• PM To Join • A friend? Indeed.

[Faith Augustin]

40th Vhalar, 716

"No, thank you, yes." she said with a smile and she considered that this Emily person was possibly the most chatty person she had ever met "Yes, really, I'm sure. I am more than used to carrying my own things. It is just a pot of soup. But it is very kind of you to accompany me" and indeed it was. But by the seven the woman could talk. She chatted. Faith didn't really understand chatting, she was quite happy to fill the silence with silence. Thoughts and considerations, yes, but silent ones. However, that notwithstanding she could not deny that Emily was a friendly young woman and Faith had enjoyed her time with her. She (Emily) had chatted about being a skyrider, about Rynmere, the attacks, the bandits and the shadow creatures. The conversation had danced around anything too serious and had remained very surface. But somehow, Faith believed that Emily didn't ignore her slave status, she just saw it, accepted it and moved on. That was a nice change and quite rare, although the young slave had encountered it more and more in the last seasons.

But they were approaching the house and Faith smiled at Emily. "I know that you said I do not need to, but I am very grateful to you for accompanying me. It is very kind of you" It was important to be clear about such and she smiled. "It is a difficult time, that is for sure and I am sure that you must be busy" There were all sorts of problems in Rynmere and, in truth, the gaps between the rich and the poor had never been so apparent. She worried about that, and the safety of her Master and his family but at the same time she knew that there was nothing she could do about it.

So, they approached the house and Faith, who had been riding on the back of Emily's horse, waited until the woman stopped and then she got down. There was the inevitable (and she knew it was coming, now, at least) discussion about carrying things. Faith hadn't even brought that many things, in truth. An overnight bag, material, wool and some other supplies was all, two small bags.

"Thank you again" she said, looking around. Emily waved, leading the horse off, past the big barn that was there and left Faith to make her way to the house. It looked neat and cared for, but it looked lived in at the same time and she smiled. It gave her pleasure to think of seeing Lady Elyna again, because the two of them had shared a very strange and, to the viewpoint of the strange slave girl, a quite unique experience together. That kind of thing bound two people into friendship and so Faith felt an excitement at the prospect of seeing and spending time with Lady Elyna. She stepped forward and knocked at the door.

"Lady Elyna?" she called "It's Faith. I brought some soup and fresh baked bread" she said and waited. The young slave woman had changed ever such a lot since first bought by Tristan, but so much of that change had happened with or because of Lady Elyna, and Faith would not forget that.

[Elyna]

Despite everything that had happened, Elyna still smiled when she heard the sound of familiar chatter even through the changeable weather. The house was neat again and tidy. Aside from a panel of the bedroom window being boarded up, it would have been impossible to tell that anything had changed for the woman. It was not the case. Everything hand changed in the last ten trials. The sound of Emily’s voice was welcome and Elyna lent forward, elbows on the kitchen table as she peered through the window.
The Sergeant gave a cheeky wave and nudged both horses towards the barn. From horseback Emily could open the door and ushered the animal Faith had ridden into the vaguely capable hands of Kit and Rafa. It was then that she turned to make her towards the docks and to join the Knights patrol.
Elyna rose to her feet, as quickly as she could which wasn’t very fast at all. Slow enough that Faith had time to knock on the door. It was unfastened and the Skyrider stepped back to let the slender slave inside the house. The fire had been lit since dawn and the room was pleasantly warm. The window open on the latch to allow fresh air in. The vase was filled with poppies that added a vibrancy to an otherwise humble cottage.
The young woman found it hard to describe all that she felt about seeing Faith again. She couldn’t help but smile and gesture towards the kitchen area. A perfect place for fresh bread to reside.
“There’s an empty pot beside the fire…if you don’t mind lifting it onto the hooks we could cook the soup?” She suggested, practical as always. The woman hadn’t tried to lift the cauldron up herself. It wasn’t the heaviest pot to hang but she found that recently her back and hips were prone to aching. So Elyna avoided lifting heavier items, and a cast iron pot numbered amongst things that were not light.
She sniffed the air and her smile increased a little. The soup smelt good. Tristan hadn’t exaggerated the woman’s ability to cook. Elyna loitered at the door before closing it. The table was laid out with scraps of cloth and a pattern kindly lent by a servant in the Burhan house.
“Thank you Faith,” Elyna looked up at the dark-haired girl, the sides of her mouth pulled in another half-smile, “I’m so…I’m so glad to see you again.” Funny how she’d gone such a large portion of her life without ever knowing the Slave. But after the intense formation of their relationship, she’d found it suddenly strange not to see her each and every day. They’d been forced into close confinement and intimacy. They’d faced the undead, ridden a dragon and met the King and his council.
Faith knew. Faith knew everything that had happened. The moment she stepped through the door, Elyna felt the weight lifting from her shoulders. There was nothing to hide. There was nothing that she needed to say or explain and Faith made no demands on her. She could simply, be. How had the dark-haired woman been since they’d last met? It seemed a lifetime since Venora.

