Speaking with Daneira

It's a fair-weather summer day when Seldan and Zeke arrive in Bryn Myridorn by means of a carefully arranged usage of the teleportation circle in the Magicians' Guild within the fine crown jewel (or one of them) of the Kingdom of the Lion. Yet there's not much time nor purpose for sightseeing and nostalgic touring, for there's a strict timetable to be kept to when visiting one certain family matriarch, one who brooks very little funny business and has only sharpened in her advanced age.

Getting to the Padaryn estate isn't a difficult matter at all. Seldan isn't greeted in quite the same way that he would have been before, but he's afforded small smiles and nods from the servants and the two guards posted outside the estate who recognize him. Zeke and Seldan are ushered not into a drawing room, but instead a room that is new to Seldan: a glass-like structure where some plants grow in carefully arranged planters. Seated in a chair next to a bed of small white flowers, Daneira Padaryn sits, closing a book when her guests enter the room. She's close to as Seldan remembers her, but older: more gray in the hair that's carefully coifed into an elaborate bun by a servant, more wrinkles in the face, that determined and piercing look in her green eyes.

Daneira does not stand when Seldan and Zeke enter the room. Her eyes wander onto Seldan and it's clear, from the way those eyes widen, that the lady is not used to being surprised--it's an expression that looks very out of place on her. It's an expression that is totally at odds with her more calculating and careful persona. She raises a hand to her chest underneath her neck and collects herself. "My dearest Seldan. Is that you? Come here. You and your traveling companion both. It has been... Far too long. Far too long indeed."

For his part, Seldan has taken the summons and the occasion quite seriously, and made the arrangements immediately on receiving the letter. Some nerves were evident throughout the process, if only in his reserve and quiet manner in the intervening days, and in his careful choice of attire. Summer weather or no, he has opted for a formal, sartorial-looking coat of deep blue velvet with silver buttons and trim, long-sleeved and with a high-collared white shirt beneath it. White trousers and black suede boots with little blue flashes occasionally shooting through them complete the outfit, the crescent-and-sphere carefully tucked beneath the coat. He is broader and much more muscular than Daneira will remember, trimmed, and looks considerably older himself, a man grown. Where the real difference lies, though, is in the way that he moves - no gangly boy here, but a trained and seasoned warrior.

Approaching the house itself had been a fraught affair, and seeing the small smiles on familiar faces had hit him like a blow to the face. This home is no longer his, and well he knows it. The reserve had become the formality of the alabaster pillar by the time they are shown into the solar, and he begins, just inside the door, with a formal, deep bow, as one would to the lady of an unfamiliar household, not one's grandmother. "My lady Padaryn," he begins formally, straightening. "This is my companion, Sunguard Zeke, of Alexandria's temple to the Draco Solis. He may as well be a brother to me." Only at the instruction does he move further into the room, and the movement is clear. This is not a man in his own home. This is a seasoned warrior, expecting trouble and doing his best to conceal the fact.

In truth, Seldan's traveling companion has not done much traveling of the world. A few trips to here and there with Seldan, but aside from that - nothing. So being in a city so different than Alexandria is something of an interesting thing for Zeke. And this city is indeed a far cry different from Alexandria proper. There is however little time to get acquainted with it, but he does enjoy a bit of observation of their current location on their way to their destination.

The blue-scale follows in Seldan's wake like a giant shadow, close at hand but not in the way. A personage who would be easy to dismiss, or even overlook in spite of his white Daeus robes. Zeke does nothing to draw attention to himself. In fact if anything he does his utmost not to. As they draw into the greenhouse, the scent of growing things is heavy in the air, a bevy of conflicting and harmonious things not unlike the garden itself. Immediately his eyes fall on the older woman and he offers her a low bow.

In his culture, a female of a similar age would be accorded every respect, and so he does so here and now. It may be that he is in fact many years her senior, but she has lived a lifetime and that is due the respect that he displays to her here and now. "Peassce on your nessst." He offers unobtrusively.

It takes a moment for Daneira to catch her breath, but catch it she does, and she looks at Seldan for a moment, taking him in even more readily now that she's not surprised by the world of difference between the Seldan she knew and the Seldan of now. The piercing aspect returns to her green eyes.

"Come now, Seldan," she says gently, "your boar of a father is not here in this house. I've _arranged_ for him to be elsewhere today. He may have his opinions--but I may have mine too, and this is _my_ home by deed so long as I draw breath. You and yours are welcome here."

