Andrew Reid - Letters Home

[RollinsCat]

Growling, quiet roars, running water, birds and wind in trees; all this noise and more leaked from behind a wooden door in a simple home in the Clay Ward of Huangjin, as it had every night for a week.  Shuichi stopped and listened with a frown.  Some of it was convincing, the water and fire for example, and some of it was strained and reedy-thin as if only imagined and never heard.

He knocked.  The sounds stopped for a moment, then began again as a bed squeaked and naked feet slapped on the oak floorboards.

Andrew opened the door looking wan but with focused eyes; the sound of a battle continued for another few seconds then stopped abruptly, leaving a silence like static.  He motioned the other in and turned toward to the narrow bed.  Shuichi, a few inches shorter and quite a bit more muscular from years of hauling and throwing clay, pushed past his youngest sibling and slumped on a stool near a small table.  

"What in the hells, Tashe."  Shuichi spoke in Old Tilmarian.  That was mostly what they used around the house, although it had confused Tyr'riel quite a bit.  He leaned forward, elbows on his thighs, and gave Andrew an appraising look.  The kid looked good, tired or no; thin but not as skinny as his youth, with a healthy tone since he'd quit drinking.

"Practicing."  Andrew sat on the bed and drew his knees up to his chin.

"Practicing.  For what?"

"Not sure yet.  Just practicing."

The older snorted, running a hand through short black hair.  "Ty woke up while you were "practicing" but mother got him.  She's rocking him now, although he went back to sleep right away."

Andrew grinned and leaned against the wall.  "He's a good sleeper."

His brother let half a smile play across his face.  "You, a father.  I'm still adjusting to that.  When can we meet the mother?"

A short burst of laughter.  "When the Pits hang a welcome shingle.  Tyra's not ready to meet you."

"Not ready to meet us?"

"Tyra...Muse, how do I say this.  She's not a people person, and she has some issues in her past that keep cropping up.  We're working on it."

"We."  Flatly stated.

"We."

"Thought you weren't sleeping with her?"

"I'm not."  

Was there a touch of protest in that denial?  "You're not, or she won't let you?"

"It's...complicated."

"She won't let you."  Shuichi grinned.  "A woman who can say no to my brother.  I like her already."

Andrew snorted and looked out the single window by the head of the bed.  Purple twilight was fast fading to black.  He rolled to the nightstand and lit a candle as Shuichi sat up and folded his arms.

"So besides your son, tell me what's new.  Mother doesn't let me read your letters."

"Good."  Andrew started zipping his necklace back and forth on its chain, still looking out the window.  "Let's see...I'm tutoring a woman in reading and writing...I've been teaching myself illusionary sound, as you have heard.  I volunteer at Krandor hospital, I --"

"Get to the good stuff.  I've heard all of that."

The younger rolled his head to look at his brother.  "Still seeing Minu, and an old flame has rekindled.  Just the two."

Laughter.  "And this Tyra."

"We're not together."

"So you've said."  Shuichi's tenor was light with implications.  "What else?"

"I've met a woman who can do with sound what I wish to do.  And driven all but the last nail in the coffin of that relationship as well."  A frown.  "How was I supposed to know she hated Misties?  So that didn't go well when I admitted friendship to one.  Rather depressing, really -- I'm beginning to wonder where I can go to learn what I want to learn."

"Patience, Tashe.  Patience.  If it was meant to be..."

"...then it will take forever."  They both grinned, the sentence finished with the pat diction of an old family joke.

A hesitation from the older, then..."How is Aya?"

"Judgmental.  Bitter.  Talented."  Andrew's expression was exquisitely neutral.

"So, the usual?"

Andrew nodded.  Shuichi rubbed calloused hands together lightly.  "Vanessa has done well, better than I thought.  She asks about her less frequently now and she hasn't cried about it in months."

"Is that good or bad?"  

Shuichi shook his head and gave his brother a long look.  "You're good with your son, Tashe.  It's changed how I look at you.  Dad too I think.  But I'll say this only once; don't get wild and leave Ty here so you can cavort around.  Don't even think about it."

Andrew stiffened, took in a deep breath and blew it out.  He met his brother's eyes.  "When I agreed to be his father I did so to a woman who A -- can beat me senseless pretty much whenever she wants to with one hand tied behind her back, and B -- was left by her own father at a formative age and is still angry about it.  Trust me, I'm not abandoning him.  I made a promise."

