glowfic | Wander about looking dismayed

There is a certain reason why wandering around outside by yourself while looking dismayed and thinking about your troubles might get you a bit more than sore feet, burrs in your shoes, and catharsis.

Sometimes, you might just find a mysterious old woman. It's hard to tell them apart from perfectly ordinary old women, just the way mist curls around her feet or for the way her eyes catch the light a bit too well, or other telling signs of mysteriousness. Those vary, though, and often it's quite a good idea to err on the side of caution with these things, and take care with heeding their advice.

While their advice often is a very bizarre set of instructions, following them perfectly will get you exactly the result the mysterious old woman advertised, without fail. If she advertises a fixed roof if you were to weave a net made of reeds picked only at midnight on a new moon and then drape it over your roof at sunrise, or a full stomach if you filled a large pot with clear water, acorns, and fresh wildflowers and put it over a fire and leave it to simmer for four hours, you will get a fixed roof or a pot filled with delicious stew. If you follow the instructions exactly.

If you don't, you could get something else entirely.

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"Yes, of course, right away."

He tries to get up, stumbles a bit, tries again, and succeeds.

She names her address, then pauses, and adds, "But it's likely my brother's hanging around outside the palace somewhere with a good view of the entrance, slightly below average height, athletic build, black hair, probably in dark clothing because he's allergic to pastel, will mysteriously show up if you say, 'Hey your sister is fine' and then not bat an eyelash about how you happened to know he was there..."

"Okay."

"Thanks you so much," she says. "I'm going to go curl up and not move for a while."

Nod nod. Off goes the prince.

He looks around near the entrance of the palace for someone matching the provided description.

There doesn't appear to be anyone present.

Then he will look harder. There are only so many places that qualify as having a good view of the front entrance; if he systematically checks them all and there is no one of slightly below average height with black hair and an athletic build wearing dark clothing, he can go back to Imarivet and say he didn't see anyone, but he isn't going to give up without properly checking.

Well, maybe not in good view of the front entrance, but there sure is a person matching that description innocently doing laundry by a nearby stream.

... If one pays attention, one might notice that this is a very good place to hear people walking over the bridge that crosses the stream. And one would need to cross that to get to town. And that sound carries better when there aren't trees blocking the way, such as if instead of trees there is a stream.

Almost like someone has put a lot of thought into this.

...that looks very plausible.

Taphinieu approaches him.

"Excuse me," he doesn't even know the name of the person he's looking for, this is awkward, why didn't he ask, "are you Imarivet's brother?"

Mister-matches-the-description looks up innocently from his laundry.

He looks at Taphinieu assessingly.

"I am. What can I do for you, your highness?"

Edited 2016-03-30 01:06 (UTC)

"She sent me to tell you that she is okay," he says.

What an extremely polite and helpful prince this is. And genuinely so. A little nervous, too. Not about anything in particular, it doesn't seem like; nervous as a personality trait rather than a response to a specific situation.

He relaxes a little, subtly, and smiles. "Good, that's - I'm glad."

But something in the prince's demeanor strikes him as - odd. Maybe it doesn't mean anything, sometimes people are of a nervous disposition, but that combined with the mysterious disappearances could mean something in particular. Or maybe not. He doesn't know.

Taphinieu nods, and smiles back. He might relax slightly in response; it's hard to tell.

"I'm glad too," he says.

"Is there anything I can do for either of you? ... Maybe fetch her clothes?"

Edited 2016-03-30 01:33 (UTC)

The prince hesitates.

"...She didn't ask for anything like that," he says.

... Her brother feels that this hesitation is something that might be elaborated on. See, how he raises his eyebrows slightly.

"...I'm not sure if now is a good time to visit the palace," is what he settles on saying. "Things are a bit out of order."

Edited 2016-03-30 01:46 (UTC)

He-who-has-still-not-given-his-name tilts his head, slightly. "If you're willing to wait, I could fetch some of her clothes and give them to you to bring to her?"

He nods. "Yes, that would be all right."

"All right then. I'll be right back."

Off he goes! He'll be back for the laundry, but right now it would just slow him down. Besides, it's still half washed.

Taphinieu waits.

Soon enough, he's back, with a bag slung over his shoulder.

He un-slings it, and then offers it to Taphineu.

Edited 2016-03-30 02:04 (UTC)

"Thank you. I'll make sure she gets this," he says.

"Thanks," says her brother, smiling a little. ... Then the smile fades.

"Is there something I should know about the state of the palace?" he asks, carefully.

"...Things are going to be okay," he says, which isn't exactly an answer.

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all_too_familiar - 2016-03-30 02:24 (UTC) - Expand

mydarkness - 2016-03-30 04:19 (UTC) - Expand