[Faith Augustin]

40th Vhalar, 716

Faith looked at Lady Elyna and she smiled. Now, Faith smiled quite a lot in fairness, it was something which seemed to come naturally to her. But the smile that she gave Lady Elyna was different; it was a smile of relief, of pleasure, of feeling accepted. She did not say anything of course, but that was how it was. She moved into the kitchen area and nodded her head "Of course, Lady Elyna" she said, happy to oblige and she set about getting the pot on the heat, adding the soup and putting the bread to the side, but close enough that it would warm it.

When that was done, she moved back to the other bag, but stopped and looked at Elyna as she spoke. The young slave nodded her head in agreement "It is good to see you again, too, Lady Elyna. More than I can tell you, it is good to see you." What they had shared together was not something that she could explain, but that meant that being with Lady Elyna was a pleasure in a very selfish way ~ because she did not have to explain anything. "I brought material and wool and some books from the library on patterns and things" she said, pointing to the bag. "I wondered if you might like to choose some things for me to make and to copy any patterns you would like, too?" Not owning anything herself, she had not been able to do more than that, but she had done what she could. Normally, she would worry that it was not enough, but Lady Elyna was the kind of woman who appreciated each gesture, in her experience.

Faith, it had to be said, looked different. But then, that was not least because she was wearing her hair in the very fashionable victory curls which were pinned tight to her head and one of the Marilyn skirts which were also very much on trend. As she pulled out the things that she had brought, she did not speak for a few moments, then she looked at Lady Elyna and asked the question she was thinking "How are you feeling, Lady Elyna?" she wondered. How did she mean that? Well, she wasn't quite sure, that was up to Elyna how she answered it. It might be that the noble lady chose to answer it in a purely physical manner, she might focus on the pregnancy or answer in a much more general way. That was fine and completely acceptable to Faith, whatever Lady Elyna chose to do there was no pressure from her. The last things that she put out were the books she had taken out from the library and a sheaf of notes from previous books she had borrowed and had spent breaks copying patterns out which she thought Lady Elyna might like.

Once Lady Elyna had answered, Faith put the sheaf of notes over to where she sat and she smiled "I am sorry that I can not buy you a gift. I hope these prove useful" That was, after all, what the slave wanted more than anything, to be useful.

[Elyna]