Shuichi nodded, leaned back.  They stared at each other; two brown-skinned faces with almond-shaped eyes, broad noses, firm chins.  Not mirror images but close enough sometimes.

"Got your guitar?"  Andrew smiled and pulled his own guitar case from under the bed.

"In the other room.  Give me two minutes."

[RollinsCat]

To: Andrew W.T. Reid
Twin Dragons
137 Leringard
City of Leringard
Kingdom of Brelin

Andrew

I sorry you and Tai leave so soon party start day after you go!  Toranite woman do something important, whole city celebrate!  I hear it call Day of Savor (Will say Savior, thank you dear).

I think you not see like this since small boy.  Haus Kasai do fireworks, very loud, of course Vanessa and Opal love.  People singing dancing in streets, so much joy.  Your father even dance with me.  Still move good for old man!

She lies.  I was only stretching.

Ignore, he dance.  Anyway, lady name is Stormhaven, do you know her?  Give Matteo Award to her and she Champion of Toran's Will.  Funny with their titles!  But everyone is happy.

Many guards many Toranites flowers everywhere and big ceremony in Citadel.  Later I see Auscultare walking but I wear my heart open so he not talk to me.  But maybe he not see me?

Miss Tai.  You bring back soon and bring mother with him.  Want to meet Taira.  Mean this, Tashe.  Soon.

Love

Mother

[RollinsCat]

Dear Mother.

I apologize for the lateness of this letter. Things have been busy - exceedingly, amazingly busy - and I've simply put it on hold. But I'm sitting by Skyline Lake in the company of two marvelous friends and I'm not as sleepy as I should be, and so. That would explain the blotches and less than perfect scribing, though - a rock is my desk and an abandoned ant pile my blotter.

I'll try to be brief. I'm still teaching in Lor and I've taken on some new responsibilities. I have done a special assignment as well, that I'll tell you in person. In fact most of what I'm doing I will have to tell you in person. It is good that we're all headed to Huangjin, then, no?

Minu and I are still together, after all these years. More and more she is my confident, my friend and my lover - she is amazingly flexible in any role and only gets better at it which is a good thing because I had to tell her I'm in love, again. It was not easy at first but she made it so.

Muse, I will never leave that woman.

Yes, again. Please don't make that face as you told me years ago it will freeze that way. If it soothes you, one - I'm actively trying to not fall in love with any more women, and two - she's human. We'll talk when I arrive.

No one has tried to kill me lately. Willie has picked up all my old political songs and is writing new ones which takes the heat off of me. James is doing well, he's taking tips on leadership from a friend and perhaps he'll captain that ship someday.

Your son is his usual dilettante self although he is a dedicated father. Which I must be now because Ty is walking, running, and has figured out how to untie knots. For both Tyra and I this is a trying time...he's climbing as well. Smart boy though, ours. He knows most of his letters and can count to ten (with some prompting).

How did I end up at Skyline Lake? The boat to Huangjin docked in Corsain for supplies and was delayed, and I took the ship to Creedo instead and am walking across Tilmar. Not the fastest way home, but certainly the more interesting. I've seen things I have only heard of before - the Swamps of Awakening, the Grove of Slumber, and we've been through the Forest of Voices which I remember from childhood. I tried to sing to the monkeys but I only caught glimpses.

I'm traveling with two friends. Daniel is a protector of Rofirein. I know, I know, mother. But he's not a mindless puppet of Law and Order - he's inquisitive and intelligent. You would find him fascinating to converse with I think. I've mentioned my other travel companion before, Lana Poetr, Daniel's cousin by marriage and a fine, fine lady. And no, Lana and I are not "together" so if they accept the invitation to visit that I have extended you may dispense with the usual grilling.

The light grows dim and I am not sure I'll find a bird to send this - we're going to have to head north through the Spine Mountains in the morning. I hope you appreciate what I go through to get to your cooking, mother. As I mentioned I've invited them to visit and I hope you will welcome them. Please make congris. Lots of it.

Your loving son,


Andrew



The petite Tilmarian woman rolled up the letter and went to the window. She ran her fingers through gray hair streaked with ribbons of deep glossy black. She remembered when it had been the other way around.