She rises from her chair. Unsteadily so. Far stiffer than Seldan's ever seen her. It's apparent why she's been ordered not to travel long distances, and it's almost painful to see on a woman with her sharp presence of mind. But she does rise and she goes to take Seldan's hand in her own light ones, a nod to him and then a nod to Zeke. "I am so pleased to meet you, Zeke," she says to the Sunguard who her grandson calls a brother. "Was the airship ride here agreeable for you both?"

GAME: Zeke rolls Heal: (9)+21: 30

_But of course she had,_ Seldan realizes, in that moment. _That was why the specific date and time. She would have no wish for trouble._ That is the matriarch he remembered, and the woman before him is old and frail, but the piercing green eyes are the same. The alabaster pillar softens, just a little. "Of course, Grandmother," he shifts modes of address, taking both of her hands in his. Slight in bone structure and not overwhelmingly huge, those hands are nonetheless callused by both sword and pen, and there are marks across palm and fingers that were not present before, most notably across the joint of his right thumb, seemingly wrapped all the way around it. "I am grateful for the welcome, and for your time. It is well to see you again - a thing I must confess that I had not, until your missive, expected to do. We were spared the airship, an agreeable trip indeed. The Magician's Guild permitted me the use of their teleportation circle, a great kindness, and one for which I am grateful, for the weather here far exceeds that of Alexandria at this season."

Zeke glances toward Seldan as the woman rises from her seat. She moves toward them and the sith-makar maintains his silence for a long moment. He offers her a slight nod about the agreeable trip, emphasized by Seldan's explanation of the trip. Then he offers gently. "There issss no need to ssstand on our accord. Pleassse; sssit." There's no real command in his tone or voice, but rather the gentle urging that one might use in such a situation. He doesn't want her standing just for their sake when it is so clear to him that she is uncomfortable.

"There's my grandson," Daneira says affectionately when he addresses her as Grandmother. But when he explains that they didn't travel via airship and had instead teleported, she looks surprised again, although this instance is much milder compared to seeing the man Seldan had become in the years of absence since she last saw him. "Teleporting? Seldan, you...?"

She shakes her head. "No, of course you are. We Padaryns are meant to do great things. And I have heard from from some sources of the things you can do--but as you and I both know, to hear such and to have proof of such are different things entirely."

When Zeke speaks to her, there's a wry little smile on Daneira's face, like she's been caught sneaking her hand into the cookie jar. "Oh, but many joys in life require prevailing through discomfort. And many wrongs that must be righted--they are discomforts too." But she shuffles back to her chair and sits down, slowly.

"Please sit," she says, indicating the two chairs that are close to her. "I apologize for our unconventional venue, but I had this place installed so that I could be closer to my favorite flowers--seeing that I cannot so easily walk to the park anymore to enjoy them."

"She is quite correct, as usual," Seldan agrees, with a very small smile that holds a sparkle of pleasure at her surprise. "Even so, Grandmother. I have pursued study of blade and spell alike, and without both, I would have been unable to rescue Mother. There is no trouble, for this is beautiful indeed. Perhaps the servants could bring a stool instead for Zeke? It is no insult, but I am given to understand that chairs are difficult with tails." A glint of boyish humor accompanies the polite words.

He seats himself in the indicated chair, leaving any without arms for Zeke just in case. "In truth has much passed, and much have I learned of our family. Indeed, ere we depart might it fascinate you to meet Reunion. I had laid them aside at the entryway, for I deemed it unseemly to bring steel into the house without good cause." He inclines his head. "But come, I talk overly much. I had written to you to learn what I may of Mariana Padaryn, and to learn how you were faring."

Zeke is glad when she moves to sit down. Noticing her care in her movements and hovers near the chair offered to him somewhat uncertainly. Thankfully Seldan brings up the point of a stool, and he seems content to wait or stand as necessary. Still, something that she says, and the way she talks and moves sparks interest and concern in him, and though he is loathe to interject into Seldan's time with his family, the sith-makar can not remain wholly silent on the matter. "Sssa."

He begins with a soft sound and then speaks. "Thisss one isss a healer. Ssshaman-cassste." By way of explanation, and informing the woman of his position; since soft-skins are rarely aware of such things just by being in the presence of another. "Isss your ailment of a resscent variety then? Ssssudden, and not expected?"