There was something easy in her company and undemanding and Elyna returned to chair at the table and watched the woman’s deft movements. More than a little envious at the way she could move around the room at speed and without being afraid of her own feet. It was growing harder to remember a time when she had been able to move so freely and she missed it like she missed the sight of her own toes and the simple ability to tie her bootlaces without using a chair. Pregnancy sucked and then the baby kicked and a protective hand was laid over the motion. It had its better moments too.
“I’ve got some fabrics too,” the smile Elyna gave was unforced and she lent forward, elbows propped on the table as she watched the treasure trove of wool and books and fabric pulled from what felt like a bottomless bag. Genuine excitement caused her fingers to drum against her cheeks as she scanned the books with little interest, a pattern she could follow but long and lengthy instructions of underpinning and reverse stitch knot- fandangle- knitting things was another secret nightmare…along with the thought of a summer spent doing the Iron Hand’s paperwork. She liked sewing with Faith, they’d spent enough time in the back of the wagon stitching scraps of material and Elyna had a collection of embroidered animals she thought she might attach to a blanket.
She pulled one of the books closer though, flicking through with her eyes landing on the pictures, “I can’t knit, but a hat might be a good idea to keep him warm?” she turned the book back and showed Faith the picture and diagrams laid out.
“A gift?” Her brow furrowed at the question, confused. “Faith, why would you give me a gift? I…I wouldn’t be here without you,” she admitted and pulled out a pale green cotton that she’d bought back form the city. What else could she say? If permitted she would have given Faith anything the woman desired. She was still tempted to give her a weapon and a decent chance to defend herself.
“I’m going work on a gown, I think I can just…adapt a simple shift pattern and make it smaller, much smaller…” how much smaller? Elyna lent forward, scanning the patterns laid out in hope that there would already be something prepared or a guide to how big babies were.
How was she feeling? The young woman slid her fingers under a piece of parchment and pulled it closer. It seemed to list potential lengths and sizes depending on the weight of the baby. How was she supposed to know that? There seemed to be a vague estimate of length and breadth for the gown but the numbers danced in front of her eyes and she pressed her teeth into her bottom lip.
“Malcolm came home,” she answered eventually, “Kit shot him,” she gestured vaguely to the barn outside the window. It was obscured by rain that had returned and fell against the window as though thrown from a bucket, “he’s alright though. I asked him to leave.” Elyna looked up at the Slave and scanned her face. Judgement. What would her judgement be?
It was then that Faith’s skirts that caught her attention and she lent around the table to peer at him, “they’re very different? The fabric looks quite light, are they warm enough? Are you…do you think a strong gust of wind would – maybe,” an impish look crossed her features for a second, “they might just…poof!” She lifted her hands to demonstrate the action of skirts akimbo.

[Faith Augustin]

"I can teach you how to knit if you like. It is fairly straightforward" she said, ready and willing to be helpful. "And I will very happily make hats. With boots and jackets matching, that is easy enough" she replied. But why would she give a gift? Faith looked at Lady Elyna and the answer that she gave was as honest as it could be. "I've never had a friend before" she said in a matter of fact tone "And now that I have one and she is pregnant, I would like to be able to give her and her baby a gift. So, I wrote out patterns and will make things." It seemed entirely logical to the young slave and so she said it just how it was.

The dress that Lady Elyna wished to make looked to be a very pretty thing. "Master has been paying for me to have a tutor in mathematics, chemistry, the sciences." she explained "And I have been learning how to measure scale and proportion. If you would allow me to, it would be good practice for me to amend the pattern. I am supposed to practice as much as I can" she explained with a grin. She wished she could pretend it was a hardship, that homework of any kind wasn't fascinating and delighting but Faith looked positively eager at the prospect of applying her maths to something like designing, or amending the design of a dress.

Malcolm had come home, Kit had shot him and then Lady Elyna had asked him to leave? Faith met Elyna's gaze and nodded her head. She considered Lady Elyna's words and then spoke, her gaze calm and with no judgement in it at all. In fact, all that her face showed was concern for the woman in front of her "Did he respect your wishes?" she wondered. It was a difficult situation and she completely understood Lady Elyna's viewpoint. The fact that the wedding she had celebrated with Malcolm was null and void and, had it not been, Marcus Krome would not have been able to exploit that and then Lady Elyna would not have experienced the captivity and torture she had. But then, Faith was very aware that there was almost certainly more than one viewpoint on this particular tale and she did not know Malcolm's. So, she simply accepted that Lady Elyna did what she felt was best and she would support her. "Whatever happens, you are not alone. I will help any way I can, once the baby is here, if you wish it"

