[PRP] Letter of Promise [Theo/Sylfie]

[ShinosBee]

From deep within Sylfie's weyr, something began to chitter. A small scraping sound followed, and the rustling of papers. Where? Where was cute-nose and pretty-gold-lady? From beneath a desk popped the culprit, a small, rotund blue firelizard. Waddling awkwardly with a message tube strapped to his belly, the blue set to scaling the desk to perch atop it. He'd betweened in a bit off-target, but thankfully only ended up on the floor. That was okay. He remembered cute-nose being very kind before. Cute-nose had fed him! And probably wouldn't mind that he'd knocked those boots over.

The little blue continued his ascent, apparently having forgotten that he indeed had wings, until at last he made it to the top of the desk. Aha! Perfect! With a creeling squeak of a trumpet the firelizard began to squirm, twisting and stretching to free himself of the harness. It clattered to the desk after a moment, message tube and all. Now, Regory was a good firelizard, and that meant taking back any reply from cute-nose to his person...but he was very hungry first. With a little hop the lizard vanished, off to find a snack and a nap. He'd come back later! Probably.

Quote:

To Lady Sylfie of the Gold Hesperith of High Reaches Weyr,

My surprise and wonder at hearing that two golds had risen of late over High Reaches will come as no surprise to you! To see so many new hatchlings make their way into life is a moment I cannot miss, though my interest I find tempered somewhat in the knowledge that they are not Hesperith's own brood—certainly the only thing that could prove more moving being her own precious eggs splitting for all to see!

To that end I have left my caravan near Big Bay Hold and begun to make my way back to the west. With no dragon attached to our group I'm afraid that the trip will be taking a fair bit longer than I would like, but the thought of seeing you and your dear dragon that wonderful day will make it well worth the wait.

I currently have the company of a pair of roving merchants and their fine herdbeast and cart, so please do not bother to worry overmuch over me. We plan to make for Nabol, where I will, hopefully, be able to obtain an aerial passage to the Weyr. Should that option be denied to me, I will simply walk. Nothing but thread will keep me from that golden day!

I deeply desire to see y
I cannot bear the wait to see you ag
My heart
I hope that you w
I hope that you would not mind were I to offer you my company upon my arrival, as I fear you and Hesperith are my closest acquaintances within the Weyr, barring my brother, Herg'r, whom I find myself both hopeful and fearful that you have had the pleasure of meeting. I am certain that you will be busy, and I will in no way be offended should your duties keep you from indulging me on that day. I cannot imagine all that you must do to aid the Weyr, but I would have you know that I am proud to know that one of your quality and gentle temper is keeping watch over us all.

Until that day, with all accorded respect and friendly affections,
—Theo

Meepfur

 

[Meepfur]

It had been a very long day.

She and Hesperith had been back on full duties for awhile now, and Sylfie rather missed when they hadn't been. While she'd recovered, she'd been able to push the worst of the worry and fear away for later, but 'later' had arrived, and with it drills and, worse, actively fighting Thread. Not today, thank Faranth, but even drills set her on edge some. They were a daily reminder of what she was now terrified of, of what she was ashamed to be so afraid of. Which was why she tucked it carefully away and kept it just between herself and Hesperith.

The gold, who had come to rest on her ledge with a sigh, knew full well that Hers needed someone else to talk to about all of this, but convincing her to do so had thus far proved impossible. She had been turning over the thought of speaking up herself, but it was an...inopportune time. Hesperith knew just the dragon to speak to, whose rider Hers trusted, had experience, and whose presence was not so nervewracking for Hers as some, but they were quite occupied, and neither she nor Hers would dream of troubling them for anything less than an emergency.

It could wait. It had for this long.

As her dragon settled, Sylfie flopped face-down onto her bed with no semblance at all of her bonded's grace, and groaned. She was tired, in every sense, and if she hadn't also been very hungry, might well have fallen asleep right there, boots on and all. But food wouldn't fetch itself from her desk (where someone had left it, bless them), so she dragged herself back to her feet...which was when she noticed that there was something other than dinner on her desk that had definitely not been there this morning! A message tube (the whole harness, actually)! With a letter!! And not some stuffy, official thing, no - it was a real letter, from her friend!

Maybe it was silly...in fact it probably was, this imagined closeness to the Harper she'd met on that beach in Southern Boll. How could you be real friends with someone you'd only met once, and got very occasional letters from? But maybe that distance made it easier. There was a bit less to worry about, fewer awkward fumblings that could be made; a letter could be rewritten until it was just right, and the recipient need never know.

Sylfie clutched the letter tight, but as Hesperith demanded to know what it said, it dawned on her that there was a firelizard harness on her desk. Could it be?! Was Regory here somewhere? Fond calls and a quick scouring of the room revealed no blue, so...hmm. Where had he gone off to? Well. He'd be back, right? He'd left all his things behind!

In the meantime, she had a reply to write, and she worried at her lip as she dropped into her chair to consider it.

Quote:

Theo,

Rhianth and Fianth did give us an awfully eventful few days, Rhianth especially. A little warning would have been nice! But there are worse things than having to clear out in the middle of the night, and I can't say I would have liked to stay.

I think Hesperith is a little jealous of the attention, but I don't think she'd like having to share it, either, so it's probably for the best neither clutch is hers. They look very fine, though, from what I've seen - thirty eggs for Rhianth and twenty-nine for Fianth! I don't know how the candidates will manage with so many. I'm glad I'll only be watching, and not down there as one of them!

Hesperith insists, and I and I agree, that there should be no need for you to walk, and we'd be happy to come and fetch you from Nabol, or from anywhere else. We have a few friends here, but none of them are fine Harpers like yourself, and your company would be more than welcome.

Your brother is quite something, and if I hadn't known your relation, I'd never have guessed it. We only met properly once, but he leaves quite the impression, and Hes thinks well of Hyglath, though she thinks well of most bronze company. I'm afraid she fares much better with it than I do. It does mean that my company is not very much in demand, at least, so you needn't worry too much about keeping me from anything.

Chances are I'd prefer to be kept from it anyway, so if anything, you'd be saving me.

—Sylfie

She fretted for quite awhile over how to address and sign the letter - Theo had had just the right words for that (well, for everything!), while she had trouble dredging up anything that didn't sound like she was just parroting what he'd written. So, in the end, she just...didn't. Better that than messing it up, right?

ShinosBee