Upon the remark for a stool for Zeke, Daneira calls over for a servant to bring one, which is provided straightaway. Satisfied, Daneira turns her attention back to the conversation. "Carissa has never talked much of that incident, but I knew that you had saved her--and for hearing that I knew that you were capable of things that your father would, if he prevailed in such an act, would never stop crowing in the household about it. Much like how he occupies the healer's time on her visits to check up on me to ask her questions about his knee." There is more than a little distaste in her remarks where Seldan's father is concerned. A rift growing further in the family. Then she adds, "I should like to meet this Reunion in a namesake meeting." There comes the wry smile.

She looks to Zeke and says, "It is an ailment that I have struggled with for the past few years. A stiffness of the legs that has grown to the point where it is quite painful to walk. The healer has given me measures to cope with the pain, and I have been instructed to walk lest the muscles atrophy, but it is a careful balancing act. Of course, my younger son receives a blow to his knee from his own blade and he tries to make the universe revolve around his injury and his own healing." Daneira shakes her head.

"All considered, I am well. Pained, but I am alive, and that is good enough in my ledger." Daneira looks back to Seldan. "You wanted to learn of my own grandmother, then. I am happily able to provide. What questions do you have?"

Seldan listens to this commentary, blinking slowly. "And yet was it made clear to me that my hurts mattered little, and that I was to work through them as best I may," he murmurs. "Well has such teaching served me, and yet does he not follow his own teaching?" Puzzlement colors the slow words. "It is of no consequence, but that does explain his rage at our last meeting. In truth should I not have said that, true though it might have been."

He spreads a hand, palm-down, but falls silent to listen to the exchange between Daneira and Zeke. "What do you see, kin?" he asks in a low, focused tone. "I would ease you, if I could, but such is not my gift. Zeke may have the means to do more. As to your grandmother - after tracking the records, I have reason to believe that Ivyhold was lost during her time, perhaps in her youth. Something dark does, indeed, lie within, and it is most likely one of her close relations. Had she spoken to you of her family?"

Zeke seems a little concerned, and perhaps a touch displeased to hear that Seldan's matron is not receiving the fullest attention of her healer. "If you wisssh, thisss one would be happy to anssswer any quessstionsss you might have about sssuch care; or even offer sssome advissce on sssuch." He'd like to know her better before suggesting a change in the measures that the other healer has suggested to help with the pain, but he can offer some consultation if she has questions or concerns. He nods to Seldan gently, to alleviate the other man's concerns on the matter. He has no wish to pry.

Still, they are not here strictly for such things, and though his first instinct is to care for the wellbeing of others, it would be unwise to spend all of their precious time before the arrival of Seldan's father in that manner, so he takes the stool that replaces the chair with care. He does after all have his own aches, pains, and other considerations to make in sitting; and falls silent so that the other two may discuss the things that have brought them here.

"That is very kind of you to offer, Sunguard," Daneira replies to Zeke with a small smile. "Perhaps we will discuss such later in our time together."

Daneira presses her lips together into a line before she replies, "Your father, dearest Seldan--his identity as a Sunblade of Daeus is important to him, as you know. It is difficult to do that work with a knee that is broken and at his age," she replies. "Take that away and... he becomes what he is now. Your mother has had to deal with it the most, but she is who she is. A lady among ladies." There is some restraint there within the words, as Daneira is, too, a lady, but she is also the matriarch of the household.

A servant comes in with a pot of tea and three cups already poured, setting it down quietly on a small table that all of those seated can reach. Daneira takes her cup of tea, sips, and then nods. "That leads us to the subject of Mariana," she says. "Mariana spoke to me once of a house that she left with her servants. She was young. Her mother had died giving birth to her, and her father--after she left the house, she was sent to live with an uncle, and never saw him again. Her father's name was Rhain. Rhain Padaryn. A man that she herself only had few memories of, save that he was a magician who delighted her with tricks of spells, and that he became distant when he started researching something in a room in the house that they lived in." Her face grows grim with the suggestion left by her own recollection.

Seldan's nostrils flare as he pulls in a breath, once the final words are spoken. "I see. A mage indeed, delved too deep." He considers the description in silence. "It is in my mind that this Rhain is what lies in Ivyhold," he murmurs. "He wished not for any to learn the truth, but learn the truth I must." He lets out a breath, resolute.

"Indeed does Father hold such in high regard," he murmurs, carefully. He is clearly not sharing all that he is thinking, in favor of politeness. "Would that he would accept that not all of the Light serve the Draco Solis," he adds, with real regret. "Still is it possible for those who can no longer fight to yet serve. Think you his injury permanent?"

Zeke remains silent, but it is clear that he too is troubled by this recollection. He knows little of arcane magics himself, but he knows that Seldan is well-practiced in those arts by his own right. He makes a low rumbling noise of discontent, but otherwise remains steadfastly without comment.

