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Post by The Jenn on Feb 22, 2009 20:35:07 GMT -5
Khushrenada more fully surveyed the layout of his new palace suite, noting the differences between this residence and the one he'd lived in during the previous Queen's reign. Not much had changed, really. The palace's decor was set firmly in place unless one of the monarchs had an absolute fit about the color scheme, and even then, doing something about it in every room cost a great deal of coin. No one had been willing to give things an overhaul in centuries, from what he'd heard. Two bedrooms, a sitting room antechamber, and a private mini-bath made for an adequate space. The room he would give to his unexpected charge for the time being, until he decided what to do with her. His pet could sleep in the same room as him, the better to keep an eye on the Ace. He didn't want him making an unexpected break for it, after all. He'd had a cot set up near the foot of the bed and it worked nicely. His 'charge', though... odd circumstances. He just couldn't leave the child alone and starving on the edge of the forest, not in any sort of good conscience. He was more of a gentleman than that. One gold-taloned hand subconsciously smoothed over the front of his jacket as he thought. What was he going to do with her, though? He looked over, eyes searching the sitting room for her unmistakably green form. "Mirriam?" He'd instructed her to call him 'sir' not long after they'd met. |
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Post by Lucca on Feb 23, 2009 17:04:10 GMT -5
 A little green bat was hanging upside down from the front of the couch, tiny claws bound to leave little marks on the fabric, though with the odd pattern it might not even be noticable. Looking at her, it would be obvious that she was no more than six years of age, a little young to be out on her own, and yet that was just how Khushrenada had found her...by herself on the outskirts of Avington. She didn't really like to talk about it. And that was saying something, since she LOVED to talk about almost anything else. Currently, she was surveying her new home from her favorite position: upside down. Hearing her name called, the bat gave an energetic flap of her wings and fluttered to a postition where she could poke her head over the edge of the couch and give a toothy grin to the man who had found her, who she had dubbed "Mr Birdy" in her head, but when she actually spoke it was... " Yes, Sir?[/b]" she called happily, looking up at him. |
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 23, 2009 20:21:24 GMT -5
At least the child was cute and entertaining at times, even if she tended to babble on about nothing. Khushrenada refrained from wincing as he noted the damage being inflicted upon the couch. Hopefully the palace staff could patch that up without an issue. It was a loud print, after all.
"What am I going to do with you?" he muttered, not in the fond way that a parent might coo at their child so much as the way a tactician might formulate his plan of attack. He'd at least managed to get a confirmation out of the girl that she hadn't seen her mother in days before he took her with him, and that she didn't know where she lived or where the woman might be. She'd seemed well and truly abandoned, as well as close to the point of starving. Young children needed to eat with some regularity, he'd found.
But what was he going to do with a child? He wasn't sure how comfortable he felt just foisting her off on someone. For one thing, he'd become responsible for the girl from the moment he decided to take her with him. What if she went to a poor home? For another, she'd already seen his 'pet' and might blab his rank around the Court unless she was constantly reminded to refer to him only as a pet.
"Do you... need anything right now?" How was one supposed to address such a young thing?
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Post by Lucca on Feb 24, 2009 18:39:47 GMT -5
Mirriam blinked curiously over at the bird. Who was he talking to? He'd said something, but it was a little too quiet to be aimed at her, plus, he always used a different tone of voice when addressing her. She had no idea why. Did he use a slightly different voice when talking to everyone? Wouldn't that get confusing? What if you forgot and used the wrong voice with the wrong person? Like The Queen! The little bat's eyes widened at the thought. She'd rarely left the center of Avington before coming here, and so she was still getting accustomed to The Court, and nobility, and everything.
Ah! NOW he was talking to her! Mirriam grinned again, and bobbed her head excitedly. "When is dinner? Are we having fruit tarts? I love fruit tarts, especially strawberry ones!" Eagerly, she spread her small wings and took to the air, fluttering towards him, and trying to remember not to get TOO close...he seemed a little upset when she did that. She'd only wanted to feel his coat...it looked really silky!
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 26, 2009 14:03:47 GMT -5
And there went the beginning of the questions. Khushrenada had never dealt with children for long period of time, not since being one himself, and he had been handling this girl for several days now. She was charming in her own way, but the questions never ceased.
Still, they were questions he could answer. She didn't ask after the meaning of life, or where her mother was, or any other weird, uncomfortable questions that he would have to either evade or lie about. "As best I can remember, dinner is served at the Court in roughly two hours. I can probably have something delivered to the room, though. And... yes, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to bring in some fruit. I don't know whether or not they have tarts on hand, though." He was perhaps blessed to be dealing with a fruit bat, as opposed to a junk food maniac.
Having her fly at him like that made him want to jerk or bring a hand up to block, but he just stood still so that she didn't hit him by mistake. He'd only done that once, and her hurt sniffling was far too pitiful to want a repeat. After she moved out of his immediate area, he took a few steps forward and sat down on a moderately comfortable chair. He didn't know what they were going to do about that energy. Really, he didn't know much about her at all.
"What do you like to do for fun, Mirriam?" he asked, resting his right elbow on a chair arm and his chin on his fist.
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Post by Lucca on Feb 26, 2009 14:29:46 GMT -5
Mirriam seemed content to hover, watching eagerly as he answered her questions, wings beating rapidly to stay in the air. She imagined it would be even easier to hover once she got her flight ability, but until then...her face fell a bit at his answers, though. "Two HOURS?" she repeated in a tone that implied he had just told her something terrible. "But...but I'm hungry now!" Back in Avington, her mother had almost always had a bowl of fruit on the table, and, barring that, it was never too far a fly in the forest to where tasty things grew free for the taking. As a result, Mirriam had developed the rather bad habit of snacking fairly constantly...could explain where she got some of her boundless energy. No tarts? She considered this for a moment, but that didn't bother her TOO much. Tarts were a treat after all, not something to eat every day. "Maybe the tarts will be for tomorrow," she reasoned, half to herself.