But when the conversation turned to her skirts, Faith gave Lady Elyna a grin and a slight roll of her eyes. "They, and these stupid curls, are all the fashion in Andaris at the moment and Master likes me to be fashionable so that he can show me off. The skirts are... flimsy and frankly rather chilly and the curls give me a headache both in getting them up there and in the number of pins needed to keep them there" she shrugged "But my Master wishes it so it is my pleasure to serve. Mostly" she chuckled and nodded. "I live in fear whenever there is a gust near me, what if I whoosh and... well. But, whilst he was clear on what he wished me to wear" she said with a secretive grin to Elyna and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes "He did not specify which underwear. So, when I am going out, I wear these bad boys" she said and lifted her skirt to show Lady Elyna a home made pair of knee length pantaloons which would most certainly keep her modesty intact. "I wear the other things underneath and am ready to whip these off at a moments notice if he pops up somewhere." Even last season, Faith would not have done anything so sneaky, but frankly she was cold and not prepared to risk showing all her usual underwear to the random inhabitants of Rynmere.

[Elyna]

No judgement and therefore a weight was lifted before it was able to settle. The young woman found that she bit her bottom lip again, shaking her head “Oh they’ve tried, believe me…Faith I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand how you move the needles and it makes knot?” She ran her fingers down the centre of her nose and the fading freckles of early summer. The suns of Saun would have seen them darken enough to last all winter, but she’d spent so much time inside that they were quick to lose their potency.
Faith’s sincere and simple words robbed the Skyrider of breath and her gaze dropped to the patterns before her. She considered her next words with care, weighing them before they were committed to the air, “your friendship is a gift,” she replied with genuine veracity. Unwilling to pollute the air with something meaningless Elyna was content with silence. Sitting up with a grin as Faith offered to adjust the pattern, “please!” she agreed before the woman had finished speaking. Heat rose in her cheeks and she lifted a hand touching her fingers to the poppy petals.
“If you could I would be grateful. Books, mathematics…writing have never been my strengths,” she admitted, “I had a cousin, Lorena, who was amazing. It was like she could learn everything in a day.” It had seemed as though the younger girl was leaps and bounds ahead whilst Elyna had struggled to organise her thoughts and remember the previous break’s lesson let alone one from the last season or arc. “I think it’s such a simple pattern it should be comfortable without many joins and stitching lines. There’s nothing that can wrap around a baby and, for a boy or a girl…a gown for the first season isn’t going to hurt. He’s not going to know he’s not wearing breaches,” she smiled again and pulled the fabric closer. Folded in too she started to pin the sides together. Come to think of it, whenever she had seen babies, from a safe distance, they’d all been in gowns. Young toddlers in gowns too…breaches were for older children and she couldn’t help but wonder why.
Faith demonstrated her skirts and the woman couldn’t hold it anymore. Tickled, she burst into laughter, especially when the slave started to describe how she could slip out of the enormous pantaloons at a moments notice. Giggling she pressed fingers against her mouth before hiding her face. It was good to laugh.
“You make it sound as if he could be hiding under the table!” she teased. It seemed confirmed though, that Tristan was sleeping with his slave. Again she was caught in a dilemma, unsure how she felt about the idea and uncertain if it was really any of her business.

[Faith Augustin]

It unnerved her, it had to be said. Faith looked up at Lady Elyna and she looked a little confused for a moment. "I feel like you've said that to me before. In the dream that I dreamt of you before I overheard the servants in Sabaissant talking" she shook her head, though and smiled again, clouds dispersed as she put it down to one of life's idiosyncrasies "Like it's on the tip of my memory. I was making a jumper, I don't know and you said that." She turned her attention, instead, to the amending of the dress pattern. She wasn't entirely sure how big babies were when first born, but some of the patterns had sizes, so she tried to make sure that she understood the scale. That was the trick. Faith spent a good few moments working it out and then checked it again, before sliding it back. "I think that is correct. It is also in line with the measurements for other clothes for newborns in the patterns here, so I am more confident." Relying on her mathematical skill was by no means a good plan at this point, although she was very much enjoying her lessons.