"That house holds truths about our family," Daneira says softly. "Beyond that of Rhain. Mariana's uncle was a man in service to the Draco Solis himself, and he urged Mariana's sons to service, and so my father urged your father into service. Knowing what we know now--I wonder if Mariana's uncle knew of the darkness that Rhain was up to, and hoped that the light of Draco Solis might one day extinguish the darkness within Ivyhold. But it is true what you say. There are more than just Him in the Light. The Dreaming Goddess--and her servant--may in fact be precisely what is needed to soothe whatever's in that household."

She frowns. "I do not know, but the healer--has expressed concern to me privately that she fears he will never be able to walk without the cane again."

Seldan's eyes lower at that, and a troubled silence falls. "I see," is all he says to that, his eyes remaining downcast. To what that is a response is not entirely clear, but the unhappiness is most thoroughly clear.

GAME: Zeke rolls Sense Motive: (7)+5: 12

Zeke glances at Seldan, noticing his unhappiness, but the source of it is... a mystery to the sith. This is Seldan's family; his kin. "Thisss one will aid Ssseldan asss thisss one can." He offers, both to Daneira and - more importantly in his mind - Seldan that he is still there, and that he will continue to be. "What-ever thisss thing may be, we will find itsss sssource and do sssome-thing to make the plassce sssafe oncsce more."

Daneira looks at Seldan, and she reaches out to him from her chair. Grandmother that she is, she simply sees what she interprets to be her grandson troubled and seeks to comfort him in her own way, her hand going to his.

"I appreciate it greatly, Zeke," she says to Zeke's words. "I do not expect my grandson to go alone, as impressive as he is in my eyes. Nor... can anyone in the family do this save for him. I regret that all that I may do is be a source of information--and to provide what comfort I can as a grandmother."

She looks to Seldan. "Is there anything that I may do for you, dearest? Any more questions that I can answer? Tea, cookies--anything." Her voice is gentle.

That silence lingers for a minute or two more, but at length, Seldan looks up, drawing in a deep breath and releasing it - and when he does, his expression has returned to that steady, even, sober gaze, a mannerism reminiscent of Carissa's teaching, and really, Daneira's as well. "I can but do what I may. Though I am no longer entitled to bear the name, still would I be a credit to those who came before me," he tells them both, quietly. "Still shall I do all that is within my power. As to Father -" His eyes go to Zeke. "Though he be a fool, still would I leave none to suffer. Think you that he might accept your aid?"

Zeke blinks at the question. Twice. His eyes nictating as he looks at his kin. "Thisss one doess not know if there isss any-thing to be done for him, but thisss one will look at him if he will allow." Zeke's expression grows wryly amused. "Thisss one isss scertain that if thisss one triess to attend to your... grand-nessst-mother, that he will want to be sseen to yesss?" He extends this humor to the woman who he had promised before to attend to if she so chose.

He looks then more firmly at Seldan. "Thisss one thinksss though it may be bessst if thisss one remainsss, and you return to the temple. Ssseeing your nessst-father isss not necesssary and may be unhelpful."

"He will not be back for some time," Daneira replies to Zeke, smiling to the humor that Zeke provides. "And I would not ask you to remain here while my grandson returns on his own. You and dearest Seldan both--so kind. Your presence has been missed here in this house, Seldan, but... I am a lady, as is Carissa. Yet..."

And here the shrewdness returns to Daneira's eyes. "A member of the family who recovers our ancestral seat from evil, doing the work that his father ought to have done but cannot--it would be an act that proves noble character and merit to the family line." There is much implied by the words. So much said without being spoken, the sort of woman who carefully arranges for Seldan's father to be out of the house at work.

The implication is not lost on Seldan, and that even, steady, pale gaze rests on the shrewd old woman for a very long moment. "Even so," he answers slowly. "I understand." What it is he understands, he does not say, but he seems to choose to leave it unspoken. "Rhain Padaryn," he murmurs. "It is in my mind to ask of the magician's guild. Perhaps their records may prove enlightening. I can think of nothing else, Grandmother, with which I would trouble you. Is there aught else that I may do for you, or for Mother?"

In truth, Zeke doesn't understand the implications of Daneira's words. He doesn't understand that Seldan is 'disowned' because it's not something that happens. One might be removed from their tribe if they are a danger to it, but that is a far different thing from what has been explained to him. Besides, Seldan never has been and is not a danger to his family. For them to remove him from themselves makes no sense to Zeke. Thus the implication that Seldan might be reinstated? Also goes a bit over the sith.

