Sceval, Kaeleer (Fourth Full Day in Kaeleer)

[glacial_queen]

For their last full day in Kaeleer, Karla had a special surprise planned for everyone. Well, it probably wasn’t a surprise, per se, as she was pretty sure that everyone had guess what was coming. Because, seriously, you couldn’t have a trio to Kaeleer that didn’t culminate in a trip to Sceval. Not that she told anywhere where they were going, even as they boarded the Coach.

Sceval was a Territory of mostly rolling hills and long grasslands, with some pockets of forests and a small range of mountains. It grew no crops and imported none, there was no plundering of the natural resources, either the ore in the mountains or the wood of the forests. The Blood in Sceval had no need for such things; they were happy to drink only the water that flowed in crystal streams and ate what grew naturally. The Blood in Sceval had no need for jewelry (save their Jewels), for silks and satins, or for exotic perfumes.

It was impossible to say where in Sceval the Coach had dropped them; with no cities or roads, one part of the Territory looked much like any other, save the differences in natural landmarks. Jaenelle had been insistent that this was where the Coach needed to land, and the Coachman saw no reason to argue, even though the area where they landed was completely deserted. “Come on, this way,” Jaenelle said, pointing at a small strip of woods to the west. “We need to go through there.”

The hike through the woods lasted a good half hour, and even then, no one explained where they were going. No one was allowed to dawdle or explore either, and the so-called rest break they got barely lasted long enough for everyone to get a drink from the stream. “Just a little farther,” Karla promised as they spotted a break in the trees.

The tree line ended on a small hillside, so the students piling out of the woods could look down and see for miles. There was a small path leading down the hill, for when they decided to go down and mingle with the Blood of Sceval, who were waiting for them beyond the drop off.

The Blood of Sceval were unicorns.

[You know the drill Have at! Unicorns!]

Comments

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo snickered briefly. "As attached as he is to that fancy-ass phone of his already, he could end up giving himself more reasons to cuddle it."

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

Arthur gestured at her in a fashion that said yes, that. "If we're lucky, you'll be able to hear from us once a month or so," he said. "If we're unlucky, Merlin gains a new pet, or my father has him executed." Cheery.

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

And Katchoo thought she could be morbid.

"Tone that disgusting optimism down a notch, will ya?" she asked, though boy, was the notion of pushing the subject tempting. "I can only take so much cheer in one day."

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

Another look. Maybe Merlin was right; this trip was making him moodswingy. "It's the reality of the situation," he said, matter of factly. "If my father finds out, Merlin will die. In fact, if it were up to my father, Merlin would have died a long time ago."

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Katchoo would probably agree with Merlin, and with minimal smartassiness about it at that. And Merlin had been so calm and optimistic about it when they'd talked on the beach, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to shake him or hug him for that damn optimism.

"I know," was what she said -- bluntly, no cynicism or bitterness about it, because she'd long ago resigned herself to the world being a pretty screwed-up place. Uther Pendragon was really, really close to being filed in the same column as Ace Morris as far as she was concerned, if he wasn't already there.

She could have come up with any number of snarky, rude, or acerbic comments there, and for once in her life didn't bother. Because really, she could hate that state of affairs with every improbable bit of pent-up rage in her scrawny body and it wasn't going to change things.

Neutrally, she concluded, "But you're both going back anyway."

Boys. Stupid, headstrong, stubborn, maddening, decent-despite-it-all boys.

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

"I have to go back," Arthur said, simply. "I'm not going to abandon my people. As for him..."

He shot a glance back towards where Merlin was walking. "When I found out, I ordered him to leave. I sacked him. He refused to oblige."

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't ask you to," Katchoo answered. "So frikkin' stubborn, the both of you. Why the hell I let myself get caught up with you all . . ."

Which was to say that she worried. A lot, actually.

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

Arthur snorted, and shook his head. Wasn't much of an answer, that.

"It's going to need a fair bit of lies to cover up this place," he said, instead.

That still bothered him. It came out neutral.

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"You'd have to muck out every stable in Albion and then some to shovel enough shit for that," Katchoo opined dryly, though she doubted it was much of an exaggeration. "It'll be damn tricky to keep your story straight for that."

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

"I know."

That was... less neutral.

And more Katchoo-registers of growly.

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"You know," Katchoo began slowly, because it wasn't an offer she was exactly thrilled to be making, "I learned a lot about good coverup stories. It's what the Parker Girls do."

She shrugged one shoulder, clearly not happy about talking about this much. "Just sayin'. 's an option."

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

"I know how to handle my father," Arthur said, slanting a look at her. "It's the actual lying I'm not looking forward to."

People never told you how much of a pain being loyal to a fault was when your loyalties were all over the place.

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was why Katchoo tended to keep her loyalties as limited as possible . . . oh, should she have told him that? Oops.

"No. You wouldn't," she noted; she was on to that to-a-fault aspect of his. "Lying to strangers is one thing, but . . ."

Okay, maybe she had a different take on it than he did.

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

"Yes, well, let's not go further into it. It's pointless." It wasn't the most elegant swerve from an emotional topic a Pendragon had ever made, but he was doing his best considering the circumstances.

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

And she wasn't even going to tease him about it. Considering the circumstances. "And I think we're gettin' close to wherever the hell we're supposed to be going, anyway."

Re: The Woods

[bitchprince]

"God only knows what it might be," said Arthur, with vague disdain (and some relief).

When he found out about thirty seconds later, he suddenly remembered how to hold his tongue.

Re: The Woods

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

That made one of them, at least; Katchoo was not so quiet when she got a load of what they'd come here for.

. . . diplomatic, though. On a curve of Choovanski.