But she considered and wondered aloud "Why do boy babies get dressed in dresses?" she wondered "Maybe for ease of access to the diaper, but still." she shrugged and gave a grin "Or maybe it's a mixture of that and, since no one knows what they're having, they may as well make a decision so go with the dress?" She wondered what it was like, being pregnant, but she figured it was something that one did not so much describe as experience so there was no point asking Lady Elyna and putting her in a situation of trying to do the impossible.

Standing there, skirt pulled up to show her warm, practical and very sensible pantaloons, Faith dropped the skirt and gave Lady Elyna a grin "He might. He is a natural prankster and he has a brother who looks exactly like him. I once came home and thought that Master had been hypnotised or mind controlled or something. It was him and his brother playing a trick on me" she shook her head and shrugged slightly with a vaguely contrite expression. She had, after all, thumped his brother on the head with the hilt of a knife and threatened to pin his brother's friend to the wall by his entrails. Not her finest moment. She smiled at Lady Elyna and said, most honestly "I am coming to the conclusion that men are very confusing"

As she spoke, she wrapped the yarn around her thumb twice, slipped the bottom loop over the first and then using one knitting needle to cast on. The pattern said thirty stitches, so she did the casting on for that many. Make a loop over her thumb then in, round, over and off. When she had thirty stitches, she picked up the second needle and got going. In, round, over and off every time, her fingers moving as she spoke. "Very confusing indeed"

[Elyna]

"

Elyna raised a brow across the table. For with a piece of chalk she sketched the rough outline of the pattern, ready to adjust it when Faith had finished the proportions. She was fortunate that a similar template was already available. A pair of sharp scissors came next and she began to follow the outline, leaving plenty of space on the curves and corners and a wide margin in case she’d completely fluffed the size. Faith had dreamt of Elyna and knitting? Before they’d met? Ely hesitated a moment, trying to recall if she’d experienced something similar. There was a slight feel of déjà vu but that could be attributed to Faith’s mention of the topic. In the end she shrugged, “if I’d been academic I don’t think my parents would have let me a Skyrider,” she admitted. Knitting wasn’t academic the confusion that the knots caused her was akin to that sensation of staring at a mathematics equation. Sheer and utter blindness. As though a film was cast before her eyes and she could no longer see straight. “Thank you,” Elyna smiled across at the woman.
The baby was restless at the lack of movement and Elyna returned to her feet. She filled two mugs with tea and water and returned them to the table. Setting one down for Faith with a cautious smile, “I need to keep moving,” she explained, “or I get kicked. Which can hurt sometimes. Returned to their workspace she compared the measurements to the size she’d sketched out and nodded to herself. She hadn’t been far off.
Elyna turned the fabric back to front and began to pin it together. Careful as she slid the metal spikes in, not wanting to catch soft fingers and bleed into the delicate material. Suddenly a solution came to mind and she grinned, “Oh! The knees! A lot of our new Airmen and Squires are just overgrown boys really and they go through the knees of their trousers like no bodies business. I’ve had to mend so many sets this season that I never want to see another pair again! Maybe that’s why boys wear gowns, so they don’t wear out the knees? And babies crawl don’t they…could we make some leggings or stockings?” Her exuberance returned to a frown, “I wouldn’t want it’s feet to get cold, or it’s legs…” when did babies crawl anyway? After a season - two?
She had giggled at the idea Tristan may well be beneath the table before her brows had raised again, “that sounds like a mean trick to play,” she spoke her mind. Faith was a diligent slave. Unlike other Slaves Elyna had encountered, being a slave didn’t seem something to be endured. It wasn’t a job either. It was her life. Elyna could imagine the girl had been frightened and upset to imagine Tristan was ill or damaged in some way. It was a cruel joke at her expense but she looked down and held her tongue. She’d said her piece. Men were confusion. Yes they were.
Malcolm had married her and Vanessa still lived. He could have said no. All these seasons later, she still couldn’t understand why he’d gone through with the ceremony. “I think…people are confusing,” Elyna adjusted the terms of the confusion. She rested back in the chair and collected needle and thread. Needle prepared she started to sew up the tiny sleeves.
“Men and woman, usually. No one says what they mean and everyone…usually everyone want’s something, or needs something. Why don’t we just ask? Or explain?”

