warm front

[cumulonimbus]

After Mathilde has left (and Stormy has her schedule for the next few days all written down), Stormy goes aprowl through the house again to make sure she's clear on the layout and see if anybody else wants to talk to her while she is still novel.

Comments

[cumulonimbus]

"Maybe I will do it right now while I'm thinking about it."

Stormy wanders off, leaving Mercy to his fluffs and thread-in-progress.

[calendarofcrime]

One of the twins is upstairs, sitting at the little table under the little window, reading a book.

When Stormy reaches the top of the stairs, she looks up from her book and says, "Niva is out with her teacher."

[cumulonimbus]

"Oh. Okay, I guess I'll talk to her later."

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes," she says, smiling slightly.

[cumulonimbus]

"And you are reading." Stormy turns to leave her be.

[calendarofcrime]

"I have temporarily stopped," she says.

[cumulonimbus]

"Do you want to talk? It's kind of hard to tell."

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes," she says. "I do and it is."

[cumulonimbus]

Stormy sits down. "What're you reading?" she asks.

[calendarofcrime]

Serahila shows her the title: Duke Vedris of Emelan.

"The Toren family is full of interesting people," she says. "This one was the predecessor of Duchess Amiliane's mother. Duchess Sandrilene had a biography commissioned after he died."

[cumulonimbus]

"What things made him interesting?"

[calendarofcrime]

"Before he inherited his title, and for some time afterward, he was a renowned pirate-chaser. Once he had settled in properly he had an amazingly sharp mind for resolving disputes and setting effective policies. And he disinherited all of his sons in favour of his great-niece because he expected her to be a better ruler than any of them. I think I would have liked him if I had met him."

[cumulonimbus]

"Were his sons mad?" wonders Stormy.

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes. But he dealt with their grumbling and it was all resolved peacefully, except for one assassination attempt."

[cumulonimbus]

"That's a pretty big 'except'. Were they trying to assassinate the duke or his niece?"

[calendarofcrime]

"The plot did not get far enough for them to conclusively tell. Sandrilene's theory, with which I find myself agreeing, is that they were both targets."

[cumulonimbus]

"Sandrilene was a mage, too, right?"

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes. A thread mage, educated at Winding Circle. I intend to read her biography next. Would you like to borrow this one when I am finished?"

[cumulonimbus]

"Sure."

[calendarofcrime]

She smiles.

[cumulonimbus]

"Mercy says you read a lot. Is it mostly biographies or all different stuff?"

[calendarofcrime]

"All different. I like books. They - stay still."

[cumulonimbus]

"What does that mean?"

[calendarofcrime]

"It means... they don't move, or make sounds, or change. When I read a book, the book is not doing anything. It is always exactly the same book, unless someone touched it and left a nick or a fold or a smear. Just a sequence of words waiting patiently for me to take them all in. They're very restful that way."

[cumulonimbus]

"Huh. I never thought about it that way."