04-03-2015, 11:05 PM
As a child you would wait, and watch from far away. But you always knew you'd be the one to work while they all play. Librette is graceless. Librette is awkward. Librette often misses some social cues. But in a past life, Librette was the general of the Valley's army for more years than Shahrizai has been alive, and she knows someone who is dodging the question when she sees it. She flicks her tail across her haunches as the boy speaks, knowing full well that he's trying to cover for a lack of observation. She wonders for a moment what kind of warrior training he's had. Scorch had seemed fierce enough during her previous meeting; would the woman not have trained her son at least somewhat? Even young children can learn to fight. Librette had learned at his age. But then again, she hadn't had much of a choice. When you're on your own, the battle training tends to come naturally. "Rocks, trees, horses." she repeats, her voice flat. "I think you pretty much just described every kingdom – actually, every place – in Beqanna." she says, her gaze level. The ghost of a smile plays with her lips, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Well, since you wanted to see what the Forsaken Valley is all about, I guess I'll give you a tour." She wonders for a moment if Eight is going to pop in. She knows about the magic barrier he's got around the Valley; it's porous enough to let folks in (obviously, otherwise Shah would probably be planted very embarrassingly outside the borders) but he'll always know. She wonders if he's already looked through her mind to see who this person is, and decided it's not any of his concern. Librette is strangely just fine with that, if so. She's given Eight standing permission to flip through her mind, because at the end of the day he's her king and if it's for the good of the Valley, then she'll do anything. Without waiting for Shah to agree or disagree, she starts off toward the periphery of the kingdom. She stops somewhere in the wilds, the fringes of the Valley, off the beaten path but not impossibly so. The main feature of this area is a very large tree, with wide branches. Despite the devastation of the earthquakes, despite everything that has happened in the many years since she first came to this spot, the tree remains. The tree that has done so much for her, meant so much to her. The boughs are cracked in places, and it sits cockeyed as the earth below it has shifted, but the tree itself endures. There are new leaves, sprouts and roots showing that the thing lives on and will continue growing. Who knows whether it's actually a part of the Valley's magic, or whether the tree just got a little bit lucky in the calamity. Ironic really, that the same horse who now rules the area was previously the one to destroy it. Not that Librette knows such things. "This is the tree that gave me wings, and the tree that brought me back to life." she says simply, flatly. She is looking at the tree, rather than at him, contemplating the mysteries woven in its branches. She knows that he will have a flood of questions; goodness knows he seemed to take to her stories well enough when she wove them for him in the meadow. Who's to say what he'll think of them now, but she would bet he'll still be interested. Don't weep for me LIBRETTEBecause this will be the labor of my love.
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