[Faith Augustin]

Her fingers moved deftly, the quiet click-clack of the needles against each other as she sat with Lady Elyna. But more precisely she sat and Lady Elyna moved, fidgeting to help the baby keep calm. Faith looked at the cup of tea and smiled a slight smile "Thank you" she said, considering that not so long ago she would have descended into concern at the thought of a free woman, a noble free woman at that, making her a cup of tea. But these trials, she had grown more used to the concept of it happening at least. Small steps, she supposed.

"I felt very concerned and I was upset but, no, I do not think it was mean. He just did not think of the consequences. He would not be unkind knowingly, it is not in his nature" she said, a genuine expression of fondness on her face. But as to the nature of people, she shrugged slightly "I don't know, Lady Elyna. I really don't" looking down at the small row of stitches which were starting to grow as she knit two, purl two in order to start the hat with a double rib. "People are usually uncomfortable when I speak of my childhood, or my training. They do not like to be reminded of it. But I knew some of the other slaves and the four owners who took a specific role in my training. Then, I knew Jamal. Until the beginning of Ymiden this arc, those were the only people I knew. Once Jamal allowed me out, then I learnt about how people are with each other."

Why did people, any of them, not just ask or explain? Faith sighed slightly and shook her head "I do not know. I suppose they are concerned with hurting or offending or causing pain. I do not know. If there is ever anything that you wish to know about me, Lady Elyna, I will answer it without pause or let. Even if it is to tell you that I am not permitted to answer." she said with a smile. "Maybe that is the problem. We start from good intentions, to protect or to avoid hurt and that makes an omission, which builds into a lie and soon you are dancing around the truth rather than living it and having it be who and what you are. I do not know. But your baby will be born not knowing deceit, so I would say there is hope for us yet"

An earnest expression suddenly crossed her face "I hope you know that, whatever it is in my power to do, I will gladly do to help you and this babe. As will my Master, he is very fond of you" she said, with a smile. "Maybe even more than his cat" and that, she thought with a grin, was saying something.

[Elyna]

Elyna was relieved and secretly pleased that the provision of a hot drink could be so easily accepted. She relaxed a little in her chair, still adjusting the way she sat every so often. The baby was unsettled at first, unwilling to rest whilst she stitched. Finally though, the Skyrider had peace and was able to finish the second sleeve of the gown. Long loose stitches held the two sides intact. She was then able to turn up the base of the gown and start hemming it, protecting it from fraying.
Faith hadn’t thought Tristan was mean, and the explanation caused Elyna to pause. His intention had been to cause mischief. Not harm and not to upset the slave. A childish urge for fun and trickery. The woman was glad she’d staved off further judgement. Faith’s opinion on the matter was one she’d not considered would be so forgiving.
Elyna was one of those people that the mention of Faith’s past set squirming and she dropped her gaze to her stitches. Why though? Why did it affect her? It was none of her business. “I think…that I feel sad for you,” the woman admitted. They were discussing truth and honesty and the nature of humanity and other races after all. She would be a fraud if she didn’t try to explain her own feelings or at least try and understand them herself. “I think of the experiences you missed as a child…things that we don’t tend to appreciate as much now we’re grown,” she let out a slow sigh and looked up. She was making a muddle of this. “My baby is going to be loved. By myself, by Malcolm by the people around us. It will know that love and it will explore the world and learn and grow, Immortals willing…and then I try to imagine my baby as you were raised…with Masters and other slaves…and it makes me angry that someone would try and do that to my child…and therefore to any child, to you.” It was more than the young woman usually said and she dropped her gaze once more. The hem complete she snipped the thread clean.
“Thank you Faith, I appreciate that you and Tristan care,” she couldn’t help the small smile at the mention of the half-dead feral cat. “I think you’re right though. We try to protect each other from hurt and a small lie turns into a bigger omission and then suddenly – we’re living different lives to the one that we started on.”