An Evening Chat

Writers: Eimi, Yvonne
Date Posted: 21st March 2006

Characters: Thalia, Penryn
Description: Thalia invites herself into Penryn's office one evening to talk about Kiomo
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 10, day 17 of Turn 3

The drudge paused just outside of Penryn's office door to balance the tray on her hip while she turned the knob and pushed it open. As usual, the Steward was still awake and working on Faranth knew what while the rest of the Hold was preparing for bed - and rightfully so. She sighed, brushed her greying hair out of her eyes, and walked over to balance the tray on the edge of his desk. "Will that be all tonight, sir?"

"Yes, thank you," he said absently as he reached for the mug and was surprised to find two. "What is the extra one for, Branda?"

Branda shrugged. "I suppose you're having a guest. The Lady's orders."

"Lady Thalia?" Penryn asked, pleasantly pleased to hear the monotony of the night would be broken, for a few moments at least.

She nodded. "It certainly was not Lady Miralani. Is there anything else, sir, or can I go?"

The steward nodded. "Go ahead. Goodnight, Branda." He watched as the door closed behind her. Staring at the other cup, he wondered how long it would be before she arrived. Suddenly he didn't know what to do with himself. Should he wait for her? It was only proper. Should he get some work done before she arrived? But who knew when that would be. In the end he just folded his hands on his desk, his thumbs gently tapping together, and stared at the second empty mug.

It wasn't too much later that Thalia tapped gently at his door. "I hope that I'm not being too presumptuous..." she said when he'd invited her in.

"No no," Penryn smiled as he rose to his feet to offer her a chair. "Please sit down."

"Thank you." She tucked her skirts demurely around her knees and crossed her ankles, before picking up the pot of klah and pouring them both a mug of it. "I've been working on another banquet... well, a dinner, really," she said, pressing one of the mugs into his hands, "for the Weyrleaders. Lord Ishek asked me to."

"Ah, yes, I've heard about that." He took the mug and gently blew on the steaming liquid. It smelled fresh. Penryn wondered if Thalia had thought to request that intentionally. He never thought to ask them that it be fresh. Usually it was just one of the pots that had been brewed hours before and reheated for him. It smelled delicious!
Leave it to Thalia to think of these things. "How is the planning going?"

"Well enough. Only..." She trailed off, staring into mug as if for a prompt.

"Yes?" he asked, picking up on the invitation.

"Kiomo. The Lord's new 'personal assistant'. I'm sure that you've met him."

"Yes, we were introduced. I haven't spoken to him individually as of yet," Penryn admitted.

"What do you think of him?" Penryn seemed to be much more sensible than she was; his opinion of the man would probably be more accurate than a silly girl's. "I really didn't speak to him long enough to know," the steward shrugged. "He knows what he is doing, and I have been able to confirm that he is the son of the former Lord Holder of Ancient Stones Hold. He appears to be who he says he is. Why do you ask?"

"I just... I'm not sure." Thalia sighed and stared into her klah. "I just wanted to know what you thought of him."

"Well, he seemed friendly and so far have no reason to believe he is anything other than honest and genuine. A little ambitious, but no more than I would expect of one in his position who could come all the way out here rather than stay in the safety of his family Holdings." Although, if Penryn were truly honest, he would tell her than he just didn't like him. He couldn't put his finger on why.
He just didn't. Perhaps it was that he didn't _want_ to like him for some reason...

"He told me that he wanted to prove himself, rather than being given a title and lands. But I... how could someone give all that up?" she asked.

"He was the _fifth_ son," the steward reminded her gently. "I'm sure there were a few brothers ahead of him that might have been entitled to the better holdings. And perhaps his ultimate goal is to found a Hold of his own. Start his own bloodline."

The Lady frowned. Somehow his answers weren't satisfying, and they didn't make sense of the knot of emotions and gut feelings she had about Kiomo. "Would you do that, if you had the chance? Go somewhere completely new and hope that you were noticed?"

"Me? No. I have everything I need right here. I'm a steward of a major Hold. What more is there to notice of me?" And everything he loved was there, even if it was just a memory now. "But I admire the men who have that spirit. Every Hold was once the dream of a young man who left his home to make something new."

"Everyone aspires to something. What do you want to do?"

Penryn didn't even have to consider it. "I want to have a family again."

The Lady smiled. A family. She had a son, and once had a husband. Did she want that again? "And I'm sure that you will. But I'm _not_ so sure that you will if you continue wearing that tunic."

Her answer took him by surprise. "If I... My tunic?" "Your cuffs are frayed, and there's a worn spot on your collar,"
Thalia said matter-of-factly. "Women notice these things."

The steward lifted up his cuffs and inspected them. "They're a little worn, but hardly _frayed_..."

"In another week or so, they will be. Whatever would your poor wife think to see you now?" Thalia said teasingly. "But my wife picked out this shirt." There was no humor in his voice.

"And I'm sure that she didn't mean for you to wear it to rags," she said gently. "It would be fairly easy to ask one of the drudges to replace your cuffs and collar. Shall I do that for you?"

"You can do that?" Penryn hadn't even considered that was _possible_. Was that what the women were always working on when they were doing the mending? He had always thought it was buttons and small tears...

"Of course it can be done! Why else are scraps saved? I know several women with deft hands who could get a small repair like that done within a day. The colours might not match completely, but it will save the tunic- _and_ keep you from looking like a vagabond."

"I don't look _that_ bad, surely," he said slightly defensively. More than that, he worried that she might be right.

"Well... no." Thalia bit her lip. Perhaps she could go through his wardrobe another time and patch him up a little, since anything she said now would sound rude. And maybe get him a few new things as well... there _had_ to be a clothing budget for the Steward. "_You_
are as handsome as ever. It's just the tunic."

He did a quick double take before pushing the compliment out of his mind. Surely she was just trying to be nice. It didn't mean anything. "Ah. Well. I suppose I could have it fixed."

Thalia smiled and picked up her mug again. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll make sure that it's done. But now that you're here... I don't suppose you've got a deck of cards hidden away in this office, do you? I'd love to play a hand or two of something before I go to bed."

"I suppose I do," he smiled. Auren had apparently left a deck, along with his chess board. Penryn had played neither, but he decided it was probably time to start.

Last updated on the March 21st 2006

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

An Evening Chat