Still Zeke rumbles in disquiet. "Ssseldan hasss no need to prove a noble character. He isss ssuch." This is said firmly and he takes a breath. As to the rest... "Sssince we have sssome time, perhapsss you will permit thisss one to aid you now Elder?"

The word 'elder' is said with perfect respect, as the title of one who has earned such.

"The Magicians Guild may prove quite useful," Daneira replies gently. "I do not know what records they may have on him. It has been quite a long time, and I've gone and had Morgan--you've met him, good lad--go and investigate the civil records and they turned up precious little on the man itself. He was born and... naught else."

She smiles gently, but in a sad way. "Your mother--she is in a sort. I would encourage you to write to her more, but due to her husband's injury, she is forced to spend even more time in his company. Should he discover that you and her are communicating, he may grow even more... boarish. I am working on an occasion for them to be apart for some time--perhaps you may be interested in such a thing." There is the shrewd woman at play again.

Finally she looks to Zeke. "I would welcome your assessment," she says with a small smile.

A ghost of a smile touches Seldan's lips, and he turns his gaze to Zeke. "Peace, Zeke. I understand what it is of which she speaks, and of her assessment of me, I have little doubt. Were there doubt, you and I would not be seated in this solar." The expression he turns on Zeke is affectionate. "Fear not."

He remains where he is, leaving Zeke the space to examine Daneira as he will. "That would be of interest to me, indeed, should it come to pass and I find freedom from my duties in Alexandria. You need but send word to the Dreamer's Temple in Alexandria. It usually falls to Zeke to tend me, do I require it, and he does so well. I endeavor to burden him as little as I may."

Zeke performs an exhaustive examination of Seldan's grandmother's legs. In particular her toes which are to his examination quite swollen. Not just in the joints, but in whole. He asks a few polite questions as he does so, carefully returning her feet to the soft cushion of material that is her slippers and looks at her very seriously. "Thisss one doess not think that you have a ssso-sssimple condition asss your healer hass desscribed to you."

His words are very serious. Even crouched at her side he is no small personage, and in his mien as a healer he is worth notation. No longer does he fade into the background. "Pleassse lower the amount of red meat and sssea-foodsss that you eat. Thisss isss the firsst sstep in assesssing if you have the illnesss that thisss one percievesss. If thiss one iss correct, then doing ssso will relieve your sssymptomsss ssome-what. If not; it isss not a harssh change that will harm you. Try it for a month. Even if othersss around you eat other thingsss, you mussst tend to your own needsss firsstly yesss? Tell them if they asssk that you were commanded to do ssso for a time for your health."

Green eyes bore into green. He pulls a small thing of oil from his pouch and offers it to her. "Alssso, thisss ointment isss good for the pain. It isss rubbed into the affected areasss and ssshould relieve ssome of it." With this set of instructions he withdraws, offering a small bow to the woman. "Take care that you follow thesse, and you ssshould feel well again sssoon. Thisss one will come and check on you again sssoon."

Daneira seems rather pleased, even impressed, with Zeke's conclusion, even if the the words that he has to offer speak of a condition that is not so simple--as well as the promise of further treatment. "You are _good_," she says in that sort of praise that only an older woman who is often measuring people by their skill can offer. "I understand even more why Seldan has you as company and why he has you tend to him. The diet change will come as a surprise to certain individuals, but the boar will have to simply understand that a woman of my age cannot have red meat and fish every day."

She smirks a little. "Perhaps I'll tell him it's good for his knee too," she says, before she accepts the oil. "Thank you kindly for your aid, Sunguard. Dearest Seldan--I will, of course, send for you and hope that the time comes when you are able to be free."

A servant comes into the room, and he nods to Daneira, who nods silently back at him. "It is nearly time for my afternoon nap, but it can be delayed moments more if there is anything else to speak of," she says to Seldan and Zeke both.

"I would not keep you from your rest, Grandmother, for I would have you in good health, far over a few extra words. I do not doubt that other opportunities to speak shall arise." Seldan, who had been watching this assessment in silence, immediately stands and offers a hand to Zeke as well. He remains silent on the matter of his father's attitude, merely saying. "Too, I would speak with the guild, ere they close their doors for the day. It pleases me to see you again, and I pray that I shall bring good news, when next we meet."

And so it is that, with pleasantries exchanged and leaves taken, that the pair find themselves once more back out on the streets of Bryn Myridorn, and with errands to be about, along with a promise whose fulfillment remains to be seen.

-End