The Beginning of a New Era

Writers: Suzee, Paula, Miriah, Heather, Chelle
Date Posted: 2nd March 2013

Characters: Sarban, Corowal, Arippa, Reven, Korale, Dramile, Corette
Description: The celebrations begin for Green Valley's new Holder, Reven.
Location: Green Valley Hold
Date: month 12, day 25 of Turn 6

Arippa

Reven

Reven still wasn't used to the formalities that accompanied his return
to Green Valley. The Minor Holder's suite had been cleaned up and
prepared for his use as soon as he'd returned from Emerald Falls. As
of yet he didn't have much to put into the quarters to make the area
more personable, but then, he'd never been one for frippery. There
were a few things that he would have to see to now that he was back at
Green Valley as the man in charge. He needed to see the condition of
the hold's finances, check on the herds, and see how the crops were
coming along. At the bottom of the list was a large wardrobe, fit with
a few things for formal occasions that he would now be required to
attend.

Dressed in one of his best tunics, Reven left for the dining hall,
wondering if Lord Corowal had arrived yet. The Lord Holder was going
to be visiting them at Green Valley to speak at Reven's welcome home
ceremony, and what would serve as a celebration for his promotion.

***

"Thank Faranth it's almost over." Sarban was not a fan of runner riding,
no matter how much he did it. The former seacrafter would always be a fan
of water routes. Thinking now was a good time to reach out to whoever Reven
chose as steward as well as the minor holder himself-the man was also there
to watch Corowal. After the hatching fiasco, who knew what might happen?
Maybe he had more kids at Green Valley. Or maybe there were more women
there thinking he could.

Corowal could feel Sarban's eyes on him. "It's a bit of a ride," he
replied to his remark and handed the reins to a waiting stable hand.
He knew Sarban was disappointed, mostly because Corowal didn't told
him about Dinalee and L'cor before.

Dramile was fussing over the servings. The table silver were polished,
napkins ironed and food being prepared. She had lot to do.

The youngest drudge tried to keep up with Dramile's commands, but
unused to such a large gathering, Korale felt her small hands falter
over the silver. Sucking in on her lower lip, she looked at the other
place settings and tried to shove her area into place. It didn't look
right. It never looked right!

Corette moved through the dining hall toward the door to the front of
the house. She caught site of Lord Corwal and mentally kicked herself
for not being right there when he arrived. She hurried toward the
front door and dropped a graceful curtsy. "My Lord, Steward Sarban.
You are very welcome here."

***

"Oh, Reven we are just so proud!" Anaveve crooned to her eldest
grandchild, licking her hand and then proceeding to smooth down any
errant strands of hair on his head.

"Grandmaaaa!" Reven ducked away from her reach and swatted her hand
away, ignoring the wounded look on her face.

"Mother, dear, you are embarrassing the boy." Rendrall tried to smooth
things over, putting his arm around his mother.

Reven was sure he would be the only grown man, a minor holder at that,
whose grandmother still wanted to clean his face for him.

"Come on, Lord Corowal is probably here by now." Reven hadn't caught
sight of his mother yet but was sure she was probably seeing to the
guests that had already arrived. Sure enough, when they entered the
dining hall, Corette was standing with Lord Corowal and Sarban, the
gracious hostess as usual.

The moment that the nights guests began to filter into the dining room,
Korale's hands immediately began to sweat with nervousness. She'd
never been around anyone with any sort of rank; she'd only just started
on here. Rubbing her hands against her legs to try to wipe them off,
she took a trembling breath. It would be okay. Her mum had said that
she would be fine. Picking up a plate, the sudden appearance of the
new Lord caused her nerves to jump and the plate dropped to the floor
and shattered.

The noise caused Sarban to flinch automatically before he absentmindedly
searched for the source. When plate shards were visible on the floor, he shook
his head and went on. "Thank you very much," he replied to Corette, inwardly
hoping for the chance to freshen up before anything official. Hard riding meant
he smelled like a runner's arse.

"Korale!" Dramila yelled. "You clumsy dimglow! You no good dimwit! Go
to the kitchen and for Faranth's sake, don't mess it up again!"

****
Corowal greeted Corette and taking her hand, brought it to his lips.
"It's always a pleasure to be here and this time the occasion is so
much more pleasant than last one." His last visit to Green Valley had
been Namiren's funeral.

"Thank you Sir," she said with a warm smile as she rose from her
curtsy. "It is a great pleasure to receive you. I'm sure my son will
be here momentarily. Would you like to get freshened up?" She could
tell their guests might need to brush off the dust of travel at the
very least before the reception. Drudges were already moving to claim
baggage and move it to the rooms designated for the party.

Arippa had been part of the party from Emerald Falls and followed the
Lord and Steward up the steps, her eyes scanned the Hold's entry with
interest though she hung back from their meeting with Reven's mother.

"Lord Corowal, Sarban, I trust that your trip went well." Reven
appeared at his mother's side, the resemblance between them
remarkable.

Reven had finally managed to convince his father to take his
grandmother to her seat so he could greet the Lord Holder and his
guests. Reven had heard the plate shatter and the consequent yelling
but he understood that the people of Green Valley were not use to
entertaining very often, something he hoped to change going forward.

"I'd love to dip myself into some water please, Lady," Sarban replied easily
with a smile. Then he saw Reven approaching and he nodded to the new minor
Lord Holder who they would be dealing with often going forward. If
they could get
Green Valley up to par, they could use the extra settlers and supplies
to revitalize one
of their empty holdings. Surplus was always useful.

Corrette smiled at her handsome son but also nodded to the Steward.
"We have rooms prepared just at the top of the stairs sir." These were
important visitors and had been given the best guest rooms they had to
offer.

"Thank you, Corrette," Corowal replied. "I could use little freshing up."

Dramile had gotten the broken plate cleaned off and replaced. "Did you
open the red wine so it can breath?" she asked her staff. "And this
white wine is too warm!" She actually found herself missing Ciendra,
that little pest. At least she had know what she were doing.

Reven turned, his eyes landing on a nearby drudge, "Korale, show Lord
Corowal and Sarban to their rooms so they can clean up."

Cringing at the scolding from Dramile, Korale's hands twisted at each
other with nervousness. Already she was messing things up! Why oh, why
did her parents send her here? Before she could head to the kitchens,
she heard the new Lord of Green Valley address her. Spinning quickly,
she dipped her head in a respectful nod and hurried towards the
guests. "This way, good Lords."

Following the girl, Sarban was happy when he was led to a room and then
left to his devices to get himself cleaned up and changed. He took his time,
mentally noting his surroundings and Green Valley's current conditions. When
he was done, he came out and stood in the hallway, waiting to see how long
it would take his cousin. He had found a skin in the room, though, and he was
already sipping from it.

"Thank you, lass," Corowal said.
When he had washed quickly and changed clothes, he met Sarban again in
the hallway. "Let's join the celebration," he said.

Last updated on the March 26th 2014

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The Beginning of a New Era