She perked up, however, at his question, and flew over towards the chair, perching somewhat awkwardly on the other arm rest. "I like to explore," she proclaimed proudly, puffing her chest up a bit. "I find all sorts of things...new pretty flowers or a hollow tree, or a cool bug. This one time, I found a bug that was really pretty, but then I guess I flew too close and scared it and it sneezed dust on me and it smelled really awful and made my fur look all yellow. Then Mommy made me take a bath." She nodded solemnly.
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Post by The Jenn on Feb 28, 2009 6:21:14 GMT -5
...oh yes, having a child under his care was going to drive Khushrenada mad. He stared at the hovering girl in dismay as she effectively whined about food. Were children supposed to eat more regularly than adults? It seemed odd, with their small frames. At least she pacified herself easily enough. Maybe he should call in help. There had to be other people in the palace with children.
He drew back slightly as she flew in to perch directly next to him, one arm pulling closer to his body. "That sounds... exciting. The palace is going to have plenty of places for you to explore. I don't know how many other children there are in residence right now, but I'm sure there must be at least one or two." The current Queen was older, he knew, but the man may have grandchildren running around that he hadn't yet had time to learn about. "Then you can explore with company. If not, it's a very tall building. You'll probably enjoy climbing it." Heavens knew she liked clinging to everything else.
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Post by Lucca on Feb 28, 2009 15:14:10 GMT -5
Mirriam noticed him draw back...and wondered if she'd done something wrong. She'd been careful not to touch him; she knew he didn't really like that. But weren't you supposed to be next to a person when you were talking to them? It made sense to her. She smiled at him and fluttered backwards to perch on the edge of the small end table near the chair instead. Luckily there was nothing on this table but a lamp, which shifted slightly but didn't fall as she alighted.
"Other kids to explore with?" Mirriam asked, ears perking slightly. She'd been rather...sheltered in Avington. As a result, she'd only known a few other kids her age, and she didn't see them very often, either. It had never really bothered her before, but now that she wasn't in the busy forest any longer and was away from her family...an odd ache had settled in, during that time she'd been alone. It had ebbed slightly since finding Mr. Birdy and coming to the palace, but the prospect of company was welcome, and meeting new people was always exciting. "I hope I get to meet them soon! Then we can go on an expedition and...ooh, I bet there's REALLY cool stuff to find around here! Secrets of ancient Queens! Treasure!" Her eyes lit up with the prospect of the adventures she could have, just climbing around the palace, or outside it.
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Post by The Jenn on Mar 1, 2009 1:27:35 GMT -5
For all that she seemed to like closeness more than Khushrenada was used to, he had to admit that she was a biddable girl. Were most children that sensitive to moods?
Her enthusiasm at meeting other children and... treasure hunting?... was charming, but also worrying. What if there weren't any other children of an appropriate age? Mirriam seemed to be quite a young one. He thought long and hard about who might have children, or at least keep tabs on such things.
Didn't... didn't his Queen Iria have at least one child? He felt almost certain that he remembered hearing such a thing, and he knew that her mate was her first King, the Selkie sparrow he'd heard tell of. Related to Theofilus? Probably, with that realm and breed combination. Maybe he could send her a request for a meeting. Even if her children were already grown and moved out, she would at least have insights on what to do with the tiny bat who had wandered across his path.
"There are secrets in every palace. I'm sure you'll have fun ferreting them all out," he commented lightly. Just so long as she didn't spread too much about his little secret, living in his bedroom, and the conditions of their 'relationship' with one another. The current administration would not approve. "Could you excuse me for just a moment, Mirriam? I need to write a quick note."
He stood and drafted the thing in a minute and a half, his pen scratching over the parchment as he wrote quickly. It turned into a brief note requesting a meeting at her earliest convenience regarding a matter outside of official Court business. After signing the thing, he folded it and ducked out of his suite, waiting for a servant to pass before asking them to deliver it to Her Highness Ceren. Then he reentered the room and sat back down, one claw tapping restlessly on the armrest of the chair. "Do I need to get you food right away, or can you wait?" he asked his young charge.
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Post by Lucca on Mar 1, 2009 13:14:12 GMT -5
Mirriam nodded eagerly at him. She couldn't help but wonder if HE knew any secrets already, but she was too polite to ask. Even though young, Mirriam understood secrets, and the fact that there were ceratin things people couldn't tell her. After all, she WAS an Avington. She didn't always understand WHY secrets needed to be kept, and she had a strong curious streak that made her want to find out anyway, but she would ultimately refrain from giving away things that were told her in confidence. Depending on how Khushrenda had worded his own 'secret' to her, she may already know that she wasn't to go blabbing about it.
She giggled a bit at his choice of words. 'Ferreting'...she'd met a ferret once. Were they known for sniffing out secrets and finding hidden passages? Maybe so. It would make sense, with their long lean shapes that could squeeze into places a larger Card would not quite manage.
"I'll find all of them! But tell no one," she proclaimed, raising a wing in a half salute. She blinked as he got up. "Oh. Okay, sir." While he was drafting the note, she took to flight again, chasing pretend villians in the air and diving at them...luckily not knocking anything over in the process, though she nearly collided with the bookshelf before she pulled up, giggling. "Nice try, but you'll have to be smarter to outsmart ME--hm?" She glanced over as the bird reentered, blinking happily at him. "Oh! Uh..." She fluttered in place a moment, one ear cocked upward in thought. "I can wait till dinner if you could please get me some juice!" All the flying around and being a hero was making her thristy.
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