"Will!" Her voice rang out in Old Timarian.

He ambled out of the sitting room. "What is it dear." It came out in one tone, the kind of automatic response that develops over long years of cohabitation.

"Andrew is coming for a visit and he's bringing friends."

"That's nice de - friends? Who?"

"A Rofierinite, for one."

"WHAT? In this house?"

"We will be polite, Will. He's mentioned this one before I think." There was a sour grumble but a nod from the older man. "The other is a lady, one he's also mentioned - another musician."

"When are they getting here?"

She looked out the window, then slipped on silver frames and looked again. "I don't know but the bird that brought the message was from Harlock's and that is right by the city gates. So today, I think. I'll put on rice, please start the dashi and get out the miso paste - do we have any wakame left? I'll send Vanessa and Opal to get onions and mushrooms...

....

Daniel was ribbing him again about his "command". It seemed to Andrew that the normally stolid priest had a far wickeder sense of humor that he'd given the man credit for. Lana listened with occasional giggles as he described his time in charge of the Haven Mine expedition. "And so one tiny rush into a room - which I did NOT die from, I will have you know - and suddenly I'm "fearless leader". Muse, that woman drove me nuts."

He led them down a dusty lane rutted with wagon tracks and horse droppings as Daniel corrected a few of his assertions with observations of his own. The lane narrowed to the width of one wagon and everywhere was the red dust of dried clay - it coated throats and boots alike. A cut across a lush bit of yard to a story-and-a-half house, traditional Tilmarian architecture with gently curved roofs and red clay shingles, and a menagerie of finely made pots exploding with colorful plants lining either side of the door. An intricately twisted clay post with a shingle that read "Reid Pottery, est. 1424" sat in front; a barn loomed behind the smaller house. All three looked new.

"Okay, here we are. You know, I think you're the first people I've invited over since I left? Besides Tyr'riel." He shook the bell by the door but he'd seen the painted paper curtain shift. The door opened before the second ring.

"Tashe! You home! Come in, supper almost ready. I get letter - these friends?" The woman who wrapped her arms around Andrew's waist was short. Very short. All of five feet maybe, slender even in her sixties, with sharp brown eyes brightened by curiosity. She released her son and turned to his companions. A man walked up behind her, also in his sixties; nearly Andrew's height, lean but muscled and deeply tanned. He rolled eyes almost as dark as his son's over Daniel with a neutral expression, taking in the shield and golden armor.

"Mother, this is Daniel-sama and Lana-sama. Daniel, Lana, please meet my parents - Margret and William Reid."

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by Serissa:

Lana smiles and bows to Andrew's parents. "I'm very happy to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Reid. You are very kind to invite us into your home." Although Lana is close in age to Andrew's mother, she looks more like a trim, active, black-haired woman in her early forties, thanks to her adventurous lifestyle and some elvish blood. She is just slightly taller than Andrew's mother.

[RollinsCat]

The Tilmarian woman gave Lana an expert once-over honed from years of females being brought home by her sons and seemed satisfied, although a little surprised. She flashed Lana a warm smile. "Margret, you call me Margret. Come in!" She and her husband shifted to let them enter; Andrew stood aside, waving them in ahead. Margret fixed an expectant, not entirely unfriendly look on Daniel.

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by cbnicholson:

Putting his best foot forward, Daniel smiles and sets aside his shield making sure the emblem is visible. With a bow to Margaret, "Thank you for having us as guests, Ma'am. I have a small gift for the household, if you would accept it?" Daniel holds out two loaves of bread wrapped in a pristine piece of cotton. He then stands next to Lana and waits quietly for further introductions feeling slightly awkward as he stands a good foot and half taller than the rest at six foot two.

[RollinsCat]

The loaves were taken with a gracious smile. "Thank you, Dan-e-al." Margret passed them to her husband, still looming behind her, and ushered them into the shaded front room.

It was a showroom, pottery lining shelves on the wall and placed artfully around the floor. Vases, bowls, plates and cups and urns in all sizes were set in casual display; crackled glazed, monochromatic, swirled, painted in another explosion of color echoing the flowers out front. A single long desk ran parallel to the back wall and above on a shelf were a series of fantastical goblets of clay bases and glass vessels. A glazed silver dragon held up a crystal sphere with a portion of the top removed for drinking; a Tilmarian woman, expertly painted with arms outstretched, held a small crystal lotus flower.

