"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
16th of Ymiden, 717"Speaking in Common"
mid morning
It had been a long ride to get here and a strange series of events, but finally Hart had made it to his destination: a little farmhouse in the countryside of Warrick.
It had all started in Andaris when he had gone to the orphange to volunteer his time
--and penance-- after a couple unsavory events that had thus far happened in the city. At the orphange he had been turned away, a sign from the gods if he had ever seen one; but not true, because as it turned out many kind people had come to donate and volunteer in the last season, people in excess he had been told. Soon enough he had happened across a young man and his bodyguard who were being sent to deliver extra funds to their sister orphanage in Venora.
Hart, having been mistaken by these men for Tristan --which happened a lot-- had needed to explain that actually no, he was not a Venora, well at least not exactly... and somehow in the exchange he had ended up being invited with the rider and his guard to the Venoran orphanage. Promptly, Hart had agreed...
...only to find that they were traveling by way of horse. Having never ridden a horse before in his life, those first few days of riding to Venora had been an... interesting time. When he'd asked why they couldn't go by ship the bodyguard, a usually jovial man named Clyde, had turned rather green just at the thought and Hart had had his answer.
At the new orphanage they had welcomed Hart with open arms, only to send him almost immediately out on his way to Warrick. See, they told him, we've been sending volunteers out to check on some of the adopted children, a new policy to ensure that the kids weren't merely being used for labor and were being fed right and educated and given a loving home. Would he mind going out and checking on some children, and also did he mind traveling far? Most of the volunteers were agreeable to check up on the kids who had been adopted in Venora, but didn't want to have to travel much further than that...
And so Hart had once more agreed and had ridden off, this time alone, to go look in on the kids of one miss Lei'lira Warrick, a noblewoman who owned a small farm in the country.
Now at the house and not sure what to do with his horse, a chestnut stallion named Benny he'd picked up way back in Andaris, Hart dismounted carefully. Even after all these trials --eight days, nine?-- he was not quite used to riding. Though the mechanics of riding were not difficult, per se, he had only ever traveled by ship before. He found it harder to mount and dismount than to actually sit still in a saddle; sitting was easy on an easy horse like Benny, it was the balance and coordination that was difficult.
Eventually he made it safely to the ground, however, and then stood and stretched sore muscles and patted the animal's side, letting Benny nibble at the cloth at his shoulder as he looked around. "To the stables?" he asked the horse. But not knowing the proper etiquette for such a situation --could it be assumed private stables were free to use by travelers?-- eventually he said, "Stay," and walked up to the little house's front door.
After knocking and waiting for a bit, Hart smiled at the person who answered, a young woman who immediately gave a glance over his shoulder. Hart turned and found that the horse had followed him quietly through the lawn and up the walk. Soon as looked at the beast Benny closed the last couple of feet between them and began again to nibble at the cloth on his shoulder, and Hart turned back to the door and said, "May I use your stables?" He stuck out a hand. "I'm Hart, by the way. I'm here from the orphanage in Venora, the Little Garden?"
He waited to see if she recognized the name. "They're implementing a new program, and well," he paused. They had told him to be discreet. The orphanage hadn't wanted to upset anyone by implying they couldn't properly care for the children they had adopted. So he had a cover story of sorts, though Hart wasn't exactly comfortable with deception. He tried to think of it as having two objectives.
"I was asked to come to check up on the kids and offer a free lesson, if you were all willing? I'm afraid I don't know much of history or science," or math, immortals bless him, "but I do know a little about art." The orphanage had offered him what it could spare in supplies, paper and paint, but looking around and considering the perfect summer weather Hart had his own ideas as well, should the occupants of the house be willing.