can hear your voices throughout?" Her frown slowly turns into a smirk. "The servants have long learned to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to these..." Caeleil gestures to the room in general. "Whatever you call this."

Her arms cross, and the frown returns. "You shall not send me out until you explain what is going on." Her gaze shifts to the runed woman. "Yes, I am named Caeleil. Who are you?" Caeleil's expression grows thoughtful. "One of father's past ..."

The young woman's head turns so quickly it takes a moment for her hair to catchup, and a loud pop is heard in her neck. "Or a new conquest? Is that why you sent mother away? Or did she leave when she found out her?" A gesture made in the red-head's direction.

"Each member of my staff is chosen for their discretion." The Sildanyari man responds, his brows lifting slightly. However, this response gets a sudden laugh from the red-haired woman. He doesn't dignify it with a response. Instead, he addresses his daughter. "This is a business matter, that does not require your intervention."

"Is that what I am now? Business?" The red-haired woman replies, grabbing a piece of paper off of his desk and crumpling it in her hand before shoving it into one of the pockets of her traveling cloak. Caeles has the good graces to show a hint of shame at that, though it doesn't last long.

"Lovers?" The woman replies, "Yes." She shows no signs of being ashamed of such a thing. She gives him a side-eyed glance, "Not that you waited for me to be out of the picture before you took someone else to your bed." The silence from Caeles is telling in that moment.

When she turns her eyes back to Caeliel, they soften ever so slightly. "Your mother knows exactly who I am. She and I were friends, once." She slings the strap of her shield over one shoulder, "I'm Kiira. Not that I suspect my name matters all that much to you. Caeles has never been one to talk about those he leaves behind."

"Yes, chosen for their discretion, though I am surprised you know what that word means, you've hardly used any in all of this, have you?" Her expression hardens. "Business? BUSINESS? Is that I all am to you? Is that all your wives have been to you? Business?"

Her eyes are drawn to the crumpled paper, and then to Kiira. "It does matter to me." Caeleil eyes her father once more. "Father. You are now Caelas Left-Behind. For that is what I am going to do, leave you behind."

She turns to go, pausing by the doors. "I am Leil, now."

"It is not quite so simple as you take it to be." Caeles replies, though he does not truly try to plead with his daughter. He has had years to fix the failing relationships, but each time it comes down to the same excuse. "I will live when you are gone, you know this. When all of those I have loved and lost have fallen to little more than dust, I will still be here."

He sighs softly, as if he were speaking to a child, "I love each person who shares this time with me, however short. But no matter how I cling to them, they always slip through my fingers." And his daughter seems to prove this point. He does not try to fight it, either. He seems resigned to this fate, however lonely he has made it for himself.

"You really do know how to fuck them up, don't you?" Kiira asks, that hint of anger in her voice. "Maybe, if you can't handle what it's like to live with those of us who live and die in a heartbeat of your existance, you shouldn't have us at all."

She turns, resisting giving in to her own anger. "I may be heartbroken, but I'll live. I'll find someone else who loves me, and I'll love them, fully and with every part of me." This causes Caeles to wince, a subtle sign of his discomfort. "But this... all of this life you live, Caeles. It's /them/ who suffer for it. And you owe them better."

With that, Kiira also turns, though she doesn't stop at the door. She continues through the house in a way that suggests she knows it all too well.

"I've heard those words before, father. Nothing in life is purely black and white, there are subtle shades of grey. Of course it is not simple, nothing with you ever is. And as always, you make it out to be everyone else's problem but yours. The ONE common factor in all of this, these interconnected lives, is you! It is your fault!"

She turns back to face the man. "You do not know what real love actually is. You wouldn't know, even if it could cast your damned magic, and punched you in the face." Leil makes a small fist. "You are lucky I do not burn this place to the ground. That I have more respect for other people in my pinky finger, than you do in that whole withered thing you call a heart."

Her footsteps are lighter, but follow the same path out of the house as Kiira's.

"What would you do now?", she calls out after the retreating woman.

The Archivist is quiet under the barrage, stoic in a way that echoes his view of the world. This is simply a small wave in a vast ocean of time. "You will understand better when you are older. When you have seen someone you love die and you stand helpless." There is a gentle shake of his head, dark strands of hair moving across his shoulders.

"I know love all too well, little one. I have known it time and again. Time does not dull the ache nor the loss. Someday, you'll learn." But he does not fight for his daughter's attention, nor her affection. He does not ask her to stay, or try to change her mind. All he does is stand, like a tree in a forest, watching the world move on without him.

Kiira, on the other hand, is like a flame. She is emotion in the very set of her body as she takes a step out into the fresh air, taking it in to her lungs as she seems to savor the very feel of sunlight on her skin. Despite the ache in her heart, she has this. This life. This moment. And that is all that matters.

The question has her turning on her heel, looking at Leil, head cocked curiously. "I mean, isn't it obvious?" Her lip quirks, "I live. The world doesn't end just because your father is an idiot I used to love." She reaches over for the reigns of a black horse, unlatching the stallion from the post. "I'm alive, and that's what matters. I plan on making use of every moment I have. I don't plan on wasting a tear on your father. He made his choices..." She does pause though, looking at her, "I am sorry to have brought pain to your doorstep, though. You don't deserve it."

If she has any feelings about what he says, she does not share them, nor reply to his stoicism.

"You didn't come here to cause me pain, not intentionally at least, that much I understand." Caeleil tilts her head at the pocket where the crumpled paper was hidden. "What's on the paper, if I may ask?" She takes a few steps forwards.

"I more meant, where will you go now? What will you do? Are you going anywhere that's... better than this place?" She runs a hand through her hair, somewhat sheepishly. "And perhaps you might not mind a bit of company for part of the journey?"

The question of what lies within that crumpled bit of paper is the one thing that gives Kiira a moment of pause. After how much she knows Caeles has hidden from his daughter, she doesn't want to be yet another person building a relationship off of half-truths or outright lies. "Your father promised to protect someone for me, when I couldn't be there."

Kiira closes her eyes, that anger showing in the whites of her knuckles as she flexes her hands into fists. Then, she lets it go with a slow breath. "It's the proof that he broke that promise. It wasn't the first betrayal, but... it was definitely the last." And for now, the red-haired woman leaves it at that.

Then, with eyes that express all too much loss, she presses her lips together. "I... was a musician once. Traveling the lands, singing of heroes, grand adventures, fated loves..." She smiles a little at that, "You're welcome to join me? Gods, wouldn't that piss off your father." She laughs. "Do you have a horse? If not, you can ride with me until we earn enough coin to buy one of your own."