William slid aside a paper divider and motioned them through a red-framed door to a dining area beyond. The long table was heavily polished cherry, and all around this room were plants. The window had a smaller table in front of it, perhaps once intended to be a buffet; now it held sixteen neat pots, each single-color glazed and painted with the herb or spice that grew in it, and flora in low, wide planters that resembled perfectly miniature ginkgo, cherry and jade trees.

There was a scuffle from a curtained door to the right and young voices - "I wanna see them!" "Move, Oba said we had to wait - " "I'm big, I can look!" "Vanessa!..." Andrew's smile was bright, even as Margret and William moved in concert toward the noise.

"It's alright, mother, father. I'm sure Daniel and Lana would enj-"

"He said it was alright!" A girl burst from behind the curtain, tall for her ten or eleven years and leggy-thin with shining black hair to her waist, while a set of brown eyes younger by half peered from behind the curtain cloth. The girl ran straight to the two guests and stood in front. "Hi! I'm Opal! Are you really both Rofies?"

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by cbnicholson:

With a low booming laugh, Daniel replies, " I am Opal, Lana is..." He frowns slightly glancing at his stepmother and cousin, "Less enthusiastic about the Great Dragon." Indicating the colorful pottery, Daniel changes the subject, "Is some of this exquisite work yours?"

[RollinsCat]

Missing the redirection entirely, Opal looked at Lana. "So who is your god? I  like Ilsare. But I like Lucinda too, because she's all magic!" A blink, then Daniel's question registered. "Oh, over here!" She grabbed Daniel and Lana both by the hands and pulled them toward the herb garden.

"Opal, kinasai!" Margret waved the girl back past the curtain.

"Oba, he asked a question." She responded with a strained patience expertly mimicked and Andrew lost his battle for a straight face and laughed. His father gave him a dark look.

"Can you guess which pots are mine? Mama and I made them together!"

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by cbnicholson:

Daniel studies the pots quietly for a time, looking for those that still possess the practicality and grace evident in pieces he is reasonably sure are Margret's yet having a bit of flair as expected of a somewhat quirky young lady, with some hesitation and a glance at Andrew to confirm his guess, "These here perhaps?" He points at a couple.

[RollinsCat]

Andrew gave a slight nod to Daniel's choices as a petite Tilmarian woman who looked Lana's apparent age came in with a bowl of steaming soup. Behind her walked a man, only a few inches shorter than Andrew, whose face was similar enough to the bard's to draw a double take. The man's hair was cut short and his face more weathered; beyond that, they could nearly have passed for each other.

"Right! - Oh, not that one, Mama did that one. Mama!" Opal turned to the woman placing soup on the table and fussing with the setting. "He guessed which pots I did!" She pointed to Daniel with a smile. "He's smart, isn't he?"

The woman smiled back and the grandparents, having given up on reining in the child, only sighed. William put a loaf of Daniel's bread on the table and headed for the kitchen with Margret. Andrew stepped closer to his friends and put a gentle, restraining hand on Opal's head. "Daniel, Lana, please meet Opal and..." he paused "...and Vanessa's parents, Shuichi and Miyu." He bowed to the them in greeting as he introduced them. "Shuichi is my brother."

"Whether he wants to be or not." Shuichi's voice was softer than Andrew's, but his eyes sparkled; his speech was strongly accented. "It isn't customary to rush to dinner but the food is ready, would you care to sit?"

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by Serissa:

Lana waited until Daniel was distracted, and then spoke to Margret quietly. "I haven't given my allegiance to any one god or goddess. I often pray to Illsare and Lucinda, but I sometimes ask favors of Beryl, or even Mist. Rofirein seems cold and unforgiving, but I admire the loyalty of his devotees."

Following the others into the showroom, Lana gazed around in awe. Finally, she fixed on a delicate tea bowl, set alone on a small shelf. The glaze was a soft shading of blue to green, and the bowl itself was so thin that it seemed to glow in the light from a nearby window. It was unadorned, except for an unfamiliar white symbol inside, on the bottom of the bowl. "Everything here is so beautiful!" she exclaimed. "But this, this is exquisite!"

[RollinsCat]

Margret's smile was bittersweet and her rich voice low as she touched the bowl with a thin, calloused finger. "My daughter make. She always very good salt firing." She started to say something else then stopped, bringing her hand away. "Please forgive granddaughter, she like people. She much like her uncle. We try to teach - teach - " Her brow furrowed as she looked for the word, then relaxed as she gave up. "Reisetsu, good manners. She know but - well, again, like her uncle." Another smile, warmer. "Come, supper ready - later we talk you take bowl?"

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by cbnicholson:

"Miss Opal, I am merely a student of human nature," Daniel smiles then bows slightly at the waist to Shuichi as introductions are made, he mutters to himself glancing at Andrew again, "Remarkable likeness." Clearing his throat, " I do think eating is in order, Thank you. Opal, would you like to sit next to myself?"

[RollinsCat]

Shuichi returned Daniel's bow and fetched another chair from a corner. Opal folded her hands demurely behind her back, adopted her most grown-up voice, and looked up at Daniel. "I would be honored, Daniel-san."

More food was brought out and placed by the soup; red and brown sauces in small shallow dishes, pale fish wrapped in seaweed, a large bowl of creamy rice (which Andrew immediately tried to scoop out with childlike glee and was given a sharp rap on the knuckles by his sister-in-law for his efforts), Daniel's bread placed on a blue-glazed pottery slab with thickened cream for dipping, and lastly - brought in by a shyly pretty six year old girl - a platter of balls of melon peeking from a sweetened rice shell. Miyu took the plate and gestured for the girl to sit. "Domo, Vanessa."

Chairs were arranged and William took the head of the table with Margret to his right, and Miyu and Vanessa left of her, and Shuichi at the other end. Daniel was offered the seat left of William, Lana and then Andrew right of Daniel, and Opal wedged the chair Shuichi had just brought between Daniel and Lana and sat up very straight.

William took a look around the table and allowed himself a wintery smile. "I think we'll skip formal prayer."

"Gods bless this food, let's eat." Andrew grinned, still eyeing the rice dish, and Vanessa giggled. A stern glance from William to his youngest son then a resigned nod.

"Let's eat." Food was passed in silence until plates were full, then Margret looked at her guests.

"So you tell how you know my son?" There was a wicked edge to her voice, and her expression was more than a little impish.

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by cbnicholson:

Picking his way through the unusual food with care to avoid dripping sauces on his pristine white robes, Daniel soon begins eating with gusto, " I must say this is simply delicious," he indicates the rice dish and continues," Tis no wonder you were so eager to have it, Andrew. As for your question, let me think a moment, Milady" He chews slowly then swallows. "Aye, my association with Andrew came about through an elvish woman, Zarianna, but If I recall that relationship did not last as long as my own with your son. We have traveled together many times seeking adventure, Andrew and I. I find him to be both entertaining and reliable in a fight." Daniel finishes with a smile toward the Reids, hoping to take some of the heat off Lana and Andrew both.

[RollinsCat]

William let his dark-eyed gaze fall on Daniel for a moment. "So what was that conflaguration at the temple a few months ago about? You know about that?"

Andrew paled a bit. "Dad - he's a Rofireinite, they're -"

"-about the same thing." William took a studied bite of wrapped fish and chewed, waiting.

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by cbnicholson:

Daniel finishes his meal and sits back, regarding William for a moment before speaking, his expression guarded, "You speak of Lady Daniella Stormhaven's trials? If so I accompanied her throughout them."

[RollinsCat]

Originally posted by Serissa:

Lana smiles and gives her attention to Daniel. "Yes, please, Daniel. Even though I traveled with you for part of the time, I never really understood why Lady Daniela's missions were so important. I just tried to give what little help I could."

[RollinsCat]

Andrew winced at his father's question; Vanessa and Opal looked confused, Miyu excused herself to get...something...and Shuichi just sighed. William jumped, looking down suddenly, and Margret's smile was sharp.

"Yes, Dan-e-al, please tell us! Party was much fun, dancing, we hear Toran was saved?" Margret's smile was encouraging and Andrew stifled a laugh at his father's clandestine ankle-rubbing.